The new girls are here!

After deciding to get two more hens now we have new and upgraded housing I was pleased to see an ad in the local paper for hens of the very breed I was after. We collected the two Lavender Auracanas from a local breeder and brought them home to a hastily erected temporary home. The reason I wanted this particular type is that they lay wonderful blue eggs, they taste the same as any egg but look beautiful, if looking at eggs is what you like to do!

We put them into the little run on getting back and all too soon World War Three broke out with the Veras launching themselves at the wire and Poppy and Daisy clucking and bokking in a threatening manner. There was a lot of heads down eye contact being made and thank goodness the wire was in the way otherwise I am sure we would have had bloodshed if not a fatality or two. After a while things settled down with the two new girls retiring to bed early and the other strutting around looking bewildered! We decided to call the newest additions Trinny and Susannah as they are quite stylish in a strange sort of way. They did their duty overnight and next day we had our first blue egg. I am not sure how old they are but as they have just come into lay I can guess they are between 18 and 24 weeks.

The doves have at last and quite suddenly, realized that the doocote is where they are supposed to be, not the roof of the house. They have been spending more and more time in, on and around the cote and today have spent the whole day on it, we even have Lily back in the nest box which is where she spent her first 7 weeks at Moonzie. It is great to see them adorning the cote which is what I had envisaged when they first were released. They are getting very brave and no longer fly off when I venture out to replenish the feed hoppers.

The garden is producing some wonderful vegetables and tonight we are eating some more Cauliflower, some roast Courgettes and Patty Pan Squashes, fresh green peas and for pudding, our very own strawberries and ice cream. Yesterday we had the first of the tomatoes and a cucumber.

We plan to let the hens in and at each other at the weekend, I know it is going to be messy and noisy but hopefully they will soon all settle in and be one happy flock. No guessing who is going to be top of the pecking order. Miss Daisy can puff herself up bigger and broader than any of them so I think she will win. Watch this space for further developments and see which of the hen family is the first to get an ASBO.