How to put a plaster on a cockerel...

...yes, really! As I'd promised Grace, I decided to trim George's claws today. I set about catching him (easy - he's massive and too lazy to run), then sat down with him on my lap with my cat's nail clippers and a nail file beside me. I clip Anya's nails all the time, so I didn't think it'd be a problem.

George's claws are seriously massive. I decided to take about a fifth off and then file them smooth. On the first clip, blood started to drip out of his nail! He didn't seem to notice, but I was gutted. I clipped far less off the next nail - no problem. But the third nail was a disaster - another dripping wound. I put the clippers down and put pressure on the tips of both nails until they stopped bleeding. George is so good, I really don't think he noticed! After a while they seemed to be ok, so I continued by just using a metal file to smooth all of his claws. Five minutes later we were done, so I let him go and carried on with my day.

An hour or so later I found George standing on the path with a red foot. The blood wasn't gushing, but it was obvious that his clipped veins had succumbed to pressure and gravity and opened up. I picked him up, took him straight to the kitchen and put him in the sink. Some salty water disinfected and cleaned him up, but the blood wouldn't stop coming. At a total loss I suddenly thought, superglue! I left him, confused, in the sink and set about tearing the house apart looking for the glue. I found it, dried his feet and then squirted glue more on my fingers than on his feet. It seemed to work, so I let him go outside again.

Ten minutes later - still bleeding! This time I gathered him up, put him on his back on my lap as I sat in a garden chair and stuck his feet in the air. My thinking this time was, use gravity to create a clot and then plug it. We both waited for ages for it to clot, but the sun was out and it was really nice. George actually dropped off to sleep and was a little miffed when I woke him by starting to wrap micropore tape around his nail and securely onto his toe. We waited a bit longer - still in the chair - and the tape stayed white. I let him go and he trundled off happily up the path towards the field.

I must have done the right thing - he was in the field for a good hour with the girls and Barnaby and when he came back the tape was still white. Phew.

Note to self - regardless of what other websites say - NEVER use clippers on a chicken! 

With that drama over, I went to check on Ken the hen and her two eggs. It's the first day that they may hatch out, though I'm certain they will keep us waiting, just like Betsy did. At this stage I start by listening against the little nursery coop to see if I can hear the 'cheep' of a newly hatched chick.

Nothing, as expected.

I opened the door to the bed area and found an angry hen screaming at me - so far, so normal.

I felt under the wings and found one of the eggs and lifted it to my ear - sometimes you can hear the tapping as they are hatching - sometimes they even cheep at you!

Nothing - so far, more normal.

I popped it back under her wing and felt for the other egg.

Now it started to get unusual - I found an eggshell that had been tapped into and was empty, but there was no chick. It smelled bad and there look like some sort of substance near her. Very, very odd. I think she knew it wasn't viable and broke it open. Whatever happened next, she ended up with the eggshell stuck fast to her feathers and hardened yolk making her feathers rigid.

So, one egg down and one to go. I really hope egg number two isn't a disappointment too. Ken will soon forget about it, but I'll be gutted!