e-chickens
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Chicken Index
Our Dogs
Updated April 2008
We have kept chickens for over 10 years. Our
first birds were kindly donated by a friend from work who had a mixed flock
living at the bottom of his garden. They kept us in eggs and even produced the
odd chick - all by themselves, with no help from us - and looked very pretty
running round the garden scratching up my bedding plants.
Years later we were invited to a chicken show
in our village and were amazed at the number of different breeds on display. We
both fell in love with the little Kellogg's packet cockerel, who despite being
the smallest bird had the biggest charisma. The club members were all very
friendly and suggested breeders of the Gold Dutch that we could contact to help
us start our own little flock. We bought two pairs, Alexander & Abigail and
Abraham & Amanda. By the end of the year we had over a hundred birds!
Not all the newcomers were from our original birds!
As you go
round the shows and visit other people to see their birds you inevitably
increase the breeds you keep or the colours. Anyway I can't resist a new arrival
to my menagerie!
(2003)
We extended our involvement in the poultry world
when I bought half a dozen Cayuga hatching eggs from a friend. I like the fact
that I don't need to keep the ducks confined in aviaries to keep them from
straying into neighbours' gardens so they were also bound to increase.
I've also added our other pets though they do not have much to do with chickens
directly.
May/June/July 2008
Sorry for the delay in updating the web site but we had a very busy May.
The first Muscovy eggs were hatched by Tilly in early May. She has two of her own and has adopted two Cayuga ducklings. Mother sat on a second batch and has four babies now. We also have a rescue duckling which had been taken to a local vets after having swallowed a fishing hook. She needed an operation but recovered well and joined Tilly's ducklings. She is a lot smaller than the Muscovies so I will move her to the Miniature Appleyard pen. If she wants to return to the wild she can. We didn't handle her on purpose so she doesn't become domesticated on purpose, but she is welcome to stay if she wants.
Max and Kimba were part of an Agility display team in June, and Max has progressed to the advanced class in his working trials group this July.To make the front page load faster I have put most of our current news in the diary with just a sample picture on this page and a quick link to get to take you to the diary. Note there is also one in the left hand margin. The diary page will take several seconds to load because of the number of pictures it contains..