Thanks for checking in on me, and reminding me what a nice community this is. My paid work has been increasingly demanding and emotionally draining the past couple of years, and I've tended to spend my free time as far from a computer as possible! I'm still loving being a chookie mum and more convinced than ever that chickens are mental health therapy!

We haven't succumbed too badly to chicken math, but have raised one deliberate hatch, and one "accidental" one. (Did I say "we" have raised? The mumma hens did all the work, bless their broody little hearts - Eggberta the Light Suffolk mothered her adopted babies until they were point of lay, but her step-daughter Pearl, who hid her eggs in a corner of the yard until it was too late for us to eat them - well, she was fine while they were little, but in no time was pining to get back with the grown-ups!).
We only ended up with one rooster in each hatch - Russell Crowe is the perfect picture of a rooster, all black and gold and green, and also a perfect gentleman. His son showed an early tendancy to crankiness, so he became a delicious Coq au Vin. The hubs did all the dirty work, and the chefing too.
The original plan was 2 or 3 chookies, we only have 11 now, so I think we can say we've not succumbed to chicken math. (It's been 3 years! I think we've shown admirable restraint!)