Our Chickens

These are our chickens; Maisy, Hettie, Lily, Flora, Jessie and Whitney. They were our first pets and are really lovely. We got them when they were between 2 and 3 weeks olds, each of our children choosing one chicken to have as their own. As they were so small we had them in the garage under a heat lamp for a few weeks until they were old enough to go out into the coop in the garden. We then had to wait about 5 months for them to begin laying but there was huge excitement with the first egg!

As the hens are different breeds they lay different colour eggs. This makes for great variety and the children feel real ownership of their own hens eggs. The only problem is when you suggest cooking some for breakfast and you get requests like 'yes please, Flora's egg'. They are not so easily identified once not in their shells!
We have had a higher rate of egg consumption as well because an egg straight from the garden, laid that morning is in a different league from shop bought eggs.

This is our coop and run which then opens onto a larger area with a 50m length of netting. When we are home they roam around the larger area and then when we go out they go into the fully enclosed run which is fox proof.  At night then we shut their coop door and let them out first thing in the morning.

On a Saturday the coop is cleaned out and then every 2 weeks it gets jet washed as it is made of plastic. The plastic makes it easy to wash and means it won't harbour red mites like wood can. While their coop is being cleaned the children go on a 'chicken walk' letting them have free range of the whole garden.

Feeding is easy too. The children are responsible for all the day to day care of their hens, with Daddy helping out with Saturday cleaning. They feed them layers pellets first thing in the morning, filling up their feeding pots  ( called Grubs ) and their water pots ( Glugs!). Any treats, like leftover vegetables or pasta are then given later in the day.

The children love their hens and spend a lot of time with them. Beth sometimes baths her hen, Henrietta, putting her in a bucket of warm water and then carrying her around the garden wrapped in a towel until she's dry. As this has been a reasonably regular occurance since she was young, Hettie has no qualms about this experience and happily sits in the water taking in her surroundings. Hettie is also the hen who has come into the house the most. This is not something we particularly encourage for the obvious reason but Beth has special dispensation on her birthday to bring Hettie in at the end of tea and it has now become a tradition. 

This is Beth and Hettie this June as Beth turned 11. Hettie was very well mannered, partaking of some corn and raisins without any mishaps.

The chickens turned 2 this July so the children made them a little birthday tea including a cake. We did insist on having it in the garden though, six chickens in the kitchen would be pushing things even by our standards!

Beth brings Hettie in to listen to one of Anna's guitar lessons.

 The hens have been a great success and I can't imagine a garden without hens now!