I really should keep my big mouth shut...

...especially about the chickens.

A few weeks ago, when indulging in the ritual sport of teasing James (who occasionally helps me with the birds) about his fondness for bantams (can't stand the things myself as a general rule - they're too small to eat, their eggs are piddly, they jump around and they make stupid noises) he made his usual pathetic attempt to justify his bizarre taste in chickens by mentioning that his ghastly little things go broody so at least that saves him collecting eggs and shoving them in incubators. "Yes, yes, yes, yes" said I blithely, "but my brahmas tend NOT to go broody - which means they keep laying and I can flog the eggs to interested punters, thereby making enough cash to cover their costs..."

THE NEXT TIME I SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT somebody please slap me. The very next day two of my wilful little madams decided there was nothing else which would fulfil them so much as sitting inside their houses on top of a bunch of eggs and repelling all boarders who tried to move them. And it's spread... I now have approaching TEN biddies in the same situation. Now, whilst broody brahma hens are immensely funny to look at - they look just like fluffy galleons in full sail, pull extremely grumpy faces and make the most hilarious outraged noises if you go near them - I was at least bang on the money when I said they don't continue to lay when they are brooding. Which means they aren't earning their keep... and there is the side issue of now *I* am the butt of James' teasing, rather than the other way around....

...at least, I suppose, he's right and I don't have the hassle of dealing with so many eggs in the incubators... grrrrr