About a month ago we doubled our flock of chooks. Four new ladies are on the scene, and we kept with the tradition of different breeds. We now have eight unique flavours of chicken. (They’re ornamental, all right?) Here they are on arrival, chilling out in a cat crate and a trap, acclimatising to their new home and their future bullies.
In addition to Ladies Edith (Blue Orpington), Rose (Buff-Laced Wyandotte), Sybil (Plymouth Rock), and Mary (Silver-Laced Wyandotte), named after Downton Abbey characters, we now have Daenerys (Araucana), Cersei (Barnevelder), Sansa (Gold-Pencilled Hamburg), and Arya (Silver-Spangled Hamburg), named after Game of Thrones characters. Yes, there will probably come a point where we stop naming our chickens…
The older ladies were mildly interested in the new arrivals. It was nice for them to meet without squabbling (which they did later that night in the coop).
They’re loving it here, grubbing, scratching, squawking about.
That’s Daenerys, the Araucana, above. Ain’t she a beaut? She’ll have green eggs. Looks kind of like a pigeon. In fact, we joke that our new breeds are really pigeon, pukeko, pheasant, and road-runner.
That’s Arya, the Silver-Spangled Hamburg. See, road-runner, right?
And Sansa, the Gold-Pencilled Hamburg. Hamburgs are known for being a bit more flighty and agile.
Gorgeous markings. Very pheasant-y.
Behind Sansa, above, is Cersei, the beaten-up Barnevelder. You may notice she has no tail feathers (making her look like a pukeko). That’s because the other chickens at the breeder’s were mean to her. Since coming to live with us and having her own space, her feathers are growing back quickly.
The newbies get along fairly well with the Downton girls (no pecking, at least), but each clique still keeps to itself. Hopefully they’ll mingle when the newbies are fully grown. There might even be a challenge to Lady Rose’s throne, wouldn’t that be exciting? It’d be a Game of Thrones, you could say… Furthermore, because I can’t let a bad pun go to waste, I’ll say that we chose to get more chickens because egg production slows down in the cold months, and winter is coming…
The coveted pink bucket, known to all the animals as FOOD!
They learnt fast that bravery would be rewarded.
They’ve made home in the coop after being locked in for the first couple of nights, thankfully.
And they’re already opening the scary feeder all by themselves. We think it may have helped for them to learn from the older ladies.
Sansa is already laying!
And her little eggs are adorable. There’s one compared to one of big-bummed Sybil’s.
Welcome, Daenerys, Cersei, Sansa, and Arya!
Adorable girls! Wish I was brave enough to have some of my own! Just can’t do with those feathers and bones and claws – uuugggghhhh. So whatcha gonna do with all those googs come next summer hmmm?
Haha, you don’t have to pick them up, Mum! You should get some. They bring a lot of joy just watching them do their thing. Hmm, I guess we plan to eventually sell some, perhaps at Char’s work. Otherwise, lots of baking and extra bits for the compost 🙂 It’s all good so long as the nutrients go ‘back to the land’ 😉 The chickens are as much a joy as they are a resource to us.
They are lovely looking birds. Which breeder did you get them from?
This time we managed to find a breeder fairly close by, just out of Te Awamutu: http://featheredfriends.nz/