This weekend saw the arrival of chicken number three, our second hand, previously unwanted chicken, Lola. She arrived in a cardboard box about 11.30 on Saturday and once we'd had a coffee with her old owner we hot footed it to the greenhouse to introduce her to her temporary new home. The plan is to quarantine her till she has been thoroughly de-mited (if that's a word!) and we have her hen house steam cleaned, reassembled and siliconed to keep out the draughts, rain and mites before she goes in there with we hope a new chicken to keep her company. Although she has cocked her head on hearing our original girls 'chatting' to each other she hasn't had any company for weeks so till we find a companion for her she has only a mirror to look into which is keeping her interested.
So, the moment of truth when we opened the chicken box -blimey, this girl is e-nor-MOUS!
Because we have bantam chickens we are used to mini chicks which look like doll's house sized hens. Now we have an elephant cross giraffe sized chicken which is such a shock. She must stand almost 20 inches high. She's beautiful though, a big old black and white dinosaur who struts around with a slow high step. She's had the red spider mite powder dusted over her, worming powder in her food and clean water for the first time in what seems like a long time based on the slime in her original water container that arrived with her. Good animal husbandry is so important for the health of your birds so we are hoping to get Lola back to maximum health in the coming weeks. We know that the hen house that hasn't been dismantled yet and is still at the original owner's house is teeming with red spider mite so as I've explained we have to ensure it is completely cleaned before we put her into it. Till then, Lola is strutting around the large greenhouse space, checking herself out in the mirror and pecking away at the greens that are in the dry soil. I am thinking of calling her Miranda (as in Miranda Hart, the big bird from TV) but for now, Lola is our new girl.
So, the moment of truth when we opened the chicken box -blimey, this girl is e-nor-MOUS!
Because we have bantam chickens we are used to mini chicks which look like doll's house sized hens. Now we have an elephant cross giraffe sized chicken which is such a shock. She must stand almost 20 inches high. She's beautiful though, a big old black and white dinosaur who struts around with a slow high step. She's had the red spider mite powder dusted over her, worming powder in her food and clean water for the first time in what seems like a long time based on the slime in her original water container that arrived with her. Good animal husbandry is so important for the health of your birds so we are hoping to get Lola back to maximum health in the coming weeks. We know that the hen house that hasn't been dismantled yet and is still at the original owner's house is teeming with red spider mite so as I've explained we have to ensure it is completely cleaned before we put her into it. Till then, Lola is strutting around the large greenhouse space, checking herself out in the mirror and pecking away at the greens that are in the dry soil. I am thinking of calling her Miranda (as in Miranda Hart, the big bird from TV) but for now, Lola is our new girl.
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