The Flock Increases

Towards the end of February, we decided if we didn't get some chickens underway - bearing in mind we have been established at Fossils Retreat two years next month - can you believe! - it would be next spring/summer before we got cracking. As most hens go into their annual moult over winter, we thought we would raise our own first flock so that they would be (hopefully) coming in to lay this coming spring. Broody hens are relatively easy to find, and we were lucky enough to have been offered one. As well, she is a 'breed' chicken - a french breed called 'Favorelles'. We have called her HANNAH - not that we really want to go down the road of now starting to name every chicken we will own ... but we know from past experience that some hens become character favourites down the track and do end up being named. She needs a name, anyway, as she will become our official chicken nanny.

This is not actually Hannah Hen, but a web photo. Hannah looks pretty much like this one. When we looked up on the web to find out more about Favorelles chickens, we discovered this breed has five toes. Most poultry only have four toes. Now, isn't that an interesting biological fact you have learned today?

A local poultry fancier sold us six fertile eggs which were collected the same day as we collected Hannah. She claimed them as her own immediately.
New mum-to-be Hannah settled in on the first day of her chick rearing in her little custom-made nesting box made from an old wooden nails box. Twenty days to go ...

The new chickens are Plymouth Barred Rock chickens - a dual breed, which means as well as laying a decent supply of eggs, any surplus roosters can be fattened separately and should make for a fairly decent casserole. It will be a while before their growth indicates how many will be roosters and how many will be hens.

This is what any hens we have from the eggs will look like when mature. Of couse, we may not hatch any hens - they may all be roosters!

The eggs hatched bang on target on 7 March - 21 days after Hannah sat. Five out of the six hatched. Our eels enjoyed the dud one.

Hannah right into the role of an active Mum. As soon as we lifted the chicks out of the nesting box she was up and at it, clucking to them and showing them how to eat the crumbles and forage in the grass

They really are a delight to watch and hear, especially at feeding time when they are given table scraps and the like. You can hear the raised excitement of the 'cheep cheeps' when they are given something exotic like a soft tomato or the fat off a chop.

A web photo of Barred Rock chicks at 5 days old - ours looked just like this. No doubt a surprise to many of you who thought all baby chickens were yellow - eh? Another useful informative fact you have learned today

Lucky has discovered the new family and we have to feed her at the same time. She walks round and round the coop (sometimes chased by Tansy - grrr - bad dog!) clucking for her feed, so we have to toss it down at the side of the coop

By now many of you will have noticed and greatly admired the handsome nursery coop made by Jennifer (patent pending). This one survived our two storm bombs no problem.