Goldfields Poultry Club Show

How gorgeous?! Princess Olivia takes her chicken balloon for a walk at the

 Kalgoorlie-Boulder Fair last weekend. This is one of Lydia's favourite photos.

Colourful balloons for sale in the shape of ducks, hens and chicks.

A great display by the Goldfields Poultry Club in the Wool Pavillion.
Three caged prize-winning birds are presented in the foreground
 with lots of poultry themed kids art in the background. 

Goldfields poultry on show. Well done to the hard working

 volunteers who made the poultry show at the Fair a reality.

A prize winning hen begins to lay an egg.

One fresh egg!

I can't see you!

Time for a rest.

An enormous rooster.

Another enormous rooster.

A lovely silver-tailed bird.

This black and white pair won first prize.

A rooster and a speckled hen.

The black and white spots on this hen remind

Lydia of a dalmatian (breed of dog).

What's over there?

Nice profile!

A little speckled bantam.

A cute little bantam hen.

A nice little hen whose colouring is similar to Chilli's.

This hen has such a wide tail.

Another cute little hen.

A frizzle having a typical bad hair day!

The frizzle looks a bit angry in this photo!

"Steve" the rooster is such a 'dude' with this cool hair-do!

This photo is another one of Lydia's favourites.

A white silky bantam.

The rooster sits down....

....and then goes to sleep. Sleeping beauty.

Double duck!

A beautiful blue winged duck.

A big black and white pair.

This bird poses for the camera.

Hello!

The First Place Reserve Champion at the Goldfields Poultry Club show.

The First Place Reserve Champion stands

with its trophy, ribbon and winning certificates.

The Second Place Reserve Champion hen at the poultry show.

The Runner Up Reserve Champion hen in front of the First Place Reserve Champion.

The Second Place Reserve Champion stands

 with its trophy, ribbon and winning certificates.

 

The Grand Champion scratches and pecks some newspaper.

The Grand Champion with its trophies, ribbon and winning certificates.

Prize winning eggs. Look at those unusual green eggs!

The Goldfields produces great quality eggs!

First place prize winning eggs.

These lovely speckled eggs also won first place.

'Best In Show' eggs.

Fluffy little chickens.

What came first? The chicken or the egg?!

Egg Shell Art

Lydia collected Nestle's egg shells for several weeks in

readiness for a dyed egg shell mosaic card making workshop.

Lydia was keen for her friend Leoni to teach the crafty

technique using light coloured egg shells from Nestle.  

Nestle samples a small piece of her egg shell.

Don't make a habit of it Nestle as we don't want you to eat your own eggs!

Chilli and Nestle inspect the container of egg shells with curiosity.

 Nestle quickly goes in for the grab!

The project was created on a non-stick sheet for easy cleaning.

Oval cardboard shapes were glued together to

make a stiff black cardboard shape base.

'Modge Podge' glue was applied as a multi-purpose sealer and glue

to stick the smashed egg shell pieces onto the base.

The piece was then allowed to dry before colouring with dyes.

Nestle's egg shells are a light ivory colour whilst

brown eggs like Chilli's are more common in the shops.

 A range of coloured alcohol and water based dyes were
applied to the egg shell mosaic shapes. The colours were blended

with various glimmer mists and sprays. The egg shell mosaic pieces

 created using Nestle's pale coloured egg shells produced

 vibrant colours when dyed. The black base gives the appearance

 of a mosaic or lead light design after colour has been applied.

 Leoni brought her food dehydrator appliance to the class

 to speed up the drying process. You can see various pieces
drying on the shelves of the dehydrator.

A water based varnish was applied to the dried, coloured egg shell mosaic shapes.

'Modge Podge' was suitable as a top coat varnish for a sheer finish.

Lydia used 'Dimensional Magic' for a thicker, high shine, glassy

finish on her two mosaic pieces. 'Dimensional Magic' is cloudy when

 first applied and turns clear and super shiny after dying for several hours.

A beautiful variety of egg shell mosaic pieces created by Leoni.

Don't they look great?! Lydia loves the different colour combinations!

Some pieces have sparkly flecks of mica scattered on top. 

Lydia might have to try making some egg shell mosaic

 pieces decorated with a bit of glitter for extra 'bling'! 

The egg shell mosaic pieces were used as an accent on an

orginal Easter card. You are just too clever Leoni!

Isn't it amazing how creative you can get using a plain egg shell?!

Leoni's Easter card is complete; looks great.

Happy Days

 

Here is a collection of miscellaneous photos

 of the 2 Happy Hens in free range mode. 

Chilli and Nestle are a pair of characters.

Lydia has this photo of 'the girls' as her wallpaper on her work computer.

 Chilli has dirty feet and a fluffy butt!

Nestle stands on a pile of bricks behind the shed.

Nestle also has dirty feet from digging in the damp ground.

Nestle eats strawberry pieces for breakfast. So spoilt!

 Nestle looks like gonzo with her long, pointy beak

and black beady eyes!

(Gonzo from Jim Henderson's "Muppets")

 The 2 Happy Hens love to have cuddles every day.

They are two sooky chookies!

Nestle likes to perch on Gerard's arm.

On this particular day, Nestle has a nice sleep

and puts her head under her wing.

  Nestle takes a nap.

 

 Two sleeping beauties!

Happy Holiday Visitors

The 2 Happy Hens got lots of attention when Darren and Cally

brought their 3 kids to visit during the summer school holidays.

 Sam (in the stripey shirt), Noah and Lydia feed the

 2 Happy Hens lettuce whilst Gerard sits in the background.

Thanks to Darren for his wonderful photography.

You know what they say: never work with animals and children!

Great photos Darren!

Chilli in her natural habitat.

Chilli loves eating one of her favourite green foods: lettuce.

Chilli pigs out on lettuce like she hasn't eaten for a week! 

Lydia holds Nestle whilst Amelia feeds the hungry hen lettuce.

Amelia feeds lettuce to the 2 Happy Hens.

Noah is not too sure......

  

Lydia's 2 favourite birds: chickens and owls.

Chilli the chicken looks evil in this photo!

Darren reckons that Chilli resembles a dinosaur in this image!

 Chilli looks a bit friendlier in this photo.

 

Forget dogs, chickens are a man's best friend!

 Amelia goes to pat Nestle who's having cuddles with Gerard.

Sam the little man is near all the action.

 

Sam pats Nestle. Pat, pat, pat.

 Nestle is the biggest cuddle bunny and the biggest sook.

We are looking forward to the next visit from Darren, Cally and kids.

The 2 Happy Hens would love to see you in April for a fun Easter egg hunt!



New Year, New Egg

 Nestle sits on Chilli's egg in the nesting box in the coop.

Chilli is often the first hen to lay an egg very early in the morning.

 Nestle uses her beak to move Chilli's egg underneath her.

 Nestle can hear Chilli making noises outside the coop.

 Nesting Nestle!

"The look". Nestle looks straight at the camera.

Nestle's red comb on top of her head has a natural wave in it. 

Nestle is waiting for Lydia to leave her alone

 so she can sit down properly and lay an egg!

Two fresh eggs! Chilli's brown egg is on the left and

Nestle's lighter coloured egg is on the right. 

Jump Into 2014

Nestle jumps on the kitchen window sill.

She is a very good at flier even with her wings clipped! 

Nestle inspects the window frame. 

   Nestle looks through a gap in the wooden venetian blinds.

The naughty chicken is planning her big jump.

 Nestle sticks her head through the blinds.....

 ...and pushes her way through the kitchen window.

Nestle jumps into the kitchen!

She loves being around people so much

she will literally jump into the house!