Chickens

This afternoon I sat in the sun and watched my chickens. Sounds a bit crazy I know, but they are cute chickens. It was also the first time I'd let them out into the big wide world, so I thought I'd watch them for a little while. 

We brought some chickens with us when we moved out to Cherhill. Chickens are a little like a garden, I can't live without them (a milking cow is almost as necessary, but not as easy to accommodate as chickens or gardens!)

My brother gave me 10 chickens. We did a trade - I gave him a nanny goat and he gave me the chickens. 3 point of lay chickens and 7 mixed sex young ones. There are now 6 young ones, which is why I was nervous about letting the chickens out and why I decided to sit and watch them. We aren't sure what happened to number 7, but we think she escaped and either the stray cat that seems to be wanting to live with us, or a hawk got it. There was no sign, just it not being there and sadly I can't even tell you which one it was!

The three point of lay chickens are all different - 1 plain white one, 1 plymouth rock and 1 "super" chook. The super chook is the result of my brothers cross breeding experiments. He's endeavouring to breed a very tasty chook. This was actually my idea, which he doesn't remember it being my idea and so doesn't like to give me the credit such an idea deserves. Anyway, I've been tasked with monitoring the super chook to see what sort of an egg layer she is. She's a three way cross between a naked neck, a malay game and..... I'm not sure whether it's a light sussex or a plymouth rock. She is quite unusual looking. And when I say point of lay, I'm being hopeful! No sign of any laying happening yet!

Here she is strutting her stuff!

And again here 

The 6 younger ones are a mixture too, although not cross breeds so much as just a mix of several breeds. They were the result of one days egg collection and put under a clucky chook. So I have 3 plymouth rock, 2 light sussex and 1 white one. I also have no idea how many will end up being roosters, but hopefully I'll end up with more hens than roosters. We have quite a few roosters in the freezer still. Now they were a good eating breed - wyandotte, and will most likely be included in my brothers breeding plans as we gave him one of them (a live one). 

Most of the girls are out enjoying their freedom.

Some of them took a little while to work out how to get out in the beginning. They aren't all smart, but they are so much smarter than the isa browns I used to have. They really are quite entertaining to watch. We don't get TV here, so lucky I've got the chickens (ha ha).