Kitchen Garden Forum

I don't do livestock but my sister has had several sets of rescue hens. I collected the latest set for her today.
This is them immediately after I put them in their coup.

And here they are a few hours later, kept in the tight part of the run. They'll get out to the large enclosure tomorrow.

Sounds like your sister has plenty of land for them Stephen. It's lovely to think of them all gradually exploring and enjoying a new life of freedom. I bet this is the first chance they have for their individual personalities to start showing themselves.

Stephen wrote:I don't do livestock but my sister has had several sets of rescue hens. I collected the latest set for her today.
This is them immediately after I put them in their coup.

For rescue hens they look in very good condition. They will be out and about with the others and in no time they will be a fine flock.

If only there were some others.
There have been several generations, mostly getting three additional years in quiet countryside. One set were stolen, every one disappeared overnight.
Yes, they are better feathered than some have been on arrival.

A shame about the disappearances but three years of peaceful and stress free retirement if you're a chicken is lovely way to round upyour story.

Our pure breed Rhode Island Red cock, Glyndŵr, and his two young ladies. Bought specially to remind me of childhood days when day-old chicks came in two sorts, Rhode Island Reds (brown eggs) and White Leghorns (white eggs).
Already looking forward to breeding from them next spring.

A few of our last hatch of thirteen MarsBars (Cream Legbar x Black Copper Marans), seven weeks old today.
A strange experience because some are black barred and others are brown and grey. We assumed at first they were sex-linked (males taking after mothers and females taking after father). But it seems we were wrong as cockerels come in both colours as do the hens.

In the matching pair below, the one in front is clearly a cockerel and the one behind I am equally sure is a hen.

Seems however long you are breeding chickens Alan there is still always something new to learn !
You seem to have plenty on nice long grass for them to forage around in, not like the dried up drought stricken turf we have here in the south east.

The rescue chickens are no longer shy or cautious and are looking pretty good although there are still a few bare patches.

Isn't it lovely to seeing them enjoying life how it should be lived? Happiness isn't just for humans !

Love that thought - "Happiness isn't just for humans". Thank you Primrose.

As good as picking the first tomato or cutting the first lettuce, our new Cream Legbars, hatched 30 April, have started laying lovely blue eggs this last week.
Now we're just waiting for the first eggs from our 28 May hatch of Welsh Harlequin ducks.

Seems to me that having hens and ducks is a very good reason for having an incentive to get out of bed in the for i g with always something new to look forward to.

Have you ever thought of having any Indian Runner ducks Alan? They seem to be a completely different species and probably wouldn,t fit in with your present collection but having come across somebody in Ireland recently who posted about keeping them on a YouTube video they seemed an interesting species. Duck lovers look out for Mossy Bottom farm.

We have had blue eggs for around two years even now they are a novelty but my daughter prefers ordinary eggs she says the white on a blue egg is not as good as the white on a brown or white egg but I still pick the blue ones when I have a choice ,lately our chickens are slow on the laying I'm averaging two eggs a day from 12 chickens no blue ones I've wracked my brain to find a reason and can't come up with why

Robo,, perhaps they're feeling blue?