
Duracell's on the ground; Varta's on the ramp having just been coaxed out of the coop into the big wide world.

Energiser seems to be "head hen", though we think that Varta, the least well feathered of the ex-batts, is the one who was clever enough to go back & lay her egg in the nest box. My husband came in from the garden complaining about how noisy "the threadbare one" was, & when I checked, there was an egg


Astute forum members will have noticed that the 4th resident of my run doesn't look much like an ex-batt

I'd spoken to my next-door neighbour before building our run; she used to keep & breed chickens, mostly for exhibiting at shows. She now only had one hen left, & asked if I'd take her in (the araucana, not my neighbour!). At 7 years old she's not going to keep me in eggs, but at least she now has some company in her old age. She seems very happy in her new home, though last night I got home from the rehoming at Biggin Hill to find her asleep in the run, rather than in the coop. Hopefully she'll learn, & be able to point the ex-batts in the right direction when it comes to "behaving like a real chicken"!