When we first moved to the farm on the hill, we inherited a chicken and, as it later transpired, a cat. The chicken is a spotted, flighty bantam- quite attractive but not the best egg layer and after we brought-up our two old pet bantams it took them a while to mingle. The two older banties, who I should probably refer to by name, Rose and Spike (named after their relative comb types) have been with us for around 5 years which includes a 2 year sabbatical at my parents farm whilst we were in a house with a garden too small to accommodate them along with a large veg plot. Now, being bantams, Rose and Spike go broody at the drop of a hat, so around 4 weeks ago we decide to let them hatch a brood. Whilst at a rural wedding, we found eggs for sale at an ‘honesty box’ stand and had a sneak peak- they seemed to be a mix of marrams (dark brown eggs) and a greeny/bluey type (possible aracuna or legbar). Over the fence, we saw the marram hens running with a cockerel and decided to chance a purchase of 12 eggs (a bargain at £2!). Once home, it took Spike around a week to be convinced to sit, she only accepted 10 of the eggs and if we’ve got our sums right, they should be due to hatch a week today, that’s IF they’re fertile 🙂
Our second accidental adoption, was a farm cat. On the 3rd day of staying here, I entered the chicken coop to find a cat in there and promptly chased the little blighter off! A few days later, I entered the coop and found the cat and chicken curled up together- as soon as the cat (now known as Jiggles) saw me, she bolted and disappeared for days. Eventually she reappeared and we enticed her with food. We’ve now firmly adopted her (or rather, she’s adopted us) and she lives outside in the coop still and spend her days hunting voles in the fields with her diet topped-up with a little dry cat food.Great, until she tried to climb the outside of the polytunnel, but that’s a different story.
Whilst we’re on the subject of animals, I should also mention that we’ve got 6 quails in a section of the chicken coop- busily laying away. Remember the old place I mentioned that was too small for chickens? Well we had a quail run for eggs and brought them with us to the farm on the hill. They’re prolific little layers and keep us in eggs, even without the chickens. Although, if all goes to plan and we have a good hatch we’ll soon be overloaded with eggs!
A quick snap of Rose, nearly tempted to sit:
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