Yes, we have picked names!  Boris (chosen by my sister) and Jalfrezi are the Marans, Dumb and Dumber for the Light Sussex, Kentucky for the Welsummer and Nando for the Minorcan (not Portugese as posted earlier!)

As for the crow, that was Nando…  I took him / her back to the breeder today after speaking to her on the phone.  The crow has been progressing for a week or so and today at 4:30 in the morning after lying there and counting at least 20 crows, I wandered down having tried to convince myself that it couldn’t possibly  be one of our hens.  Nando was on the top of the coop and looked at me as only he / she could.  So talking quietly I asked if it had been her that was making such a noise, at which point she bobbed a little, went up on her toes and proved that it very definitely WAS her!

So, consultations later it was deemed that Nando was very likely a Rooster, and her behaviour back at Jen’s proved it – squaring up to every other Rooster she could find – which were all safely in their runs!  Apparently Nando was very handsome and Jen is likely to breed him next year, which is better than a destiny involving the pot!

So, a Minorcan pullet was exchanged and named Nando II and is currently in a little sectioned off run so that the other chooks can get used to her.  I did try a bit of supervised introductions but it was predictably unfriendly…  So the plan is that when the others have gone to bed they’ll all get doused in lice powder, as will Nando II and then she’ll be added into the coop.  Around 11pm tonight so that the others don’t get too excited.  Hopefully this will help ease her into the group and is what the breeder recommended…

I feel kinda mean introducing her on her own, and the sussex and welsummer will probably be OK after a little while, it’s Jalfrezi I worry about as she is definitely boss chicken.  Hopefully the re-establishment on the pecking order wont be too brutal…  On the plus side Nando II is eating and drinking in her little run and the others are showing an interest without throwing themselves at the side, so fingers crossed!

The Maran’s are certainly the bosses of the coop, followed by the sussex and the portugese and welsummer are working out who is definitely bottom – I think it’s the welsummer. Which is quite strange really as she is the third biggest! The sussex and portugese are all smaller than her…
On a nature v nurture point though, she was the only female in the welsummer hatch and was put in with the orpington chicks and grew up with them, so she may well think she’s an Orp! She’s certainly a very laid back chicken for a welsummer, that’s for sure.
Their first night went well, apart from not knowing where to sleep! The maran’s were perched on the roof of the coop, whilst the rest were in a heap in one corner of the run. All were carefully lifted into the coop, where the marans used the perch and the rest created another heap. A little roosting training is required for some – I’m sure they’ll get the hang of it though.
I’ve lost most of the morning watching them – they are all a bunch of (currently nameless) characters but all seem to love scratching around, chasing insects and having dust baths!

S has always wanted chickens, which was first randomly announced when we bought our first house together 5 years ago, in an area with restrictions that categorically stated no livestock! Wind on to last year and we got the keys to our new home. We’ve spent the last year bashing the house around and rebuilding it and generally making it our own and now its time for chooks!

Back in March I went to see J the chicken lady (as she is referred to in our house) and met her chickens. I initially decided on two Sussex and two Brahma but then decided that I’d prefer two Welsummer instead of the Brahma (I got worried about their size).  So we can look forward to brown (welsummer) and white (sussex) eggs.

Our chickens weren’t even eggs back in March, but they have since hatched and in a few weeks I’ll be going to collect them! They just need to finish feathering.  Their ride home will be in a… card board box with some newspaper in and air holes?  Will that be OK?!  Forum post coming up…

Since March we have been busy. S has built them their house or the “Palais de Poulet” as it has been nicknamed and he has also built their run. We’ve vermin proofed it as best we can by digging chicken wire into the ground and then stainless steel plate as well, and a net will shortly be put over the top of the run to prevent the wild birds getting in.

I’ve bought a feeder and drinker, food, grit, lice powder, dust extracted shavings, blue egg boxes… the set up for these hens can be pretty expensive if you let yourself get carried away!  In a nod to recycling though, the nest boxes are going to be lined with shredded paper.  My place of employment generates black bags of the stuff almost daily, and I hope it’ll keep them nice and warm and be nice to make nests in.

Then there are the gadgets – pop hole openers, timers, solar lighting systems…  I thought this was quite a low-tech goodlife kinda hobby?  But in all honesty, it does seem to be that it can be as simple or as techy as you want to make it!  My biggest worry / ambition is that the hens we have are happy and healty.

As our chooks are going to be quite young – about 10 weeks old and another 10 weeks (fingers crossed) away from the first very much anticipated egg, we’ve bought growers feed for them.  We’re using a brand that is manufactured in our county of Norfolk and available from a feed merchant who is all of 5 minutes drive from my place of work.  We’ll switch to layers pellet when they get to the appropriate age of 16 weeks.  Is that right?  It’s what it says on the feed sack…  Hmm, another question to the forum…

We should be expecting our first eggs in August /September, and hopefully we’ll continue to get sporadic eggs throughout the winter with our girls hitting their stride next spring!  At least the egg boxes will get some eventual use…

All I’ve got to do now is come up with some names for them…  Any suggestions?!  S has suggested Paxo, Sage, Onion and Roast.  I like Wilma and Wendoline for the Welsummers and Shaz and Sheila for the Sussex.