The new girls in town

So it only took us, what, 7 or so months to actually get organised with the chickens. But! They are here! Last week we picked up our two girls and they have been happily eating, sleeping and foraging away.

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Meet Daisy’s little lady: Strawberry. A Rhode Island Red.

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And Harper’s lady: Snowy. A White Leghorn.

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They are not fancy, picked up from the co-op and are about 16 or so weeks old now. While they won’t be laying for 4 or so more weeks, they are very much-loved by all members of the family. Throughout the day you will find one of the girls, Rob or myself out there having a chat with them. They are fascinating! And lovely company around the place.

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Do you have chooks?
Love them?
Anything I NEED to know?

Comments

  1. I want them! I can’t have them on my balcony though 🙁

  2. We have four chooks and one duck. Thy are lovely to have around and the eggs they give us are nothing short of devine. Ours are called Rose, Lucy, Red, Bossy and Jemima the duck. No real advice, they are pretty easy to look after, just be wary of foxes, but I think you already knew that. Enjoy!

  3. Jay - Moodie Foodie says

    I don’t have chooks, for one I live in the middle of the city and they probably wouldn’t be so welcome but I they also freak me out a little. Is that weird? I do so love the idea of fresh eggs though. Love a fresh egg…..

  4. We have 14 chooks – we are getting about 9 divine eggs a day – have been busy cooking quiches etc for the freezer! Hubby makes the best pasta so he is doing his bit too to use them! Eggs anyone? Come and get them! We live on a remote island in Bass Strait! Bev

  5. Currently, we have 12 (was 13, but one went to chook heaven). I’m a big sucker for the hatchling program that my boys kinder ran and offered to take 4 girls, which turned into 6. Then I didn’t have the heart to let the others go ‘back to the (battery) farm’. So, we’ve ended up with all of them. Still, can’t wait to share the bounty once they start laying at end spring/early summer. And, how sweet will it sound to say to our kids of a morning “go and collect the eggs for breakfast”?!

    If the coop is the only place they are sleeping, I would put a wire bottom on it to protect them at night from foxes/cats (although not so sure of how good wire is for their feet, maybe check backyard poultry or some such site).

    Our coop has base boards dug into the ground along all the sides, then a brick ‘wall’ (just one brick high’ on both sides. Foxes, especially, will get under that coop pretty quick and they make a mess. My son’s school has chickens and the foxes have got in quite a number of times, and it looks like a bloodbath (think decapitation).

    Your chooks are gorgeous. Good luck. They are a lot of fun and very relaxing to watch, while sipping on your morning cuppa.

  6. My parents have ducks. They are funny creatures – noisy before feeding time, messy in their run, and quite content to sit in a paddling pool. Their run is the former dog run (both dogs died in 2010) and they lay eggs in the dog kennel.

  7. Emma Steendam says

    What a proud moment for crazy chook lady within me. FINALLY! Go Bev and her chooks, two little ladies for your two little ladies. Happy henning, you’ll never go back. We have six lovely ladies, MORE than enough for all my baking, especially when everyone else who lives on the property has six or more chooks as well so I can’t palm eggs off to the other wives! Eat up.

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      I can only apologise it took so long. What can I say? I wasn’t really jumping at the bit to get some more things for me to look after, but I think we are all going to be VERY happy together x

  8. We ended up with our chooks when my son moved and couldn’t keep them. At first I was a bit cross, I didn’t want chooks. But now I love them, they are the best. We have 3 white Leghorn girls and they give us 3 beautiful delicious eggs everyday. Love them! xToni

  9. They’re gorgeous. We don’t have chooks (my husband’s body doesn’t tolerate eggs), but the idea of them… oh, the idea sounds divine! Our neighbour had chooks and my only advice (which is really what they told me), is that they can wear down your lawn. So put aside a run, or your lovely green lawn will be all ruined. All the best with your new gals! x

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      We have a run and I expect them to completely ruin it…while completely free ranging sounds great I like my garden too much!

  10. Lisa Mckenzie says

    They are lovely and you will have eggs as well,I am glad you finally got some chooks the girls will love it!

  11. Alli @ ducks on the dam says

    Yay for the ladies! I agree with Katiekoo’s sentiments about foxes. An horrific way to ….. no longer be here. I have just written a post on our chookies and the not so fantastic mr fox who has been stalking them. We have fox guards on our pen – really simple and easy to construct. Foxes will dig under the pen….. bastards.

  12. daddownunder says

    We used to have a pair of bantams called Flossy and Gurty, I found them mesmerising and would wile away many any afternoon watching them scratch and peck about the place. Don’t let them see your How to Roast Chicken post, that would be fowl.

  13. Reannon Hope says

    I’ve been waiting 5 years!!! I’m dying for chooks! I keep threatening to go buy a coop. Tim keeps telling me he’ll build one. This past month is the closest we’ve came. Plans were made. Structures started. Then NADDA! One day…..

  14. MotherDownUnder says

    Hooray!
    I love our chooks…I could spend hours watching them…I love spying on them from our back verandah and watching them peck away in the yard.
    I am still however coming to terms with all the chicken shit!
    Our chooks went through a period where the shells of their eggs weren’t very hard so now I give them a handful of grated Tasty cheese once in a while…they love it and it solved the problem! Apparently plain yogurt works too!

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      Oh wow – how clever! I am thrilled that all that shit is contained. I read your post over and over again about how much they shit!!

  15. We love our chickens. We have 7 at the moment, including one called Excavator (named by my 3 year old son). We have about 3 dozen eggs in the fridge at the moment. Love it!

  16. Lilyfieldlife says

    Our white leg horn is very naughty and extremely good at escaping. Her real name is Cloud but I call her Houdini, you are going to love the chickens and especially their eggs. We feed our chickens everything but not avocado (can kills them) or chicken (no mad cow disease here thanks). They don’t like broccoli much either. Enjoy x

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      I must say some old kale has not gone down a treat…

      • Lilyfieldlife says

        Really? We juice our kale (along with the other ingredients for the Mean Green) and we give the chooks the mulch left over. THey love it, and I know they love spinach as they have previously eaten a crop of it out of the garden. If their pen ever gets too wet and stay sprinkle some ag lime on the groud. That will sort it out. And he chooks like need access to some dirt so they can have a dirt bath. It helps them control pests.
        Cheers Fiona

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