91热爆

We came downstairs a few days ago to a funny smell. A very strong smell of burning. Rather concerned we went round feeling all the plugs for heat, but found nothing. The smell was so strong it smelt the same everywhere, but as nothing started to smoke and it gradually went away we forgot about it.
Four weeks ago I put some eggs in the incubator. I don't have fancy hens, just the ones that wreck the garden and eat the putty from the greenhouse. But at least I don't have to worry about bio-security and a 60 km transport certificate and other DEFRA stuff (yet) if I just put a few eggs in the incubator. So three weeks later they hatched; little balls of yellow or black fluff making a ridulous amount of noise for something so small. Chicks need to be kept warm and as our house is freezing we have a heat lamp which hangs about a foot above the chicks. I spent some time wondering what to move them into, and then we were given a fish tank. It is perfect, the chicks can't escape and I can see in; and they are much more fun and stress-busting to watch than fish. We have raised several batches of chicks like this, and the only problem was the mysterious case of the vanishing chicks. Eventually we worked it out. At night the cat (he is called Patch, not very imaginative, but then, his brother was called Tabby. They got on very well for a while, and then they didn't, Tabby moved outside and then went away. I preferred him to Patch.) climbed on top of the tank, moved the lid across, put in his paw and pulled out a chick or two. The tank can't have a solid lid because a) I need to get feed and water in b) the heat lamp heat needs to get in and c) the tank is in the conservatory and gets very hot if the sun shines, so there is a collection of dead fridge shelves (the white plastic grid-type ones) tied round the tank, and one small removable piece of plywood.
The chick were very happy (I think) cheeping away, filling their food and water containers up with wood shavings, and just beginning to smell. Meanwhile, back in the living room where it is cold, but doesn't smell, the cat climbed onto my lap and started that annoying paddling with his paws and dribbling. Patch dribbles a lot. He has worked out he gets stroked if he paddles and dribbles (except when he just gets pushed off, but that is a gamble he is prepared to take). I started to stroke the cat and noticed an area of very short fur on his back. 'Things that go wrong with cats' went through my mind; ticks, fleas, fights, worms didn't supply an explaination, and then I realised. Patch had tried to get his ration of baby chick and had sat under the heat lamp trying to undo the knots holding the fridge shelves on, and the heat lamp had burnt his fur, making that funny burning smell a few days earlier. I hope eventually he got too hot and had to move and may have learnt to leave baby chicks alone, because the chicks are now in a run in the tomato house (where the peach tree is) and aren't as secure as they were (but at least it doesn't matter about the smell there).