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Updated May 2010
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 2010
Just a bit of sad news to report. My last Sumatra died earlier this month. But on a brighter note I do have 6 ducklings. I'm trying to restock after a bad winter for fox attacks. We even found one sunning itself in the field when we went down to let the ducks out! We always lock them up at night but it doesn't stop the odd desperate fox who hunts at mid-day.We had fun with Buffy and Drew a few weeks ago. They usually fly out of their pen, in the morning, to wander round the larger paddock with the goats, but had never gone further afield than that. Then one evening they weren't there!. I could hear them calling to each other and found them across the road in a corn field with Buffy stuck in a ditch. Geese herd quite easily but not when they need to fly out of a ditch. Drew ended up in our neighbours garden, where we were able to catch him quite easily, but Buffy had flown to the swans in the nearby fishing lake. We clipped Drew's wing and he spent the night alone. Buffy returned of her own free will the following morning and we have had no further breakouts. Drew can still fly in and out of their pen but hasn't attempted the hedgerow again.
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