Here come the girls!

So at last we have the hens we've been waiting for! The lovely Farmer John called us around 4pm to say we could head over to his place to collect the girls. The children and I were close to bursting with excitement by the time he phoned so it wasn't a minute too soon. We took the short drive to John's farm, who I have to say is a really lovely gentleman, Mr P knows him from him coming into the workshop to collect sawdust for use on the farm.  When Mr P mentioned in passing that we were building a coup for chickens and he said he'd happily get some for us from his usual poultry supplier. It was a big help as we are new to hen keeping and I would have been worried about choosing healthy birds. He suggested we get Light Sussex Hens so we took his advice.

We collected the girls, all ready for us in a crate and after a chat and the children trying to catch the lambs in the pen (John said if they could catch one they could take it home, I need not have been alarmed!) we headed for home.

I'm delighted to say they seem very happy in their new home. There was lots of scratching at the earth one hen started taking a dust bath straight away and they've had a go at eating and drinking. The dog even managed to wheedle his way into the run for a sniff, neither party seemed distressed at meeting the other so we're off to a good start! Now they're all safely tucked up in the coup for the night so I'll leave you with some pictures of the latest additions to the family!

Oh the names!! I nearly forgot!! M has called hers Betty (Green ring), L has called hers Delilah (Pink ring) R called his Chicharito (Red ring) & MB called hers Tina (Purple ring)

L - Tina R- Betty (see how clean she is.......)

Betty taking a dust bath. Not so clean now!

Tina - front Chicharito- R & Delilah at the back

Betty, still bathing & Delilah

Tina

Delilah

Chicharito

I look forward to posting about them again soon & letting you know how they're getting on!