Meet my ladies.

Let me introduce to you the latest additions to our household...

I arrived home Friday afternoon to find that my chicken coop had been delivered and Jamie had spent three hours putting it together (thanks honey!). It is fantastic. The perfect size for the space I had picked out for it in the yard. There is plenty of room inside the coop to provide shelter and comfort for the girls during the night, and with the addition of the chicken run I added to the end, there is plenty of roaming room for all.


I piled up my car with large cardboard boxes and drove over an hour yesterday to a very small country town where a man named Garry was selling chicken. I had found Garry on the internet, and after a few text messages back and forth (while I googled the breads of chickens he had, just so I knew they looked nice) we had struck up a deal.

~ The Ancona breed is close to the Leghorn breed, identified by the floppy red comb on its head. Sometimes the comb flops over and covers half her face. It's a wonder she can see where she's walking. So cute! ~

I brought them home and introduced them to their new quarters as the rain poured down. They didn't seem to be bothered by the miserable weather, and quickly made themselves at home; scratching at the mulch and feeding on seed and lettuce leaves.

~ This here is Lady Sussex. She is a 'show quality' hen, but according to the seller "She won't win you a show"... mysterious ~

(Breed: Light Sussex. 2 years old)

~ This here is Betty. She is our smallest girl and loves strawberries ~

(Breed: Rhode Island Red. 16 weeks old)

~ On the left we have Maggie, on the right Audrey ~

(Breed: Ancona. 1 year old. Breed: Australorp. 16 weeks old)

I was warned by my father-in-law that the hens may not lay for a few days after arriving as they will likely be stressed. But in less than 24 hours at our home, look what I found in the nesting box...

Success! It must have been the strawberries that made them feel relaxed.

I am going to be posting all my gardening/vegetable growing/chicken raising stuff on a new blog, seeing as I am spending so many hours in my garden. Click here to visit it if you are interested in the dirty nails side of things.

Sam xox