The laying ladies have arrived, and we’re now officially chicken keepers. After spending three hours at Hens4Homes in deepest Essex, where Kirsty gave us a beginner’s chicken-keeping and hen-handling lesson, we collected the three ladies, drove them home, and let them explore their new house.
That was Saturday, and over the last two days, they seem to have settled in well. Their tails are high and pointy (the sign of a happy hen), and there seems (as yet) to be no pecking order. The feathery three are behaving well; going to bed up the ladder to the coop at sun down just as they should, and although they’ve churned up the garden, they’re enjoying their dust baths in the shadows under the hen house itself.
If you’re lucky, they’ll even let you pick them up for a tickle.
It almost seemed at one point that they wouldn’t arrive at all. But, here they are; Gerry, Barbara, and Margot. The names were already decided, the breeds not, but both were a good match. Gerry is a golden Amber Ranger, Barbara a white Sussex Ranger, and Margot is the posh one, a black and copper Maran Cuivre. They’re each developing personalities, already. Gerry is the friendliest, while Barbara can be a little mischievous. Margot on the other hand, is living up to her Good Life TV namesake, and is a little stand-offish.
But they cluck happily together, sleep peacefully in the Eglu, and seem to get on with each other. They were all in the same pen before, sharing the place with 147 other birds, so may have rubbed feathers with one another while passing. It may be seven weeks until the first eggs arrive, but I think we’ll have fun watching them until then.
Tags: Chicken-keeping, Self-sufficiency