This is our version of homemade peckablocks. As yesterday was Lola's henniversary when she celebrated two years of freedom from the battery cages we needed to do something a bit special. I have seen various recipes for peckablocks, so I took bits and tweaked it to suit us.

You will need:

A fresh egg

Water

Honey

Pellets/mash/or in our case Allen and Page ex-battery crumbs

Silicone cupcake cases

Some willing volunteers

Some yummy bits- we used

Garvo poultry treats

Gardman husk-free wild bird feed (this has oats, bits of seed etc)

Dried mealworms

Sunflower hearts

Garvo mixed corn special

Poultry spice (I made some with and some without spice- my girls preferred it without)

Crack the egg into a large bowl and whisk it. Add a bit of water, a large spoonful of honey, then add your pellets/mash/crumb. Let it soak in a bit, you still need a slightly watery/paste-like mix.

Add your 'yummy bits' and stir well.

You are wanting the mixture to hold together, it will be a bit crumbly- but as long as it sticks together when you press it, it is perfect.

At this point, take your willing volunteers and ask them if they mind trying the mixture out.

If they are satisfied that it tastes good at this point, you can move on to the next stage.

Press the mixture into your silicone cases, pack it in well, and keep firming it down.

Pop it into the oven at 120 degreesC, for about an hour. This will dry the mixture out and harden it.

Et voila!

If you are careful, you can also spear them onto a treat hanger after they have cooked, like so...

I ended up making quite a few, so I am going to freeze some of them, I can't see any reason why they shouldn't freeze well.

Of course, then there was the eating of them!

2 years of freedom

for this gorgeous little lady- my precious Lola *grin*

Two whole years of eating grass and bugs, dustbathing, sunbathing and being absolutely adored.

Also remembering my beautiful Ruby who didn't quite make two years, she was pts on the 6th of this month and we all miss her so very much.

It's all a bit much...

...life that is.
I'm sure we all feel like that at times, but it is my turn right now.
So much crap going on and I'm struggling to be able to deal with it all to be honest.

Anyhoodle, a few pics...

Cards for the vet practise we use for the chookens
one for the staff





















one for our fabulous vet (can you tell I don't do man cards very often)

and some gorgeous kittens, five days old today, took these pics this morning, light's not great as Mama cat decided to move them this morning so they are in a dark little corner.

God I miss this little girl so much, even now, a year on from losing her.

Tilly was an absolute sweetheart... she totally flourished in her time with me, Ruby and Lola; going from a nervous, naked-necked, scrawny little girl to a beautiful, confident, fully-feathered cuddly lady
Tilly was the chookle who invented 'the cuddle routine' and every girl I have had learned this because of Tilly, it has been passed on from hen to hen- even the ones who never met Tilly, and for that I will always hold a special place in my heart for my little lost girl.

Love you Tilly

Night night Maisie Moo

Sweet dreams my special little Princess, I loved you more than you could ever know xxxx

Back again...

Hectic? You bet!
A rundown since my last update a gazillion moons ago...
Poor little Ruby chook went downhill in September, it absolutely broke my heart. We had an ultrasound scan done on her, and that showed up fluid in her abdomen, fibrous lesions between her organs (making her unsuitable for surgery), and a coating over her liver. Lots of meds and injections, and much much love, along with some reiki really helped her out. Thankfully she is still with us (I really didn't think she would be) has had an almighty moult and looks absolutely marvellous, bless her! *wubs* She is a picture of beauty and wellness for now, and I am so so glad we didn't consider having her put to sleep, I shudder at the thought of that.
Which brings me on to the next thing... I am now a fully qualified animal therapy practioner. I am now qualified in reiki, crystal therapy, meridian therapy, animal massage and animal communication. I can do it for humans too, it's just that I chose to take a course which focused more on the animal side of things, the basics are all the same though :)
If there is anyone in the Cheltenham area who wishes to use my services, I will be offering free sessions for rescue animals, not sure how long for, and bear in mind I have no transport so we will have to work around that. I make absolutely no guarantee that the treatment will actually take place, I will never ever force an animal to be treated, it is their choice to accept it and that is my core principal. That said; when I did my training I was working on two chihuahuas, one of which has never accepted reiki and usually hides when anyone attempts it. Well guess what? I won! He came and led himself in front of me on the floor and had a full session of reiki, crystal healing, meridian therapy and massage! My cat will not accept reiki at all, and I respect that. This is how I work and if you don't like it then don't ask!
I didn't really know a lot about reiki when I signed up for the course, just that it was something I wanted to try to add to the arsenal of therapies I intended to do. It has had a really deep and profound effect on me, and it is something I intend to train further in when I have the funds. It really is incredible and I really adore passing that on.

Halloween was fabulous as always *grin*

So, onto other things...
I spent two days at the nec, one for the hobbycrafts show, and one for Cake International...WOW! It was amazing! Some of the creations simply took my breath away, just incredible. I have loads more pics, but I'll have to upload a few at a time! Poor lighting, unedited, but still beautiful!
Need I add any words?
ok...blogger is not playing (neither is photobucket, I love windows 7 but this is really piddling me off! I'll edit and add them as I can)

For Lemon x

Here you go hunny (click for full size)

And for everyone else, I am fairly AWOL at the mo, got a poorly Ruby chook again (more injections, groan), she has a large mass in her abdomen, we think (and pray) it is an abcess so fingers crossed we can get it sorted asap. She has put a lot of weight on since the last vet visit: about 450gm, so we think the mass is fairly large.
Next week I go off on my training course, lots more study to follow, and then I will be a fully qualified animal healing practioner *grin* I can't wait. Plus I am off on a lecture with Margrit Coates which should be fabulous and I am hugely lucky to get this amazing chance as she lectures all over the world!
TTFN xxxx