Chicken Update: The New Girls

We've had some ups and downs in the chicken department lately. We lost our favourite little chook, Gloria, which was quite upsetting for all of us. She was a good little chicken and we/I had become quite attached to her. I don't know exactly what happened, she certainly wasn't her usual self and hadn't been pretty much since we moved. But I also wouldn't rule out foul play by a cat either. Possibly a combination of both. Anyway it left poor little Frankie all on her own, not to mention losing her mum.

So we thought we'd best get some new feathered friends for Frankie, can't have just one chook all on it's own. Off to market we went, and sure enough, there were the chickens for sale. We decided on two little 8 week olds. We figured Frankie would be big enough to be the top chook, and two littles in with her would be better than one [in case Frankie gave it/them a hard time]. After only a couple of days they had all come to terms with each other and now they happily roam around as a gang of three. 

The whole ordeal was enough to break Frankie out of her broodiness, so she's up and about again and has now started laying again [seriously, she started laying then went broody a week or so later, so we only got a handful of eggs to start with!]. Still a little way off the new girls laying but they're settling in nicely, and as it turns out, are quite boisterous little ladies. I just hope they stay being little ladies and we don't end up with another accidental rooster. We are not going through all that again!

So this is them. Beryl, the white one, and Audrey, the speckled black and white. And our dear little Frankie. They've got a lovely new enclosure that contains their chook house and which gives them room to roam a bit and scratch around in. We also let them out for a wander in the garden in the afternoons, but I have to stay close by and supervise to make sure they stay out of the vegie garden. Yes, that old problem, still. They're pretty good though. It's lovely to see them all looking happy out there.

Audrey, Beryl and Frankie in the background.

Bossy Beryl.

Audrey's bum.

Our lovely little Frankie. Sweet little chicken.