We can not seem to completely agree on a name for her. Please do send in your name ideas! She is an Appenzeller and originates from Switzerland.
She seems to have taken a keen interest in Jet and has pecked him once on the nose and a couple times on the tip of his tail, which made him run behind my legs to hide. I don't know if it is because they are both black and white but she does seem quite keen. Her affections are, unfortunately, not returned.
And this is "Buttercup" who is a Sicilian Buttercup hen and originates from Sicily.
She is a timid girl but is being drawn out of her "shell" with the occasional piece of grape and some apple. She has a very soft expression which I think you can see in this photo.
Miss Henny-penny is supposed to be the real egg layer in the family but she had not given us any eggs until about a week ago when she began laying and has given us a fresh egg each day. It really is so exciting to open the hen-house and find the egg inside, like finding a little treasure! The other two hens gave us 2 eggs but have now stopped. I have read that many hens take the laying in turns so maybe they have stopped while Miss H-P is having a go!
Below is Miss HP and "dot" investigating the garden bench.
If I can backtrack here a moment, I would like to share some photos with you. When we went to the "breeders" to see the hens we were directed onto a private road that took us about a mile into farmland. We saw lots of colourful chickens in a fenced off area so thought we must have arrived at the correct place. What greeted us there was such a beautiful sight! It was a large area filled with the most gorgeous cockerels and so many unusual breeds. Every one looked to be in prime condition and as we approached they all came running towards us.
Below are some of the fineest specimens of these chaps I have seen.
Although we live in the "country" we still have neighbors so cockerels were not what we wanted despite their great beauty! We called the breeder who told us to go back down the road until we came to the barn and she would be there waiting for us. Off we ventured to the barn and upon our arrival we were greeted by these great, beautiful beasts and their little baby! Aren't they smashing!
We had a lovely visit with the breeder who was also a farmer, farmer's wife and mother as well as a business woman. I look forward to going there again when the new chicks are ready. I think just one more hen would be good, don't you? A nice even number.
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