The Hens of Ingleside Update | Tillie

 Time for another hen update!

Before I get to Tillie, I feel like I should quasi-update the general status of the flock: in the last couple of months we have lost our little Pippa (more on her story later...), and Muriel - one of the Welsummer twins - needed to be rehomed because she grew some kind of wild hair that made her suddenly want to attack Brooke regularly to the point of drawing blood. We tried everything we knew to do to break her of it, but she was unable to kick the urge. So she now lives on a farm in the country, where we can visit her regularly. 

We miss them both.

But back to our little Till-Bill.

This girl was our first hen to successfully lay an egg! Because she is an Easter Egger, it was anybody's guess what color she'd lay, but to my delight, her eggs are the most beautiful robin's-egg blue!

Tillie's story has been full of twists and turns to be sure. She was the bird who got most ill during the coccidiosis outbreak in the spring. There were a few times I really didn't think she'd make it. But she pulled through, and is healthy and strong now. Thank goodness!

During her illness, she picked up the bad habit of feather plucking. Likely because she felt bad, and wanted to take it out on whomever happened to unluckily be close by. When her health improved, so did her plucking, but I'll still catch her every now and then walking by another hen, and casually reaching over to pull a beakful of feathers out of the unsuspecting victim's back.

When Pippa came home from her convalescense, Tillie was terribly mean to her. Much more violent than the usual "pecking order" bullying. Because of that, she had to spend nearly a week in chicken jail (living in a dog crate inside the run). It seemed to reform her though, and she came out a changed bird. She and Pip got along pretty well after that, until Pip's untimely death.

When Muriel started going after Brooke, Tillie seemed to be unable to keep herself from chiming in the fracas. But thankfully, once Muriel went to live at her new home, Tillie settled down. It seemed she was just following Muriel's lead (not instigating anything) so they seem to be friends now.

In fact, here are Brooke and Till having a little gossip-fest the other day:

Human-wise, she's a very submissive bird. She knows we are her "head" and won't challenge us. She doesn't really like to be held though, and can be a meany to the other girls at bedtime.

One characteristic she's held onto from her youth is loving to fly! She is probably our most mobile bird still, and when the girls are out free ranging, she will frequently fly up on the railing to say hello to us and get some pets. She is one of the two that enjoys swinging on the swing in their run, and also likes to fly up to the highest roost, maybe 3 or 4 feet off the ground, and take in the aerial lay of the land.

Daily though, she's generally a peaceful member of the flock. Still has luxuriously fluffy cheeks. She waddles like a duck when she runs, and it cracks me up every time. In keeping with her first-to-lay-an-egg status, she's often the first one to lay in the mornings. I'd say she's averaging 5-7 eggs a week right now. Somewhere near the bottom of the pecking order...she and Mrs. Rachel can have power struggles from time to time. Rachel usually wins. She's still super vocal with her old lady scratchy Easter Egger voice - I always think it sounds like she's complaining. 

And she probably is. That's just Tillie for ya.