Hi all.

OK I thought I would concentrate on my hens today. I got so fed up with trying to buy nice organic eggs from the shops and finding when I got them home that they were from farms hundreds of miles away, travelling around for days before spending heaven knows how long on the supermarket shelves. Sometimes I didn’t even know whether they were laid in this country. So I looked into getting a few hens of my own.

My husband made a little shed that is raised off the ground to keep rats away. As the hens were going to be free to roam around the garden we just put a small run around the coop so that the hens would be safe to walk about and feed until I let them free in a morning (they do get up very early!)

I started off with three little chicks that I bought at a local farm for just £4.50 each. We kept them locked up in the run for a few days to let them discover their new home and then we let them out to explore!

Within minutes they discovered the patio is a great place to be and they dug up and ate my plants and made a mud bathing area for themselves! Whilst the summer months were here they would spend most of the day mud bathing with great vigour before retiring to the patio to stretch out their wings and do a spot of sun worshipping.

They are fascinating creatures and each have their own individual personality. It makes me want to cry when I think of those poor little hens that are intensely reared. Stuck for most of their miserable lives in a shed with thousands of others, never seeing the sky, never feeling the sunshine on their faces.

I now have five hens wondering around happily. This came about after a visit from the foxes. I’ll write more about this later on as I think I’ve rambled on long enough for today….

Shirley

About these ads