Adventures at Cluckingham Palace

Welcome to our Wyandottes!!

I’m pretty excited about these girls. I spotted one at a friends house awhile back and thought she was beautiful!!   I made a mental note to get a Wyandotte one day.

“They are beautiful but they cost a lot” my friend said to me.  Ahhh new mental note…hubby will kill me!

But well would you look at that!! An auction for three beautiful pullets came up and they were pretty reasonably priced….so here they are!!

My chook family grows to 9!

I haven’t named these girls yet. Two reasons…. I want to get to know them a bit first and secondly, I can’t quite work out who is who! (The two gold laced – I think I can spot the silver!)

Ahhh thank you Lady Grey for enjoying the play equipment that I so lovingly made you.

I’ve noticed a lot of your friends have been enjoying sitting under it but today you made me smile by having a little rest and then a little shut eye while ON it.

Whoop whoop!

The other day we got an egg!! Whoop whoop!! Super happy chicken Mumma here!!

Not sure who is was from but I know it wasn’t Lady Grey as hers are a bluey colour.

Since then though, I’ve put some fake eggs in the nesting boxes. I read somewhere that this can help a chicken know that is where they should lay. Hmmm not sure about that but since I’ve put them in there, no one was tried to roost in there at nights! So I guess the fake eggs are a win in that respect.

Since the fake eggs, we’ve had no more real eggs though.  I wonder if it’s just a coincidence or maybe they are putting them off. Hmmm not sure. Perhaps I’ll leave a couple of nesting boxes fake egg free and see if that helps.

All 6 girls are settling into Cluckingham Palace nicely

Although the two Sussex Miss Layla and Miss Pipsi seem to be ruling the roost a little and I’ve noticed them being a bit bossy to the old girls. Geez you two – you may be bigger but haven’t you heard that you should respect your elders!

Most of the girls are perching at night. I go in and check them every night and sometimes there’s one in the nesting box. I quietly take them out and put them back in the perch.

I let them out in the paddock for a little bit today. I had to go in and encourage them out the door for a bit first though! But once out, there was no stopping them.  Wiggly little chicken buns as they scratched and pecked the ground.

Six happy girls!! And one happy chicken mumma!

 

Here are our original girls.

The first two of them are rescue brown shavers. (Although one is speckled so maybe not a full brown shaver? Not sure). When they came to us they looked awful. It wasn’t long before they started to look happier and healthier. It feels great watching them run free and knowing I’ve given them a new life.

The next girls were two from a lot of fertile eggs that a friend gave us for a broody hen.  I’m not sure what mix they are. The first I always thought was a brown shaver but she’s fairly red so maybe something else. And Lady Grey is definitely a part if not full Araucana.  She’s such a good girl and lays a bluey coloured egg every day

As you can see we weren’t very original when it came to names!

This is Lady Brown

And here is Lady Speckles

Meet Lady Red

And shy but loyal Lady Grey

Today we welcomed two new girls into our chook whānau.

Miss Layla and Miss Pipsi are 6 month old Light Sussex hens.  Aren’t they beautiful!! (Each named by our daughters 8 & 5)

We’ve only ever had brown shavers before so were pretty impressed with the size of these girls. So much so I had to check their age with the guy we got them from!! I thought they were much older! (Hmmm mental note – when are chickens fully grown? Must look into that).

The new girls went straight into the new coop and had a little time to explore before they headed off inside and perched for the night! Ahhh already so proud of these girls!!

Once dark, hubby and I walked over our old girls from the old coop. We have four girls and have had them for quite some time now…. two brown shavers, another that may be part Rhode Island Red and another that is either full or part Araucana (I’m not sure).  We settled them onto the perches and closed the door.

I couldn’t help myself and I had to have a sneaky look a little while later. The Sussex were still perching (right up the top) and the rest of the girls were in the nesting boxes!!  Ahhhh cheeky girls!!

I put them on the perches again and said goodnight