Monday 1 August 2011

Chickens!

After chatting with a 'bee' friend, who also has chickens, I thought I would investigate further.  I researched on the net for a week, and actually opened the 'chicken' books I have been collecting for when we moved to another location, I visited my friend's chickens and my daughter and I were hooked.  Lately, I have been taking the 'life's too short' mentality literally and rather than delaying what I want to do until a different house or time, I have been taking the opportunities as they happen, which, to cut a long story short, involves chickens.

My garden is quite tiny so it was never big enough for the trampoline or a for kicking a football around,so I never really thought it was suitable for chickens but after chatting to my friend, I was convinced.  

This is Susie the Light Sussex. 
The Chicken in the middle, we think is a Black Barred Rock and her name is Buffy because I thought it was a different breed.  


Buffy at home, with her food and drink.  
The 3rd chuck is a Rhode Island Red, Rhoda, she is a bit camera shy!  
The first day was Saturday when they made themselves at home.  Sunday am, we got 2 eggs, which chickens, we don't know. Today, we only got one egg, but the hens are only 20 weeks old so we shouldn't expect too much.  They are really interesting to watch, and are a lot softer than we imagined.  
They are still settling in, and we are getting into a routine with them.  The one thing we really must remember is to ensure they are locked in at night, we have a lot of foxes around here.  Kids are being real stars in the clean up area, and we already have a demand for the chicken poop. 

The chickens will eat any bees that have died outside the hive, and I was reading in one of the chicken books that sometimes mice and rats can try and eat the chickens food and the best solution to this is a cat!    Think this is a step too far.....there has to be a limit.....