When I re-counted this morning, I found that we’d moved 18 chickens, including all the cockerels, so (Hop and Polly still being in the coop at the house) there were only 5 to go. The stragglers looked nervous when I went to see them. Hen Rietta and Hen Lee were there, plus three unnamed ones who are all quite small and untamed. But this afternoon, when I went down again, I managed to corner one of the Hens (I can’t tell them apart, but I know them from their bobbly topknots) and pick her up. She cried in dismay and this spooked the rest of them, so there was no hope of catching them. I put a stepladder by the shed and left it until Wink was home.

It was a strenuous 15 minutes for all of us, from 5 o’clock. I managed to catch one and Wink laid a hand on another, but she wriggled free before I could come to help. I went for a net in the end, it would have been impossible otherwise. Then, one by one, I caught them in the net and took them through to the new run, where they squawked miserably at each other. But they were already calming down when I left and all the ones who’d been moved yesterday were settled. There were three eggs, including one from the big hen, Jabber the Cluck, who is now 8 years old and still a consistent layer. It just shows the different between the scruffy little bantams and a laying breed. It hasn’t shortened Jabber’s life, either. But I love my little bantams, I don’t mind that they either lay dozens of eggs or hardly any.

Next, get rid of rats and then get the greenhouse demolished. This is likely to cost an eye-watering sum of money, but there’s no help for it. I’ve got two people who want to quote for it, so we’ll see how it goes.

It’s an expensive month, as I’m having a lot of fallen and falling trees taken down and cut up. So the digger hire, the tree feller, the new hen house and taking down the old one are costing thousands of pounds. But it has to be done and they’re all one-offs – that is, the trees have been neglected for a while and this is the last of the big jobs. I’ve got many, many tonnes of firewood, at least.