Hi again,

I hope all is well in the land of 'out there?'

I've been off today and busy working on book 5 of The Tessellation Saga, (It's not got a title yet, any suggestions?) my chickens have been staring at me typing from the garden and occasionally pecking at the patio doors whilst awaiting their treats. I just love to watch the pair of them wandering around in the garden, and I'm sure they prefer it to being 'cooped' up all day! Excuse the pun... lol

Anyhoo... I' thought I'd share an amusing tale whilst I take a break from Tess...

Chicken number 1, Hetty, arrived two Christmas's ago as a gift from my sister in law.  She was used to living alone as she was apparently a bully to the other birds in her coop and of course I felt sorry for her and have a large garden so was only too pleased to say yes I would take her and my darling hubby ordered me a pretty, wooden, flat packed coop to house her in.

The coop arrived one cold Saturday afternoon in the middle of a rain storm, it was flat packed full of instructions and a handy guide to keeping girls!  'Do not keep the birds alone,' the book said (apparently they get lonely) but I had already been  told that the chicken was a bully and to keep it on its own. So was a mite confused.  Anyway, with the chicken expected the next day I asked my hubby and his best friend to put the coop together so at least she would have somewhere to live. I did mention the rain storm didn't I, I mean the storm that soaked my hubby and his best friend as they studied the flat pack instructions and proceeded to work it all out.  Of course I supervised from the conservatory window, occasionally shouting words of encouragement through a megaphone so as to be heard over the noise of the rain on the roof.

Hetty duly arrived and was introduced to her new home and all was well for a few weeks as we got to know each other, and she got to know the cats and that in itself is a new tale to tell but can wait for another day.

Hetty, talking to her reflection

After a while though, I thought she was looking a little lonely as the book had foretold so I did some research online, found a few really good, 'how to keep your chickens happy' websites and asked a few questions and resolved to get another one. First though, I had a ingenious plan, a light bulb moment that, amongst my family anyway, I will never live down. I brought Hetty a mirror thinking I could introduce her to another chicken to see how it went. I got a large old mirror from a charity shop and placed it against the bars of her coop during the night when she was shut in. The family thought I was nuts but Hetty loved it, she sat herself down in front of it and stayed there all day clucking and chuckling to her own reflection.
                                                     Success!
So pleased with my inventiveness  and not crowing too badly, hubby and I sourced a second hen that looked exactly like her reflection.  Just in case we also brought some anti-peck spray. The second hen hubby duly named Sunday and the two girls got on from the first.  Sunday was quite young and at 'point of lay' but her first egg was a teeny tiny thing that I was so proud of I took a photo of it sitting next to Hetty's larger one. lol

Hetty and Sunday!

After a month or two, Hetty stopped laying, but I couldn't work out why, so, back to the chicken forums with a few more questions...  'She's getting too old' was the general response and so hubby decided she was to be dinner.  'Nooooo!' I replied, 'we can't eat her, shes a pet!' So she continued to live out her life in the garden eating my seedlings and scratching up the lawn until she passed away in her sleep one evening earlier this year. She's buried along with the numerous other family pets we have lost over the years.

Not wanting Sunday to be lonely we got another hen, the new girl is a large brown bird called, 'Lunch'. Again hubby named her thinking two chickens called, Sunday and Lunch' was really funny. My sides were aching... (not) But I did smile and let me tell you gentle reader we hadn't heard the last of Hetty! Whilst playing with our grandchildren one evening shortly after 'Lunch's' arrival, hubby went to reclaim a football from under a bush in the garden. Down on his hands and knees he went and disappeared from the waist up only to re-emerge a few moments later with an egg in his hand. Then he went in again and again and again...

Hetty hadn't stopped laying eggs for me, she had just found a more comfortable place to lay them. Unfortunately as they had all been there sometime I had to throw them away but it was funny and has made me check to see that the girls have both laid before I let them out. Sunday and Lunch are prolific layers and their fresh eggs are lovely as I'm sure my neighbours will all verify.   I'd recommend chickens as pets too, they are great fun to watch and such characters, there's even a website  writen by the U.K. government on how to keep them!
 The only downside is...  Wait for it...
 I do have do a daily poop scoop, sometimes twice as the girls 'go' everywhere!

Now, I've got to get back to, The Tessellation Saga but I hope you enjoyed Hetty's Tale. If you keep chickens or want to, then try the sites below...

Bye..............

Until next time.  xx

  

Keeping Chickens - TheUrbanFarmingGuys.com‎

www.theurbanfarmingguys.com/‎

Keeping Chickens: The ultimate beginners guide.

keeping-chickens.me.uk/

Keeping chickens – what you need to know | nidirect

www.nidirect.gov.uk/keeping-chickens-what-you-need-to-know