Mushrooming!!

A Parasol mushroom in the dogs field - surprised it hadn't been smashed to pieces by the dogs!
Right - Hengate!  Something that suddenly also mushroomed out of nowhere! The bloke who killed 5 hens due to his negligence kicked off at me because we decided as a coop that he should pay for the new two hens, he had previously said he would pay for replacements.  I had suggested the three of us could pay for 1 and he the other - knowing that money is tight for everyone and that he is self employed as a gardener. However the others felt he was responsible and should pay fully - oh the irony that I should have suggested that being softhearted and then suffered his written onslaught!  
The hens  were expensive - £35 each - and the seller said it was the most he'd had to charge for a hen. Bird Flu and the rising costs were the culprits. He knew of many smallholdings that had gone under due to one or the other or both. 
Well the Bloke was not happy about this and unleashed a torrent of complaints at me for making unilateral decisions. If he'd known he was paying for the birds he wouldn't have agreed to them being bought. Why had I purchased a new battery ( months ago!) and how dare I buy a new run and ask for contributions towards it? Well we all agreed to get the hens, the batteries we had were not holding their charge and the woman in charge of them was having to recharge them every two weeks and haul them to the plot - expensive and tiring! The run was my idea to get and I had said I was happy to fully purchase it but would welcome any contributions - I never mentioned the price or expected contributions. 
All this did not mollify him and he then ranted about how we should be minimising costs and maximising production and not buying special breeds and keeping them as pets! He would buy 4 warrens to replace the hens he killed and this was not negotiable! He called me out for making unilateral decisions?!!! I said I  had no objection to getting warrens next time we needed hens, but that he would have to consult the whole coop.
 I also said he had brought up an important issue regarding  how we ran the coop. I stated that we had always bought a variety of hens in our 10  years - he had been with us 2 years. We chose the girls on their average egg production and looks! Old hens no longer producing eggs were allowed to live out their existence without culling them and getting new.That I simply loved the hens, the wet, mud and cold over winter really meant it was a labour of love!  As I think I've said in a previous blip, with my health issues these last few years they and Oscar were responsible for making me leave the "safety" of my house and were invaluable in this respect. Also historically the coop has rarely broken even! Fence, batteries, bins, medication brought costs. If members were after cheap eggs they'd be better leaving the coop and buying eggs! 
The other 2 members agreed with me! I have to show one womans response as I found it so beautiful and touching.
"We’ve always enjoyed our role in the chicken coop as a family activity rather than feeling that it was any burden or for any particular purpose. We don’t rely on the egg production as a source of eggs for our household and we are much more interested in the general care of the hens than any potential output. In the past I’ve contributed without taking any eggs at all and I’d be happy continue to contribute financially to the running of the coop with a variety of hens - whether they’re good at laying or if they are in retirement. The value for money we get is from the contribution that the coop has given to Charlie’s upbringing and our lifestyle. So I enjoy the ethos of the coop community as it has been since I joined and I’m happy to pay towards the new hens. Our membership is certainly not dependent on a return on our financial outlays, the experience and responsibilities for Charlie are the outcomes that I value!"


Needless to say he is now leaving the coop! Phew! I had been holding back the fact that the hens he killed cost £125 3 years ago, and if we wanted to replace them specifically it would cost more than the £60 he  said he would pay. Also that none of us had blamed him for the loss of the hens, but had taken it as an unfortunate accident. However he was responsible for killing 5 hens in a most awful way and was in no position to be laying down his terms for replacing them! If he hadn't left I was holding this as my final ammunition to force him to leave! As he lives just down the road from me and I often bump into him probably best I didn't say this to him! He is a man with anger issues and has already been reprimanded for his behaviour and language  towards two women on the allotment! 
I must admit I took his words to heart and did reflect on how I may come over to others in ways that were not intentional. I did apologise to the coop if anyone had felt I had been domineering in decision making - they said I hadn't which was a relief! 


So now we have an all female coop - in hens and women!! We are going to have a cream tea at some point to celebrate the new era and decide on how to take over his duties and the feed collection. The cream tea was another members suggestion so I was relieved she felt the same as myself and Colourful Mai about the bloke!