Our new additions

Well we've had a day or so of mainly ups with the odd down

We've gone from this:



To this:

ooh I think I downsized it too much in photobucket - sorry!

There are 3 there - we actually have 5 little chickies. 4 were all born together, 1 we rescued today and is now thriving and with mummy and the others. Here are some better ones:






With proud daddy

cool Pics Beth!
the Daddy looks soo proud! ...

when we cleaned out the unhatched eggs we found a little claw sticking out of a cold egg. We opened it and the chick moved a little. Here she was - we called her Juniper



We kept her warm all afternoon - and she seemed to be ok - but then she died early this evening . Sweet little Juniper

Awwwwwwwww Beth, i didn't know you kept chickens?!.

Their so cute! but RIP little Juniper bless her

Thanks Rigel and Susan.

Before yesterday we had three. Two bantam hens Lottie and Henrietta and Jacques the rooster. As you can see he fancies himself as a very handsome bird and completely irresistable to the ladies.

He actually has a point since he now has 5 live babies to show off to the world.

We have never hatched any babies before so we're very excited. We will keep the girls, when we find out which ones are girls. Any boys will go to a nearby farm who breed bantams. They will have a life of chasing lady chickens around open fields - can't be bad

He is a handsome bird though! Did you hatch them in the house under a heat lamp?

This was entirely natural Susan. When they're out of the coop they are organic free-range chickies.

Mummy hen - Lottie, got broody about a month ago and started sitting on eggs. She kept stealing all of Henrietta's eggs and sitting on those too. We couldn't believe it when she started to sit. She was very dedicated until she hatched out the four of them. Then the rest could go hang as far as she was concerned.

We found one hatchling in the straw this morning, so we warmed up the snugglesafe and stuck it underneath the chickie. It soon perked up, so hubby rather unceremoniously upped mum and stuck the chicken underneath. It's now running around quite happily with its brothers and sisters.

Awww thats brilliant that they hatched themselves because it's not summer temperatures yet really is it!.

poor Juniper!!! ..my thougths for her...

That is one healthy looking rooster Beth! Good luck with the chicks!

Awww, they're so cute!! Congrats!!!

They are so precious, they look so fragile.

SOOOOOOOO sweet! Sorry about Juniper, though.

Awww, birdies!

They are beautiful. I have never kept chickens, though I sent many childhood holidays on a chicken farm. But I have been thinking of gettting some in France, though I don't know how difficult it would be to learn to look after them. Can you recommend anything I should do/read to see if I could. And what breed is easiest in a temperate climate? I have a ready made hen house/coop/run there, with two large fields, so it would be ideal. The previous owners had hens who ran around with their horses!

Ohhh Beth, how very very very cute! I didn't know you kept chickens either!

aww thanks guys

Originally Posted by jennyranson

They are beautiful. I have never kept chickens, though I sent many childhood holidays on a chicken farm. But I have been thinking of gettting some in France, though I don't know how difficult it would be to learn to look after them. Can you recommend anything I should do/read to see if I could. And what breed is easiest in a temperate climate? I have a ready made hen house/coop/run there, with two large fields, so it would be ideal. The previous owners had hens who ran around with their horses!

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Jenny we are pretty new to this adventure ourselves - we only got our chickens at the end of last summer. We have small chickens - they are Dutch Gold Bantams and are lovely. Because they live in our garden we decided to opt for the classic trio - two hens and a rooster. He can be noisy though and we are living on the good grace of our neighbours who say they don't mind his odd crow during the day. We keep him locked up in a sound proofed (as far as possible) coop overnight with the girls.

You wouldn't have a problem with all that lovely land that you have. But if you'd rather not be woken at 4 am, I suggest making sure that he's locked away every night and the windows of the coop (if there are any) are blacked out.

We lock Jacques and the girls away in their coop every night. Until Lottie got broody they would both sleep under Jacques' wings every night - it was so sweet seeing the huddled, one under each wing, at the back of the coop . That way, they are kept safe from the foxes.

The girls produce about 8 eggs per week between them. Bantams eggs are smaller than regular hen's eggs though - you would need two eggs to equal a normal sized egg. But the family reckon they are much better than commercial eggs.

During the day, the birds roam the garden eating bugs and chicken feed that we spread on the ground - so no chemicals in our garden. Then we just have to make sure they have fresh water available and hay for the coop.

The rest they do themselves.

If you want to go ahead - there are some really good books around. The authoritative guide for bantam keeping is a very small book only about £5 but lots of good information in it and available from sellers on the internet. Let me know if you need to know the title.

Someone else told me to get Bantams, as they are not too difficult, very beautiful and the eggs are good. I would not do it till I am well settled in (whenever that will be LOL) and I feel at least a bit knowledgeable. BUt as I said, the previous owners had around 20 hens that I saw there, so the place is suitable. And my neighbour here has hens and sheep, so I am used to waking early! Please give me the book title, either by PM or post. Thanks.

Gorgeous Banty game ****! <--- lol filter won't let me call him what he is
I'd forgotten how much little banty chicks look like quail chicks.
I miss having chickens.

They are so cute