Here we have Happy Mrs Chicken on the left and her sister, Sparkles, on the right. They are bantam Wyandottes. They are both madams but gorgeous. Sparkles, at the age of about 7 months decided to moult and is only just now getting her feathers back.
Soon to join our flock were Pixie and Sunflower, two Old English Game Bantams. We drove a 3 hour round trip to pick them up. Sunflower is a bit flighty but is a character and likes to tell me off (especially if I am late opening up the coop in the morning) and she sounds like a little alarm. She also bosses the Wyandottes around, leaping onto their backs and pecking their heads to tell them to settle down! Pixie is very sweet and has a plaintive little "bwaark". She likes to chat! We loved them so much that we wanted two more, so off we went on another trip buy two more from the same person (who has simply gorgeous birds so it was well worth the trip).
We came home with Anna and Elsa. They are full sisters but Anna is one out of the box! She is the prettiest peaches and cream colour, has blue feet, and is tiny and utterly adorable. She doesn't mind a pat and will sit on our arms or hands and have a little chat. Elsa is very friendly too but not so keen on being picked up. She is a very pretty girl too and started laying in winter, but has stopped since we had a bit of bad weather!
Our next road trip was to go and get Peppa and Dorothy. I desperately wanted some Houdans but the closest place was 3 hours away (one way). So my dear, long suffering husband agreed we could go and pick them up. We left the kids with my Mum (a 6 hour car ride would've been a bit much for them) and set off on a rather cold, drizzly day. Peppa lacks the beard and Dorothy has bright yellow feet and legs but they are so calm and sweet and we love them. I think Dorothy is the boss of the flock but they are all so docile it is hard to tell.
Lastly we have Blueberry and Skye. They are New Zealand Lavender Araucanas (they have tails). They grew up at my Mum's as she wanted two as well. Blueberry has recently started laying us pretty green eggs. If there is food around Blueberry is in like a rocket and I have nicknamed her Speedy as she will race in and race off again if she finds a tasty tidbit she doesn't want to share. Skye is as sweet as honey and tends to hang back a bit but has started to eat out of my hand confidently. They have a lovely, cooing cluck that I just love.
All our chickens will all do anything for hulled sunflower seeds and this is their special treat that we hand-feed them (though chopped grapes are another favourite but take a bit more effort on my part)! They are all less than a year old so we are waiting for a few to start laying now that the shortest day is past here in New Zealand, and for some to start laying again (we had awful roadworks that took 4 months right outside our house that put a few of them off the lay). Hope you enjoyed reading about our little flock.
