Tags
Australorps, chickenfeed, Chooks, free-range eggs, hens, Lifestyle, Musings
The hen house has been vacant way too long, but at last it is fully occupied, and the outdoor enclosure is aflutter. On Sunday I acquired seven lovely chickens. Only one is fully grown, and she’s a gorgeous bantam.
The name's Blossom, dearie
The other six are (black) Australorps (an Australian variation of the Orpington, for you chook lovers): five hens and a rooster. The Australorps are two and three months old, so they’re not even speaking ‘chook’ yet. They’re still cheeping! I still don’t understand how chicks say “peep” without any lips.
The largest of the Australorps. 3 months old, not yet laying
I have a lovely big chook run which has a closed top, so while they are small the chickens are protected from marauding hawks and eagles. Once they are bigger, they can be out on their own.
Overlooking Chookland from my deck
Some would say I spoil my chooks. Maybe, just a little. Let’s just say I augment their diet of chickenfeed and table scraps. I add some shredded cheese, corn, and on very cold wintry days perhaps a bit of warm mash, made up of oats and corn soaked in hot water. We all know porridge is a great kick-starter on a cold winter day. In turn, they weed and fertilise the garden, reward me with wonderful eggs, and provide great entertainment. How good is that!?
I can’t wait for the first egg. The blackies aren’t yet old enough, but Blossom is. I don’t know if the trauma of the move to a new home will put her off or not, so I don’t have any idea when she might produce an egg. Doesn’t matter, really. I just like looking at her. She’s much more confident that the youngsters. She has a bit of attitude, actually, and a large amount of savoir faire. The others will all out-size her when they are fully grown, but I reckon she will continue to rule the roost even then.
Before I got these lovelies, I ordered a half dozen Barnvelders from my hairdresser, who is as much a chook-nut as I am. His nuttiness is more specific; he is an aficionado of the Barnvelder, which is also a handsome bird.
Barnvelder hen
It’ll be several months before they become available, thank goodness. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with thirteen chooks, though. Perhaps I can start a little egg-run to pay for my next holiday. MM
The Meandering Matriarch 
Blossom certainly has an elegant ‘fascinator’!
Bite your tongue, Jeff!! Eat them, indeed… Wouldn’t dream of it. I’m awakened early by the sun anyway, so why not a rooster (who I think will be called Satchmo) MM
I had six chooks, as a child. Fed them scraps from garden vegetables, topped with pollard, and ‘laying mash’ when they were laying eggs. Corn or maize when we could pick it, to yellow the eggs. Sunflower seeds when they ripened.
Looks like you have ample room to grow sunflowers. Rub the ripe flower faces together and the seeds fall out.
Love your bantam. Plenty of attitude.
I lived in Orpington for two years. Never saw a single chook. Dissapointed.
I hope you like being woken at “sparrows”, by the rooster.
If they stop laying, you can always eat them.