In the hen-house

The girls aren't laying much...

we've only had one egg this week.

But they are eating, 

socialising,

sexing (as my 7 y.o. grandson calls it)

dust bathing,

clucking...

in short, living the chook life.

Cheeky and Heather dust bathing in the sun.
Heather is one of the original refugees from
a battery farm. She must be about 4 or 5 years old now.

Of the 8 aracauna chicks I bought, only two remain.

Five were roosters, and one of the hens

 just fell out of the tree...dead.

This one is called Cheeky,

because of her sideburns. 

 This one is Pompi...for her pompadour hair-do. 

Between them, they churned out about 

four dozen green eggs 

before the cold stopped them.

The Rooster.  

He is the champion of the harem, 

always on alert, 

settling squabbles among his ladies 

 finding the tastiest morsels for them.

and demanding his due reward, of course.

I think he fathered more than 12 chicks last season...

most of them with barred plumage like his. 

Four of his sons have been re-homed and there is one left.

I think I will take both father and son

up to the farm soon.

I will get another fella, 

to introduce some different genes.

This rooster prefers the older girls,

who were the basis of his original harem,

and is not so interested in the araucanas

and the other hens.

I think a new man will be glad to take

the whole lot under his wing!

It is difficult to count...they don't stay still,

but I think there are just over a dozen hens

at present...

not including these metal ones.