We've had a couple of deaths in my flock of hens , one through old age and the other from an undetermined sudden cause , I was down to 2 birds , so I thought it was time to cast about for replacements .
There has been a huge increase in demand for 'back garden hens' since the onset of the pandemic and I have heard of birds going for ridiculous prices . However I managed to track down a local supplier and got 3 birds for £12 each and here they are above in the photos . The are a Maran (dark one) , White Leghorn and a Speckled Leghorn , I must admit I chose them for their looks rather then their egg laying abilities .
The are fairly young ones 'point of lay' as they say, so no eggs in the near future . There is a bit of bullying going on between the old established birds and these new ones (the pecking order) . I've had a couple of escapes - they can get through very small holes and I recaptured one in the back field and one in my neighbors garden , hopefully I have bird proofed the run now . Fear not some wargaming content coming up next post .....
Fine looking birds. My neighbour keeps chickens. I’m not the happiest of people when his cockerel is crowing early in the morning when I’m laying awake stressed 🙂.
ReplyDeleteI guess ‘point’ must come from the French, as in ‘point de l’argent, point des Suisses’, and not [on] the point of lay[ing].
Yes we had a cockerel which didn't like me so not sadly missed , not sure about the term point of lay , my father used it to describe hens to young to lay eggs .
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing further updates on the hens.
ReplyDeleteI'll keep you posted .
DeleteNice group of Hens there - hope they lay a swag of eggs for you.
ReplyDeleteYes so do I !
DeleteNice additions. We've just got 2 now, but they turn out an egg a day every day.
ReplyDeleteThe two older ones are moulting so not may eggs at the moment - may have to get some at Asda which goes against the grain somewhat.
DeleteI, being "S" of these blogs did carry out a full security check of the run using my 7 month old cockapoo before the new arrivals.
ReplyDeleteThe comment " is that your puppy chasing my hens " identified an obvious security breach!!
Tony was warned!!
Bring on those puppy training classes ! - for the puppy AND the owner ! : )
DeleteIn my admittedly limited experience, rounding up free ranging hens has a lot in comman with wargaming, tactics, maintenance of the aim, seizing the initiative, anticipating your opponent's next move, luck....
ReplyDeleteI have an old fishing net to capture the escapees .
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