The old virus overcomes me.

[Marigold]

Well, after 6 months without any chickens, Morehens Disease has hit me yet again. I cleared out all the pot-grown vegetables from the run, reassembled the coop, re-installed the perches, bought a nice sack of organic pellets on eBay using a £5 off token, also more oyster shell, put down clean Aubiose, and set off to the local poultry farm, who today have hundreds of new pullets in stock for the first time since selling out in the mad March scramble for chickens.

Came home with four new girls, - what names they give them - a Goldilocks (looks a bit like a buff Sussex hybrid) a Marsbar and a Skyline (both CLB X Marans but very different colours, one is barred like a Marans the other is more like a brown leghorn) ) and a Partridge (basically a brown leghorn hybrid.) With three potentially flighty breeds, it’s a good thing there’s a roof on the run and high perches for them to fly up to. After a long journey from Ireland, and all the racket in the chicken sheds with all the newly-arrived pullets being chased around, it was lovely and quiet for them in my run - until Poppy got out and was DELIGHTED to find I had provided new entertainment to bark at and chase, some terrier fun through the mesh. Totally unabashed when told what a BAD DOG she was. I almost never have to tell Poppy off, and on the rare occasion when I do, it just rolls off. I suppose she has forgotten about hens. Also as the hens get older they learn to ignore her, so it’s not nearly so much fun.
I notice on the farm’s website that several breeds are out of stock already, after the first day’s selling. Good thing I got there early.

 

[dianefairhall]

I knew you would succumb eventually, Marigold. I will have to look all those up - i've heard of a Skyline but not the others but they all sound lovely! Poor Poppy, being a Bad Dog!

Our cat Freddie stalks the girls but they just ignore him.

Looked up your new girls, very attractive and some interesting egg colours, too. Are they POL?

 

[LadyA]

Well done, Marigold! And, it's very sensible to have a source of eggs, because we just don't know how things are going to pan out. New hens are always a joy, to see them exploring their new world.

 

[bigyetiman]

Well that will keep you busy trying to control Poppy. Although I can't believe she is ever naughty :lol: :lol:
They do give them some strange names, Marsbar 19, do they think you are going to deep fry them?
Looking forward to the pics

 

[Marigold]

After quite a long time, it’s interesting to be settling in some 16-week-old pullets. I’ve never had such timid youngsters, although at least they don’t have any older chickens glaring at them through dividing netting. I think they’re still very stressed, by the long journey from Ireland, to the chicken farm, where they were decanted into a big barn along with more than 200 other youngsters of several breeds, presumably all strangers, and milling about in a new place with no flock structure to depend on. You can understand why pullets often go down to various illnesses on arrival in a new home, with the stress burden depleting their immune systems. These seem OK at the moment, though.
I went to get them the same day, wanting to get them back home ASAP into a peaceful run and to start them forming their little flock of four. Yet another new place, and a big change - I began to wonder whether the quiet of our garden was in itself stressful for pullets who had always been in a large noisy group. The first day, they even startled at the sound of a pigeon calling in the tree! Poppy didn’t help, racing round the run and terrifying them with excited yipping. She has since spent most of her time indoors whilst I’ve fixed a 20” strip of green plastic tarp round the base of outside of the run. They can see the view if they sit up on the long bottom perch, but become invisible to Poppy once they jump down to the run floor. Poppy’s expression of utter disgust with me, when she found out what I had done, was really funny. However, they still make little chickeny noises, so she knows they are there and still gets excited. I hope mutual tolerance will eventually happen. Meanwhile, it’s rather wearing.

At night, the Partridge Leghorn, Ash, and the sort-of -a- Cream Legbar, Willow, cuddle up together on the highest perch whilst the other two retire to the coop. At some point, Ash and Willow descend and join the others in the coop. I couldn’t get down to see them until 9.00 this morning, and they were all still in there. I encouraged them to get up, and they all had some food and drink, but they’re not eating properly yet. Later in the morning they were all back in the coop, so I got them out and shut the pophole to make them settle in the run in the normal way. They are weeks away from lay, so no problems about access to the coop.
They are a very mixed bunch - I’m not sure exactly what I’ve finished up with, not that it matters so long as they all lay eggs. Circumstances were a bit unusual at the farm in that they are now taking online orders and payment and then offering appointment times to collect your hens, to prevent the mad dash they had back in March when they sold out of the previous batch within 2 days and cars were queueing all down the drive. The owner went into the milling flock and came out with pullets for approval, which was OK and I did swap one for a different bird, but I ended up a bit uncertain about what I’ve got.

This one is Ash, the ‘partridge leghorn’ - a taller bird than the others with lovely grey and brown feathers. No green legs so not sure why the ‘partridge’. I do like leghorns - flighty, but so graceful.



Below, we have Amber, supposedly a Skyline:
Piper, so called because she’s sort of pied. Allegedly CLB X Marans. Egg colour will be interesting!
And Willow, also supposedly Marans X CLB. (!!)
[ATTACH type="full" alt="B2AC8E9F-B7E1-4AEF-B564-5E1D1B9B4DA1.jpeg[/attachment
.


[attachment=0]3D823925-D49E-4BC4-8D25-D74B9A57CECE.jpeg"]1[/ATTACH]



Well - at least they’re all different!

 

[Hen-Gen]

Glad to hear you’ve succumbed. Chicken keeping is only slightly less addictive than crack cocaine and watching someone go through chicken “cold turkey” is not a pleasant sight. ?.
Piper and Willow are definitely CLB. Crosses, you can tell by they’re crests. Ash appears to have blue tail feathers and blue flecking so maybe a Buff x Blue Leghorn.
Anyway hope they settle in OK. It won’t be long before they start laying and will keep you in eggs right through to approximately next September when they experience their first adult moult.

 

[Marigold]

Yes, Willow has a definite CLB crest, and Piper has a little one, which looks rather odd on a barred bird! I have a feeling Piper will turn out to be the boss. I’ve seen her do one or two sideways pecks with no apparent reason, and even Ash, who is twice her size, seems to wait for her to eat first.

 

[LadyA]

They're gorgeous!

 

[dianefairhall]

What lovely girls - love their names, too. Should be interesting when they start laying, some great colured eggs, I think.

 

[Hen-Gen]

Yeh. If they are CLB x Maran you may get some the colour of army trousers.

 

[Marigold]

First night; one on the high perch, 3 in the coop.
Second night: two on the high perch, two in the coop.
Last night; three on the perch, one in solitary splendour in the coop.
I wonder what will happen tonight?
At least the coop stays clean!

Yesterday during the day they were huddled in the coop. I’ve put the coop up on blocks so there is more room underneath, and today they’re all packed in to the small space, cuddled up together. They have so much space in this big run, but seem still to be gripped by agrophobia.They all have copious dustbaths in the Aubiose bedding, but haven’t yet discovered the lovely deep tub of dry earth, even though it has a convenient perch for them to hop up to the edge.
It’s so much easier starting with a totally new batch of youngsters, though, with no problems of integration.
Chicken behaviour is endlessly interesting, isn’t it?

 

[bigyetiman]

Endlessly fascinating, and just when you think you have seen it all. Someone does something totally new, whilst being egged on by her friends no doubt. :lol:

 

[Marigold]

Night no. 4;
Ash and Willow snuggled up at one end of the long high perch.
Piper 3 metres away, at the far end on her own.
Amber in the coop.

All four still puzzled at the strange new foods which have been arriving on the treats plate. Enticing little chopped-up bits of strawberries, apple, grapes, runner beans and tenderstem broccoli have been nibbled cautiously and then spat out again. A variety of greenstuffs have been ignored. Sunflower seeds have found favour. Mixed corn cautiously approved, especially the maize bits. However, the level of pellets in the feeder has gone down normally today, and crops are feeling satisfactorily full by evening.

 

[rick]

Great stuff! A favourite here is blueberries but if grapes are not yet a hit then who knows?! I thought my lot didn't know their names but today was trying out my new binoculars by looking into the run from the back door. Mo looked asleep so I quietly said "you asleep Mo?" and she sprung awake, looked around and ran out through the door! Some pictures of the crew?

 

[Icemaiden]

So the one in the bottom photo is the Skyline?

 

[Marigold]

Not a clue, really, the one that looks like a CLB doesn’t appear to have any marans in her makeup, and could be a skyline. The tall brown/grey bird is evidently a leghorn, and the barred bird appears to be a marans cross. The mainly- brown one is a bit of a puzzle I agree, will have to wait until she lays. A light slim bird, some leghorn in there or maybe skyline. Let’s just hope they have plenty of hybrid vigour!

 

[Hen-Gen]

As an aside, Marigold, I’m a great believer in hybrid vigour. Lots of pure breeds in dogs, cats, chickens et al are damaged by generations of inbreeding.
My sheep which receive no better food or medication than any decent shepherd should provide achieved a 300% lambing percentage this year (that means an average of three lambs per ewe) as a result of being four way crosses of breeds from different countries and therefore having a zero coefficient of inbreeding.
Also in this whole thing folk sometimes forget that the sire also needs to be crossbred in order to be vigorous and fertile.
I can give my hens a fancy name but essentially they are derived from about four or five different breeds.
Inbreeding in humans is illegal. There’s a good reason for that.

 

[Marigold]

I agree, HenGen. I also think that, whilst I marvelled at the pictures of beautifully manicured chickens recently posted in another thread, I would just as soon enjoy the sight of any healthy, lively chickens living a happy normal life scratching around out of doors. There is so much beauty and interest in the shaded plumage of my mongrel girls. I’m looking forward to seeing what sort of combs they grow - and of course the colour of their eggs!

 

[Marigold]

6th night; coop empty; two pairs of pullets, roosting at opposite ends of the long high perch. A bit draughty up there in the gales, but their choice!

The girls have solved the dog problem. When Poppy starts sniffing around whining and trying to see over the top of the screening, they all dive under the coop and go completely silent. Poppy soon gets bored and wanders off. Whereupon they reappear and carry on with whatever they were doing. Chickens are pretty intelligent, aren’t they?

 

[Sandrine]

Oooh only just seen this thread! Congrats on the new arrivals Marigold ? they look beautiful ?
So what type is the one on the last photo? She looks very much like my Dodo (whose died of unknown but seemingly natural causes a few months ago) which the poultry farm called a Needwood Emerald. Not sure what the crossed breeds were though. She was laying green eggs, though for us she only laid a handful of eggs in the year and a bit she was with us. She was gentle and looked after the other pullet that entered the flock at the same time as her eventhough that meant she got bullied by the more bossy girls. She really was lovely. I'd never seen any other similar looking pullets before so I find it interesting to see that they seem to exist in other poultry farms too ?? not the best photo... But just to show you Dodo...