chickens in the garden

I have for a long time, had a hankering to have a few hens. Whenever visiting friends who were chicken owners, I would admire them and enjoy the tasty eggs and think how lovely it would be to have some myself. Then I would come home and look at my garden and my beloved herbaceous perennials and change my mind.

Then last summer, there was a piece on the radio about owning hens, most of which I missed, but I caught the end where they were saying 'if you were worried about your garden, then go for something like a pekin bantam'!!! My interest was immediately aroused. However, I had never heard of a pekin bantam, my friends all had large impressive looking birds. So I googled them and in an instant my heart was lost. I had discovered the most delightful little hen with feathery feet and a fluffy pompom of a tail. The search was on, I scoured the Internet and poultry magazines. I read and read and read, it become my sole topic of conversation, I must have bored people rigid. one of my sons' said 'it was just like this with the dog....

That was a few months ago, during August I managed to buy to lovely young pekins and then three more in October. So I have my flock and what a delight they are. then on 29th December, Betty decided to lay an egg!! Our first egg, we all looked at it as if it were the first egg ever laid. She went on to lay two more over the following days and then stopped, obviously she must have thought it was too cold to be spring after all.

They all have names, Arietty (lavender pekin), Edith (white), Betty (black) Lottie (salmon) and Spit (the cuckoo pekin!!)


I love them to bits, just watching them and having them take corn from my hand makes me smile.