Pitter Patter, Scratch, Scratch

 A stormy start to summer has brought lots of rain and

 thunder storms to Western Australia. The ground was soaked,

 the grass turned green and the weather was uncomfortably humid.

Chilli's circle of footprints in the wet ground were obvious

 in the car port when Lydia returned home from work one day.

Chilli has big feet for a little chicken!

Gerard witnessed Chilli walking around in a circle,

doing a good old fashioned Aussie U-turn!

 

Chilli likes to scratch, more than Miss Giblet does!

Giblet was the digging queen until Chilli ("Big Foot") came along!

The 2 Happy Hens like to eat the little yellow flowers that fall

on the ground from our next door neighbours flowering tree.

This time Lydia witnessed Chilli's scratching spree.

 

Phantom Egg Song

TURN SOUND UP!

One day Miss Giblet went crazy and cracked a big 'egg song'

 even though she didn't even lay an egg!

The phantom egg song went on for about 15 minutes;

Giblet just wouldn't shut up!

This movie is dedicated to Lydia's old work friend Kiri.

Kiri was always fascinated by Lydia's description of 
egg songs by the 2 Happy Hens! 

Soggy Chilli

 Chilli loves water and loves rainy days.

She prefers to run around and get wet rather than

stay under cover and stay dry (like sensible Miss Giblet does!) 

Chilli loves water.

Lydia thinks she is extra waterproof as rain drops just bounce off her feathers.

 Wet on the outside, dry on the inside!

Chilli loves to eat wet grass.

Chilli is most un-lady-like as she squats to do a poo!

Goodbye Curry

 Curry passed away on 2nd November 2012 from organ failure.

She was aged 2 years and 7.5 months.

 Although Curry was the dominant hen in the pecking order,

she was still an inquisitive character who was a big sook and loved attention.
Curry was Gerard's "cuddle bunny".

Thanks for being our pet Curry and thanks for the memories.

Lydia and Gerard will miss you heaps.

Your sister Miss Giblet will also miss you.

Now Gibby will have to take over being boss and put up with Chilli instead!

Just for the record, we can assure you that Curry

was not made into a chicken curry food dish!

 

Rest in Peace Curry.

Good bye and forever be a Happy Hen.

Spring Rose

 Our friends Mick and Kat kindly gave us this beautiful pink

 rose bush before they left town and moved interstate.

It had a beautiful spring blossom.

The flower had a lovely old English rose perfume.

Curry liked to sleep under the rose.

 Giblet liked to sit in the hole Curry made underneath the rose bush.

The bad lighting in this photo makes Giblet

 look a darker red colour than she really is!

The 2 Happy Hens cuddle and snooze under the pink rose bush.

Curry tilts her head back fast asleep.

This is Curry's classic sleeping pose.

The Pecking Order

Curry and Giblet were 2 Happy Hens until.....

the "intruder" Chilli arrived!

The pecking order for the hen hierarchy had begun!

Chilli crouched down low in fear of the 2 Happy Hens.

Chilli even hid behind the air conditioning compressor to escape.

Being a small hen meant that Chilli was flexible enough to

hide under the nesting box in the coop.

 Chilli lays low in fear of being bullied by Curry and Giblet

who are drinking from a little watering can.

Chilli keeping a low profile near Miss Giblet. 

Nearly 2 weeks after Chilli arrived, Chilli retaliates and gives Curry a peck!

Introducing Chilli

On 11th October 2012, a 6 month old Isabrown hen

named "Chilli" came to join the 2 Happy Hens.

Curry and Giblet are not very impressed with the new "intruder".

Chilli is an energetic pullet and is like a mini "Road Runner" bird.

She likes to jump on the pot plants and eat the juicy

tips off the aloa vera plants and succulents!

 Chilli came from the same Perth chicken breeder as Curry and Giblet

 so they are probably distant relatives!

Chilli may be the 2 Happy Hens' great, great grand-neice?!

Chilli is having a "coop induction" and she still has to learn

that the coop is also the place where she sleeps at night.

Chilli's natural instinct is to roost in a high place like on top of the coop or in a tree!

 Chilli had already started laying eggs when we bought her.

She has laid 3 eggs in the first 3 days in her new home.

Chilli likes to make deep nests in the straw and pops the egg out quickly

(unlike Curry and Giblet who took ages to lay an egg in their younger hen days).