Aussie Eggs

Saturday 26th January 2013

Happy Australia Day from the

2 Happy Hens!

This blog post will show you some fresh, home grown 'Aussie eggs'.

Giblet laid her last egg on 21st December 2012. It was absolutely enormous,

as you can see from the egg in the back row on the left hand side.

Giblet's last egg had a double-yolk which she had never produced before.

Chilli is an egg machine and lays light brown coloured eggs

(middle row of photos).

Chilli laid an egg every day for 6 weeks

 straight until she had a day off laying!

Nestle laid her first egg on 3rd January 2013 

only 4 days after she joined Chilli in the yard. 

Nestle's eggs are a light cream colour (front row of photos) 

and are a decent size for a newly laying pullet hen. 

Normally, the egg gets bigger as the hen gets older.

Chilli's Car Inspection

The photos in this blog post were taken in late 2012

when old Giblet was still with us (miss you Gibby).

A few months ago, Chilli was in a curious mood and inspected Lydia's car.

Chilli inspects the rear wheel whilst Giblet takes a little nap standing up.

Hmm, the tread on this tyre looks OK....

 Chilli looks at the top of the rear wheel.

Giblet doesn't take any  notice.

 Chilli inspects the rear of the car.

 

 Inspector Chilli walks to Gerard's 4WD car. 

Chilli has a curious personality like Curry had.

Introducing Nestle

Nestle came to live with us on New Year's Eve 2012

(the day after Giblet passed away).

Nestle came from a flock of young hens on a rural

property about half an hour's drive away.

 Nestle is a 6 month old pullet hen, a hybrid between a

Rhode Island Red rooster and a White Leghorn hen.

Nestle has her father's dominant red gene's!

We love her big black beady eyes.

Nestle looks like a rooster but is really a nice girl with a stunning tail.

This photo was taken 2 hours after Nestle arrived in her new home. 

She settled in quick and loved the grass and green vegetation in the yard.

Chilli got cranky as soon as Nestle arrived. 

Nestle soon taught Chilli who was the new boss in the pecking order.

Nestle having her first "coop induction". 

Lydia put the rectangle container of laying pellets inside the
 centre of the coop door to teach Nestle to feed in the coop. 

"Chilli Express" ran up to the coop and didn't want to miss out on any food!

(There is a race horse in Australia with the name "Chilli Express").

Chilli always eats like a guts so Nestle had to teach her

 to be fair with a few pecks to get her into line during feeding time.

The new hen Nestle took over being boss of Chilli after Giblet died.

Nestle enjoys eating patches of grass after being bred
 on a dry and dusty property in Western Australia.

Good Bye Giblet

Giblet died suddenly on Sunday night 30th December 2012

aged 2 years and 9.5 months. We didn't expect to lose Giblet less

than 8 weeks after her sister Curry. 

Giblet will be remembered as a regal and majestic hen.  

Giblet was a sensible hen who was always on the look out. 

Giblet was a sensible bird and liked to 'chicken chatter'.

Giblet loved the greenery, especially the daisy bushes. 

 She was the protector of the yard and of her sister Curry.

 Giblet was renowned as being the "Preen Queen" and spent

many hours each day preening and making herself look beautiful.

 Miss Giblet loved to sunbake.

 Giblet was always so clean with shiny feathers.

Giblet slept more during the day as she got older. 

Fast asleep....head right down...

Good bye Miss Giblet. We will miss you and Curry.

May you be a happy hen forever.

Thanks to our good friend Laurie for his assistance

 during Giblet's last day with us.