So last month we ...acquired a chicken.
Its a long story but in short, my neighbour runs an organic, free range**coughmehcough** chicken farm. He has day old chicks delivered then at 4 weeks old they get packed into crates and taken to the other farm for another 3-4 weeks before becoming someones dinner.
Everytime he packs them up he looses a couple...they scape and hide under the sheds then later the fox or the crows or (sometimes) my dog will pick them off.
Way of the wild blah blah blah.
However one lunch time I am sitting chatting to OH when what should I spy but a chicken in my garden, I slept up and set off in pursuit and with the OH's help managed to capture the beast! HAHA!
So I became the owner of a chicken the size of a cooking apple with very sparse feathering and now all alone in the world.
Should we have given him back?
Well, he would have been written off anyway so maybe I didn't technically STEAL him, just....picked him up?
Anyway he now has a run and is a cutie and loves a stroke and to feed out of the kids hands....all we need now are some girl friends and I'm on the case aiming to get some ex-battery girls.
More soon, in the mean time here is a picture of Lloyd the bird (sounds better if you come from Brooklyn I guess? ;)
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All's fair in love and chickens - so good luck to you!
ReplyDeletejust a word of warning though, every cockeral we have ever had, has started out all lovey dovey, and once he's got his chicks, becomes a kung fu expert over night! I got high-karated by our very own Bruce (aherm) Lay only yesterday!!
hahaha...yeah..I know, I'll be itching to neck him in a few weeks ;)
ReplyDeleteBut right now he is cewwooot XD
Yes, we say each time, we won't have another cockeral, but then we feel bad that they haven't got a beloved leader anymore (allthough I am sure they'd probably be delighted not to be pecked and pinned down by him on a regular basis - chicken sex is rough!). Anyway we 'rescued' Bruce quite recently and he was all cute and cuddly for about a week - he is eviler than evil now, and getting into their little paddock every day is like a Challenge Aneka/Krypton Factor type experience without any of the pink jumpsuits or 80's hairstyles for light relief!
ReplyDeleteThe farmer will never miss him/her. Are you gonna pot him up or keep him as a pet? We have a slew of free-range laying hens (and two roosters to keep them women in line!) and I LOVE them. They will never be potted. However, I also have about 20 roasters than are about three weeks away from butchering. Yes, organic and free-ranging. I don't have any neighbors that will steal away in the night with my wayward chickens! :P
ReplyDeleteHi! Stumbled across your site through the new arc animal rescue site. My name is Adele and my family and I live in Lumphanan. We also got some hens this year from new arc, and have become hooked. We have four hens and have enjoyed watching them range freely around our garden all Summer and enjoying life, while producing lovely eggs for my family. Our rescue hens have went into Molt again and its cold outside, so I have got the knitting needles out and am knitting them little jackets to keep them warm!
ReplyDeleteWe also have turned some of our land into a vegetable/fruit garden and have enjoyed the fruits of our labour. Our cupboards are now full of pickles and preserves, with winter vegetables still in garden - kale, winter cabbage, leeks, broccolli and sprouts.
It been lovely reading your blog and finding out about like minded people.
(Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is also to be thanked for inspiring me to go green!) X