They arrived at our house this afternoon and after a tentative start - which involved being lured out of the nesting box with some feed - are settling in very nicely.
The kids are entranced.
The Dog is entraced.
Hubby and I are entranced.
Swishy and Bobbi are completely underwhelmed. Also Bobbi has black bits on him - I think that's bad for a goldfish isn't it?
This is the New Coop.
We're finishing the outside run tomorrow and the tarp at the back is so that That Barky Dog Next Door doesn't scare the feathers off them every time they set foot outside. They'll get used to it, but I figured Our Barky Dog and Our Screaming Children were quite enough to contend with for one afternoon.
The chooks are 6 - 8 weeks old, so they won't be laying for a little while yet. The black ones are Australorps and the brown ones are Rhode Island Reds. We bought them from Barter and Sons hatchery in Luddenham - its a good hatchery, clean, no smell at all, and you can wander around all the chook pens and find out about chickens. They are very kid and family friendly and brimming with enthusiasm about their chooks. Barter and Sons also do Chicks-r-us.
We arrived just as a bevy of vet students were leaving - I'm assuming they're doing work experience there. And I say bevy because I have never seen such a pretty group of girls before - and trust me, it ain't easy to carry off pretty when wearing gum-boots and ankle deep in dried chook poo.
We are expecting to see eggs around Easter, hopefully.
:)
Diet going well - and had a hot tip to check out AJ Rochester's book on dieting - apparently it has some good advice :)
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Be careful, its addictive. I started 18 months ago with two Isa Browns and a rented A frame. Now I have 7 hens and 5 chicks in three separate coops and I spend my entire life checking out the Chooks for sale columns!
Nothing goes to waste around here though, if humans, dog, cats or rabbits wont eat it the chickens most certainly will.
LOL - at least I'll have somewhere to go for advice :)
We had a brief but glorious stint with chooks. We sadly had to let them go as we just didn't have enough room in our tiny inner west backyard. Good luck! I hope you enjoy them!
Aww, they look sweet. Just remind them what happens to hens who don't lay and Im sure you'll have plenty of lovely eggs real soon!! lol
Good idea Cate, am not surprised, didn't think black spots did anyone any good. Poor fish.
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