Ok so the little Orloff bantams are on walkabout after learning that the botton strand of the net isn't electrified and putting their heads under it and lifting they are able to limbo out.
A few weeks ago this proved to be Alexandras undoing as she ended up a pile of feathers under the hedge. However now her daughter Anastasia has disappeared too.
She didn't appear at the conservatory door on Saturday and there was no sign of her at roost time or on Sunday morning either so we feared the worst.
After lunch time on Sunday Carole came in to say, "There's someone at the door to see you." Thinking someone from the farm next door or a motorist had found a pile of white feathers squashed on the lane I went apprehensively to the door only to be greeted by a little bantam hen noisily demanding her daily handful of corn and layers pellets. From her behaviour, puffed out wings and headdown dance, it was obviously she was broody and sitting somewhere in the garden. She was too canny too go immediately back and pecked arround the borders for a while with the others until I got distracted and dropped my vigilance and then she disappeared again.
I was concerned she would end up as a fox meal like her mother but despite what I thought was a thorough search in the surrounding area of the garden, there was no sign of her. 3 further searches that day failed to locate her hiding place.
Today she again appeared for her corn and this time I didn't make my interest in her movements obvious but kept her under surveilance. She went round the front of the house and disappeared under an overhanging climbing rose which grows up besides a window. She had wedged herself into a tight corner against the house wall and was all but invisible with her mottled splash markings looking just like spots of sunlight shining through the bush.
I'm now going to set her up a broody coop inside a protecting net where hopefully she can hatch the eggs shes's sitting on in safety. I'll try to get a photo!
HF