The Chicken Dance

Our talented friend Connie did an original drawing of

 Lydia and Gerard with the 2 Happy Hens as a Christmas gift.

Chickadee (left) and Nestle (right) do the chicken 

dance as everyone celebrates Christmas.

We love the picture so much that we got it professionally framed.

Thanks Connie!

Intoducing Chickadee

 A new baby hen came to join Nestle after
Chilli passed away on 7th December 2014.
Welcome little "Chickadee" (a slang word meaning "a female"). 

 Chickadee was bred in Western Australia and is

 an 8 week old pure bred Rhode Island Red hen.

Her first egg is due Easter 2015!

 Chickadee's feathers are growing fast.

 Chickadee quickly learnt to drink water from "Wet-a-Chook"

at the custom built poultry feeding station.

Chickadee takes a quick drink whilst Nestle is not chasing her! 

 Chickadee eats the seed fallen on the ground after Nestle's messy eating.

Chickadee is a growing girl and eats heaps more food than Nestle.

Nestle was not impressed that Chickadee stole

her bed on the left hand side of the coop!

There was lots of drama at sunset as the 2 Happy Hens went to sleep

 in their nesting boxes and little Chickadee wanted Nestle to sit on her!

Chickadee watches from a distance as Nestle takes a drink

from the watering can positioned under a down pipe.

 Nestle looks very orange compared to Chickadee standing in the background.

The 2 Happy Hens strike a pose.

Choose Quality This Christmas

Choose Quality, Choose Nestle!

 

The history of Nestle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestl%C3%A9

 

Gerard chose the name Nestle for our pet hen because:

 

1. She is a chocolate brown colour which

reminded us of Nestle chocolate and coffee.

2. Nestle is an international food company and

 chickens produce an egg (food) nearly every day.

3. The Nestle food company logo is birds on a nest.

4. Nestle has the word "nest" in it and chickens like to make a nest!

Goodbye Chilli

Our dear Chilli passed away in her bed in the coop 

in the early hours of Sunday 7th December 2014.

Chilli was 2 years and 9 months old which is old for an

 Isabrown hen who produced a lot of eggs. Chilli loved her bed.

Chilli's overall colour lightened up as she got older and grew new feathers.

Chilli had a blunt beak when she first joined the 2 Happy Hens.

We were surprised that her beak grew back to be normal and pointy.

 Chilli was always at the bottom of the pecking order but was a happy hen.

We used to call her "Inspector Chilli" as she was a

 curious hen who liked to have a closer look at things.

Lydia used to say "Hot Chilli Chicken" in the warm weather when

Chilli would lift her wings up slightly to cool herself down.

 "Inspector Chilli" made a habit of poking her head

 around the corner to see what was happening.

 This photo of Chilli and Nestle at the kitchen window is one of Lydia's

favourite photos of Chilli. Chilli's comb and wattle is flapping in

 motion as the 2 Happy Hens get excited at the prospect of food.

 

 A pot of chicken! Naughty Chilli jumps in a large pot plant on the verandah.

 Partners in crime! Naughty Nestle and Chilli eat the potting mix.

Not even rocks spread around the plant will stop the

 2 Happy Hens from digging and eating potting mix!

Chilli absolutely loved her pet carrier.

She enjoyed travelling in the car in her pet carrier.

 Chilli often liked to lay eggs and nest in the

 pet carrier stored in the shed just for fun.

  Chilli was an egg machine and laid the most eggs of any hen we've had so far.

 This 81 gram egg is the largest egg of Chilli's short life.

 Chilli looks comfortable sitting on the ground covered in leaf litter.

 Chilli was a super fluffy chicken and it took a while to gain her trust

for cuddles. She loved having her legs (drumsticks!) massaged.

 Chilli used to fall alseep at cuddle time.

This is the last photo taken of Chilli about 2 weeks before she left us.

Goodbye Chilli, thanks the happy memories and for all the lovely eggs.

You had a wonderful life with us. May you forever be a happy hen.

Reunited with Curry and Giblet.

 

(P.S. Just for the record, Chilli was not made into a Chilli chicken food dish!)

Big News For Hen Welfare in Australia

Goldfields Poultry Auction and Sale

The Goldfields Poultry Club was formed in 2014 and is dedicated

to promoting the keeping, breeding and showing of various breeds of

chickens, waterfowl and other varieties of rare poultry in Australia.

The club is purely a not-for-profit organisation run

by a team of hard-working, enthusiastic volunteers.

 On Sunday the 16th November 2014, the Goldfields Poultry Club held its

inaugural poultry auction and sale as a public fundraising activity to go

towards the club's cage-building project for next year's community fair.

The crowds flocked early to view the poultry for auction and sale.

 Club President Shannon feeds the poultry.

 The poultry sold fast and you can already see some empty cages.

Shannon gives Paul some expert advice.

The shed area was jam packed - standing room only!

Club member Marita and onlookers study the young poultry kept in handmade cages. 

 Club Treasurer Chris (left) and Vice President Paula (right)

are proud of their poultry.

 A trio of poultry are ready to be taken home in boxes.

Steve and Sophie from Goldfields Stockfeeds sold poultry feed and supplies

on the day and generously donated some money to the club.  

Sophie gives Goldfields Stockfeeds the thumbs up! 

The Goldfields Poultry club appreciates your support, thanks very much.

 Steve makes a sale.

The three hens looks comfortable in a cardboard nesting

 box as they leave the poultry auction and sale.

Take-away chicken!

 Some grey coloured chickens are ready for a new home.

 The children are fascinated by their new family members.

Girls just want to have fun!

 More take-away chicken!

 There's a big hole in the corner of the hutch! Can you see it?

 Watch out for the hutch removalists!

 The Goldfields Poultry Club merchandise stand was very popular.

 Customers inspecting the handmade goodies for sale.

Committee member Laura is happy to give good customer service. 

 Karen and Sophie from Goldfields Stockfeeds display a sign for sale.

 Fresh Esperance eggs for sale.

 Merchandise for sale.

 Welcome to the newest member of the Goldfields Poultry Club

as a new membership form is completed!

 The children had fun in the sun at the poultry auction and sale.

Thanks to Paula for donating the plants for sale to assist in club fundraising.

A variety of herbs and succulents were on offer.

 Cheryle did a great job cooking the sausage sizzle on the barb-e-que.

Do you want some sauce with that?

 Club members Cheryle and Jess had fun feeding the hungry crowd.

 Nice apron Jess!

 Club President Shannon puts her hand out for a well earned

sausage in bread (with tomato sauce of course!)

 A little girl keeps an eye on some young black poultry as she eats her sausage.

 Club Secretary Katherine happily holds four baby roosters.

The baby boys are on show. 

Club member Nyree holds a young Belgian D'Uccle rooster.

 What an impressive comb you have young man!

 Connie loves holding a baby chick.

Adorable!

The club Secretary Katherine bred this cute little silver spangled hamburg chick.

The baby chicks will grow up to look like these 

9 week old silver spangled hamburgs.

The bird on the right of the photo takes a nap under his/her wing.

 Baby turkeys for sale.

 Listen to me: NO I AM NOT READY FOR CHRISTMAS! 

A pair of young hybrid birds of sale.

A curly frizzle pecks some food.

A pair of ducks.

A rear view of some adult silky roosters.

Look at all those feathers and fluff!

The rooster in the middle has a stunning black tail.

It's a pity we can't see his face in the photo!

 The poultry auction and sale was heaps of fun and a successful fundraising day.

Thanks to everyone for their help and contribution

 to assist the Goldfields Poultry Club.

New members welcome. Find us on fb.

This newspaper story was published on the 18th November 2014.

P.S. Chilli and Nestle stayed home on Sunday and

 were definitely not sold at the poultry auction!

The 2 Happy Hens did not have any new additions

to the flock after the event either!