Ali James' Garden Chickens

[Ali James]

Blue is soooo pretty!

Thanks so much for sharing. We're all a little chicken dotty on here & love looking @ other people's chickens! It looks like you have a lovely calm flock with no major pecking order issues...so when do the next lot of chickens arrive...?

Thanks Ribh. As the farmer said to us this morning, they all know each other well and are familiar with each other. The pecking order looks very well established, even to my inexperienced eyes!
There will definitely be no more than four hens! I can already see that any more would not be fair given the coop space. It is cosy now, but would become over crowded with more birds.

 

[Ribh]

Uh~huh...That's when you begin discussing your next coop! Four is a lovely number to start with. They are very pretty girls & will give you a goodly number of eggs.

 

[MaryJanet]

Beautiful chooks Ali! I love the coop and run. Did they use the dust bath you provided? Unforeseen gift chooks notwithstanding, my next pair will be light sussex from the same hatch - not until 2021 though.

 

[Ali James]

Did they use the dust bath you provided?

Not that I saw. It looked undisturbed at bedtime.

Echo seems to be the first to do everything and then the others follow. She was first out of the box, first to find the grit, the feed and water, first in the coop, first to come up really close etc. So I’m hoping she will lead the charge into the dust bath

 

[MaryJanet]

Come to think of it, it took a couple of days before each of my chooks had sufficient confidence in their surroundings to take a bath. No doubt Echo will jump in there soon and the others will take a turn in due course.

 

[drumstick diva]

It's also apparent by your photo that Echo can read a watch -must be checking to see if dinner is on time. What a lovely hen.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Lol about protecting the sapling - the girls are welcome to it!! We've been trying to get rid of it but it keeps growing back!

Wow! Today has been a whirlwind and so enjoyable. We picked up the girls this morning and brought them home. The moment we opened the box they all hopped out and began exploring their new digs. I spent several hours over the course of the day just sitting on the log watching them and have already learnt so much.

Let me introduce you to our flock:

View attachment 1894137
Left to right: Charlie (Heritage Skyline), Echo (Bovan Nera), Blue (Blue Rhode) and Delta (Light Sussex)

What a beautiful varied flock! I love all the different breeds, it's so much easier to tell them apart

Echo is a special girl! She is part Marans and lays dark brown eggs; we know this as when we opened up the front of the coop, she hopped up, went straight to the nesting boxes, scratched around, settled down and dropped an egg!! Within two hours of arrival.
Not only that, she jumped up onto the log, nudged her way in between my husband and I to say hello, walked right under our feet, came right up to us and has the cutest, musical little chatter.
The best thing though - just before she played her egg, she jumped up onto my lap, hunkered down and tucked her head in against me. She was very happy to be petted by me and my six year old! I love her!!View attachment 1894153

Awww, Echo knows which side her bread is buttered!

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

The pecking order looks very well established, even to my inexperienced eyes!

I don't know Ali. You seem like a natural to me

 

[townchicks]

Lovely birds! That Echo is a treasure. They clearly were treated well where they were raised. You're going to have fun.

 

[Ali James]

It's also apparent by your photo that Echo can read a watch -must be checking to see if dinner is on time. What a lovely hen.

Thanks Drumstick - can you (and anyone else) tell me more about what you mean by her reading a watch?