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The Fantastic Four

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If scratching and digging, pecking and clucking, and of course, laying eggs, can be classed as super powers, then these girls are the Fantastic Four. Actually, laying eggs can be classed as a super power in my book - if there are no eggs in the fridge and I need one, I go out to the coop and have a look. Sometimes there's one there and sometimes not, but it's only a matter of waiting a while and then there's an egg - see, a super power. Meet Chickpea, Selma, Saffron, and Bocconcini, a motley assortment of chickens that have come to live with us over the last few years. We became accidental chicken owners a little over 3 years ago when we found Selma and her partner in crime, Patty, wandering about at our local park. It was at the end of our lovely annual 'Spring into Gardening' festival. There are seedling giveaways (most important) for the local residents, Jack Russell races, face painting and bouncy castle for the kids, live music and gourmet food, professional advice on gardening, worm farms, compost and bee-keeping. Everyone feels happy and a bit green and politically correct. As we left this paradise on earth, two big red chooks wandered out of the bushes near the gate. We gathered them up and took them back in to the petting farm who were just packing up. They claimed they did not belong to them, so the kind lady from the 'Save-a-Dog Scheme' stall bundled them into a cat carrier and told us to take them home. They came to live in the flower bed under our bedroom window, and we discovered how charming and hilarious chooks can be. We haven't looked back. A few more have come and gone since that day - Patty( the original), Nutmeg and Cinnamon (ex-battery hens that lived a happy year or so with us), and Pepper (a Silkie bantam who came with Saffron). These funny, feathered friends make me unexpectedly happy. Their gentle clucking and cooing is very grounding. They have opened my eyes.
If scratching and digging, pecking and clucking, and of course, laying eggs, can be classed as super powers, then these girls are the Fantastic Four. Actually, laying eggs can be classed as a super power in my book – if there are no eggs in the fridge and I need one, I go out to the coop and have a look. Sometimes there’s one there and sometimes not, but it’s only a matter of waiting a while and then there’s an egg – see, a super power. Meet Chickpea, Selma, Saffron, and Bocconcini, a motley assortment of chickens that have come to live with us over the last few years.
We became accidental chicken owners a little over 3 years ago when we found Selma and her partner in crime, Patty, wandering about at our local park. It was at the end of our lovely annual ‘Spring into Gardening’ festival. There are seedling giveaways (most important) for the local residents, Jack Russell races, face painting and bouncy castle for the kids, live music and gourmet food, professional advice on gardening, worm farms, compost and bee-keeping. Everyone feels happy and a bit green and politically correct. As we left this paradise on earth, two big red chooks wandered out of the bushes near the gate. We gathered them up and took them back in to the petting farm who were just packing up. They claimed they did not belong to them, so the kind lady from the ‘Save-a-Dog Scheme’ stall bundled them into a cat carrier and told us to take them home. They came to live in the flower bed under our bedroom window, and we discovered how charming and hilarious chooks can be. We haven’t looked back.
A few more have come and gone since that day – Patty( the original), Nutmeg and Cinnamon (ex-battery hens that lived a happy year or so with us), and Pepper (a Silkie bantam who came with Saffron).
These funny, feathered friends make me unexpectedly happy. Their gentle clucking and cooing is very grounding. They have opened my eyes.
Busy in the garden
Busy in the garden
Broody.
Broody.

Originally published 6/12/2013

 

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