The Scrufflechook saga is turning a new corner. She is now a very healthy and happy chicken living in the office. She has come from being the picked on, shunned chicken to a bright eyed, egg-laying chicken again. Of course we can't get rid of her now as she is a productive egg layer and friendly to boot. Unseasonably warm weather has prompted us to begin acclimatizing her to being outdoors again. Having a chicken in your office is fun for a while but I am sick of the shavings and the extra cage to clean every morning (the litter boxes are enough). She is a chicken after all. For the last couple of days we have tried to re-introduce her to her flock with mixed results. They will gang up on her in typical chicken behaviour, of course the boys think she's great. It is almost like watching a high-school movie. We will keep trying as I would like to be able to reintroduce her, but there is a reason it is called pecking order.

So on Saturday we went to see a breeder about a couple of new chickens. Theresa is an 82 year-old woman who runs a farm just outside of Guelph. She is quite amazing. She is still raising birds of all sorts and has been on the same farm for 60 years. We have a number of chickens to choose from, she has crosses, Houdans, but the ones we were after are the Silkies. Now Silkies are a bit of an odd chicken, they look like walking pom-poms. Silkies have a sweet disposition, aren't know for flying, and are great broodies. As we are planning on hatching some of our Chantecler eggs this year this works out well. So these new little guys with their black bones and black skin should make great additions to All Sorts Acre. Oh, and are they ever cute!

Posted via email from All SortsAcre