Spring in the Garden

Spring in the Garden

Saturday 4 February 2012

Introducing Anna and Bella

Today we left the house about quarter past nine to drive down to a place we know in Sussex.




We started to visit Middle Farm shop when we visited my in-laws and especially my mother-in-law as we went down very regularly after my father-in-law died and it became apparent how ill she was.  We did our chicken keeping course at Middle Farm and found John Piles, who has premises on the site, was a reliable source of Marriages organic layers mash, which is what we have tended to feed our chickens.  As mother-in-law now lives near us we don't visit East Sussex very often these days. 

We were pleased to see this sign



although, to be honest we had rung up beforehand to check that he had some


point-of-lay Light Sussex pullets. Bella is hardly visible here as she seems to be cowering under Anna;  it wasn't a question of her being squashed. They looked so small sitting by the counter in the cat basket. We were told they are 16 weeks old.



At home we put them in the ark, once hubby had given it a clean while I made lunch for ourselves and hubby's brother who came down to visit his mum again.


This is Bella, with the white head, in the foreground.  Anna has a grey heading and is lurking in the background.

We put Amber in the run as she is easier to manhandle, being used to us, but this might not have been the wisest action as she may have felt that she had been evicted.

After a couple of hours we felt it wasn't good for Amber to be so exposed, so we put her in with the two new residents.  She decided she was going to let them know that this is where she lived and they were not welcome.  She pecked at them both, especially when they tried to eat, but has not yet removed a feather or drawn blood.  They have decided to move out of her way rather than fight back.  Indeed Bella has been cowering under the water container and the feeder at times.

  

In the end they both went up to bed about 4 pm, an hour before Amber.  They seemed quiet once they were roosting together.

Anna
Bella
You can click on these pictures to enlarge them.

2 comments:

  1. Oooh the hen pecking stage, I'm sure it will all settle down soon. Gorgeous looking new hens Karin!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It does seem to have settled down somewhat already. Our daughter particularly wanted Light Sussex. They do seem a pretty breed.

    ReplyDelete

I look forward to reading your comments, it's always good to hear encouraging words or relevant hints and tips.