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Week 1: The chickens arrive

Our plan has hatched – the chickens are here – and we’re left on our own to look after them…

Hi, I’m Lucy Pearson. And this is the story of our family’s latest additions: chickens.

People get chickens for all sorts of reasons: the next step from the vegetable patch; to teach children about where food comes from…

We have embarked on this feather-filled journey in an altogether more haphazard yet utterly magical way.
My friend Kath mused that it might be nice to have a few chooks. I gave this a few seconds’ thought then later mentioned it to the kids.

We’re getting chickens…

Ruby (7) and Lily (12) then danced crazily around the kitchen singing ‘We’re getting chickens!’ By the time their Dad, Matt, arrived home, he was informed of the imminent new additions to the family, and that was that.

The chicken has landed

The van arrived from Omlet with an Eglu hen house, all the paraphernalia, and four lovely chickens.

Two are Miss Pepperpots, with beautiful iridescent beetle black feathers, bred from the Rhode Island Red and the Maran to create a ‘lively’ personality. And two are Gingernut Rangers, with dark russet red and black tail feathers, described as a ‘perky’ breed of chicken.

Meet Ginger and Poppet

Both Ruby and Lily fell in love with the Gingernuts, with Ruby naming hers Ginger and Lily calling hers Poppet. We have yet to name the Pepperpots, as we haven’t quite worked out their personalities.

Looking after them

James from Omlet gave me a quick run down on how to care for the birds, maintain the hen house, and what to do in an emergency.

He clipped their wings (which sounds worse than it is) and released the chickens into their new abode, where a fight promptly broke out between the more dominant Pepperpot and the other three birds.

This was a little alarming to watch for someone new to chicken keeping, but I was assured this was perfectly natural, and was the reason behind such phrases as ‘pecking order’ and ‘hen pecked.’

Next week: the chickens go on a mini-break…

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