Happy Easter from the Girls

Frenchy and Speckles wish you a very happy Easter!

Frenchy and Speckles drink from the water bowl.

Easter has been unusually warm this year; it feels like summer has returned!

This is one of our favourite photos of Speckles.

We love her cute fluffy face.

Speckles started moulting the week before Easter.

She's gone off the lay, so no eggs from Speckles this Easter!

Bianco and Buffy have grown a lot since we bought them 6 weeks ago.

Bianco strikes a pose with her lovely long white legs.

Buffy (on the left), Bianco (sitting)

and Frenchy in the background.

This is Buffy and Bianco’s first Easter.

Bianco likes to hide in the bushes.

Bianco and Buffy are still timid and settling in.

They are happy pullets who like to eat pallets, seed and lettuce.

Happy Easter from the girls!

Rest In Peace Chickadee

Unfortunately Chickadee had been unwell for a several months and we

were monitoring her behaviour and quality of life after seeing the vet.

Here you can see Chickadee's comb had gone a bit

black above her beak, indicating underlying illness.

 Chickadee had a dirt bath under a tree with Speckles (2IC/second in charge)

by her side. Chickadee loved dirt baths.

We sadly decided to euthanise Chickadee on 19th March 2020 as she

was starting to struggle. This photo was taken on the last day of

Chickadee's life. She looks fabulous in the photo, like nothing

was wrong, but we knew from x-rays that she was terminally ill.

Chickadee was a big, beautiful Rhode Island Red hen with stunning plumage.

Chickadee was 5 years and 5 months old when she died.

She became our pet when she was only 7 weeks old.

Chickadee LOVED cuddles and being patted which she had daily, often

multiple times daily. She was a like a big, brown, fluffy teddy bear.

Chickadee's last supper with Speckles and Frenchy.

Chickadee always looked 'extra large' compared

to the French Wheaten Maran hens.

Frenchy and Chickadee peck the ground.

Chickadee and Speckles hang out in the corner.

Chickadee was the boss of Speckles and Frenchy.

She wasn't a very good boss, but Chickadee's size and age

made her the hen at the top of the pecking order.

Chickadee yawns as the girls hang out.

Chickadee weighed 3.2 kg and she had lovely long, shiny feathers.

She had lots of nicknames including 'BFC' (Big Fat Chicken') and 'Boof Chook'.

Chickadee was a good layer when she wasn't broody or moulting.

Chickadee's egg is the ivory coloured one on the left of the photo.

Speckles' egg is in the middle and Frenchy laid the dark brown egg on the right.

A photo of Chickadee's very last egg in the nest she made in the Taj Mahal coop.

The vet sent us this card after Chickadee was euthanized.

Receiving the card in the letterbox made Lydia cry! 

Rest In Peace beautiful Chickadee.

We loved you as our pet and we thank you for the eggs

and joy you gave us. May you forever be a happy hen.

Introducing Buffy and Bianco

Introducing the latest additions to the flock, Buffy and Bianco!

Lydia visited the coastal town of Esperance with her friend Jen for the long

weekend and brought home two pure bred leghorn hens on 2nd March 2020.

Jen was kind enough to allow some 'babies on board' in her car on the way home.

They are a buff leghorn and a white leghorn hen about 5-6 months old;

a breed that originated in Tuscany, Italy. Bianco means 'white' in Italian. 

Bianco has dirty feet after scratching in the wet dirt.

Speckles feeds at the 'Dine-a-Chook' station whilst Chickadee runs past the

A-frame coop where the 'new kids on the block' Buffy and Bianco live.

Speckles inspects the A-frame coop to check out the new neighbours.

Frenchy is nowhere to be seen!

We Love Snails

The summer storms have brought lots of rain

this week, which means snails of course!

Our friend collected lots of snails from her garden to give to 

Chickadee, Speckles and Frenchy for the perfect snail feast.

Chickadee is about the eat a live snail.

Frenchy loves snails more than Chickadee and Speckles.

Frenchy thinks it's fun to chase Chickadee when Chickadee has a snail in

her mouth, even though there's a whole container full of snails to choose from!

We expect the happy hens to consume all the snails in about 5 days.

The day after the first snail feast, Frenchy laid a tiny 13 gram dark brown egg.
This is very unusual as Frenchy normally lays large eggs in excess of 60 grams.
It's about the same size as a quail egg.
Speckles laid a speckled egg!

The 'Sleep Eat' Bush

Speckles (on the left) sits under a branch of her favourite bush.

We call it the 'sleep eat' bush as funny little Speckles

likes to sit there and snooze, waking up briefly to chomp

on the nice green leaves before going back to sleep again!

We have also seen Frenchy (in the front) do the same thing

as she sleeps close to the nice green leaves at the base of the bush,

waking up for a quick snack on the foliage, before falling asleep again.

Chickadee (in the background) is a much bigger and taller chicken

who likes to munch on the green leaves of overhanging branches.

Oh, what a life of luxury the girls have!

Speckles and Frenchy Turn 2

Speckles and Frenchy turned 2 years old in early January 2020.

They are French Wheaten Maran half-sisters.

Speckles is second-in-charge (2IC) to Chickadee.

We love Speckles' fluffy little face which gives her lots of character.

Speckles is a curious and intelligent hen who's always on the lookout

and on guard, especially when Chickadee and Frenchy are taking a nap.

For these reasons, we like to call her 'Inspector Speckles'.

Speckles has a huge appetite, especially when she's laying eggs.

She eats a lot of food for a small hen and gobbles lots of lettuce.

Frenchy is at the bottom of the pecking order and tries to suck up to the 'boss'

Chickadee, which doesn't work as Chickadee is a big, old, cranky hen!

Frenchy is a timid, pretty little hen who also has a big appetite.

She loves fresh tomato, lettuce and fruit. She's not really a fussy eater,

except when we go to administer her quarterly worming tablets.

Frenchy won't tolerate the worming medication crushed up and hidden in food,

so we have to manually shove the worming tablets down her throat,

much to everyone's distress! Frenchy doesn't like to be handed much. 

A couple of times, we've seen her do a funny sideways step

(like a crab) to avoid being touched!

Frenchy lays very large brown eggs when she's not moulting.

Festive Fruity Fun

The hens were treated to scraps of fresh mango before Christmas.

Speckles (left) rolled her piece of mango in the dirt.

Chickadee (right) started moulting in December.

Frenchy and Speckles stand amongst the sprawling grape vine.

The hens enjoy eating the fresh grapes as a snack.

The hens huddle on a hot and humid Christmas day.
Chickadee (left) has lost her black tail feathers and a lot of brown fluff.

Speckles looks very fat after eating her Christmas Day lunch (lettuce leaves!)

Frenchy started moulting before Christmas which makes her look old and tired.

The hens have gone off the lay during the moulting season.

Lovely new feathers will grow in the new year.