Well, I've finally managed to work out what a blog is, and get this far. I'm quite pleased with myself, actually. So, here's a bit of background.
I wanted a dog. Really, really wanted a dog. Even got so far as choosing a puppy. Said puppy then licked my eldest sons face, and he turned into Quasimodo. Not good. It was a dramatic way to find out that he was allergic to dog saliva, and put a halt on dog ownership. I was disappointed, but rallied myself and announced that we would get a cat.
The hubby and I trotted off to the local RSPCA shelter, and chose a gorgeous little kitty. She was adorable. We all fell in love, and the kids thought she was the bestest cat ever. Sadly, the next day the hubby was unable to breathe. Literally gasping for air. Bye bye kitty.
All of this aquiring pets only to have to take them back was quite demoralising. The kids were upset for about five minutes, and then wandered off to watch Ben 10. I was seriously peeved at my nearest and dearests inability to tolerate dog spit or cat fur, and might have sulked a bit.
Now, during some hormonally unbalanced stage early last year, I had toyed with the idea of chickens. It seemed like a good idea; gently clucking fat hens would wander around the back garden eating worms and aphids (the bane of a rose lovers life). When I mentioned this plan to the hubby, I got an extremely adament 'No'. As he pointed out, we don't live on a farm. Or even in the countryside, really. Also, chickens look vaguely threatening up close. A bit like dinosaurs.
However, about a week after we returned Sassy the kitten (See! She was named and everything!) he had a change of heart (I suspect the fact that living with me was a bit like living with a harpy at the time had something to do with it. I was thirty last year, so a bit mental with significant birthdayness) Hurrah!
Then began a long, drawn out process of deciding which kind of hens to keep, and also what to put them in. After a few weeks of research, the coop was ordered and I'd decided that pekin bantams were the birds for us. After a quick word with the neighbours, I set about finding a breeder.
Pekins are small fluffy chickens that look like they're wearing huge bloomers. They are also docile, easy to handle and allegedly don't dig up the garden too much (Allegedly. We'll come back to this point later) They're not the best egg layers in the world, stop laying during the winter months all together and frequently go broody. None of this put me off. In July 2008, I collected two 9 week old millefleur pekins.
I wanted a dog. Really, really wanted a dog. Even got so far as choosing a puppy. Said puppy then licked my eldest sons face, and he turned into Quasimodo. Not good. It was a dramatic way to find out that he was allergic to dog saliva, and put a halt on dog ownership. I was disappointed, but rallied myself and announced that we would get a cat.
The hubby and I trotted off to the local RSPCA shelter, and chose a gorgeous little kitty. She was adorable. We all fell in love, and the kids thought she was the bestest cat ever. Sadly, the next day the hubby was unable to breathe. Literally gasping for air. Bye bye kitty.
All of this aquiring pets only to have to take them back was quite demoralising. The kids were upset for about five minutes, and then wandered off to watch Ben 10. I was seriously peeved at my nearest and dearests inability to tolerate dog spit or cat fur, and might have sulked a bit.
Now, during some hormonally unbalanced stage early last year, I had toyed with the idea of chickens. It seemed like a good idea; gently clucking fat hens would wander around the back garden eating worms and aphids (the bane of a rose lovers life). When I mentioned this plan to the hubby, I got an extremely adament 'No'. As he pointed out, we don't live on a farm. Or even in the countryside, really. Also, chickens look vaguely threatening up close. A bit like dinosaurs.
However, about a week after we returned Sassy the kitten (See! She was named and everything!) he had a change of heart (I suspect the fact that living with me was a bit like living with a harpy at the time had something to do with it. I was thirty last year, so a bit mental with significant birthdayness) Hurrah!
Then began a long, drawn out process of deciding which kind of hens to keep, and also what to put them in. After a few weeks of research, the coop was ordered and I'd decided that pekin bantams were the birds for us. After a quick word with the neighbours, I set about finding a breeder.
Pekins are small fluffy chickens that look like they're wearing huge bloomers. They are also docile, easy to handle and allegedly don't dig up the garden too much (Allegedly. We'll come back to this point later) They're not the best egg layers in the world, stop laying during the winter months all together and frequently go broody. None of this put me off. In July 2008, I collected two 9 week old millefleur pekins.
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