Readers of my blog will know of my passion for the backyard chook and my history of saving hens. I affectionately call thse girls my rescue hens.
Well, I did.
But I have never had much luck with my rescued girls and seem to spend my dollars feeding them good food, great scraps and allowing them free range of my yard as they finish out their retirement years in comfort without contributing to the egg department – one of the key reasons I have hens in the first place.
Pie became egg bound. We breathed the chookiness of life back into her 4 times before she went to meet her maker. Noodles stopped laying immediately following Pie’s demise and went to sleep in the back yard under her favourite bush.
Curry and Rice came to live with us after the big floods last year. They were so traumatised, every time it rained they would lose their feathers. Which meant they were constantly partially bald. Curry was first to go, with Rice following shortly after. Vet says they had the poultry equivalent of PTSD.
Of course, only I would have non egg laying traumatised hens.
Through this time, Stew and Dumpling, the Araucanas, remained healthy, robust eating machines. Araucanas are highly strung and can be aggressive to other birds, so they were great at keeping the crows, magpies and other birds away. I even watched Stew take on an ibis in the back yard – and win. They were also great at desecrating the vegetable garden, stripping bare the lemon tree and digging up every single plant we owned.
But they were, at least, alive – if not reliable egg producers.
Araucanas are erratic layers – and one of the reasons we wanted chooks?
Eggs-ackly.
So after months and months of only the occasional bum nut, the skipper decided that Stew and Dumpling needed to go. Several weeks back we shipped them off to acreage with friends, where, we have been told, they are happily traumatising the duck population. And still not laying eggs.
It is my opinion that my egg farming history is pretty stuffed.
Stuffed.
Which is why this time, we have gone for 18 week old pullets.
Meet Parsley and Sage.
I LOVE the names you give them! Very creative. I hope you get more eggs this time around.
Cluck cluck cluck. (That’s chicken for “welcome”)
Rhu,
This is too funny- I hope your new hens recognize that they can not parsley the thyme away without laying or Sage might find herself full of stuffing with Sage in it.. LOL
I hope that you soon have lots of eggs to use in your marvelous cooking projects.
Warmest regards,
Anna
Hellooo Parsley and Sage. I hope you’re going to be good little chookies when you grow up and produce lots and lots of fresh, free-range, full of goodness eggs for your new family.
Although, it sounds like you’re on a pretty cushy wicket, so I wouldn’t worry too much.
Damn those other chooks were lucky to have you! I think Parsley and Sage may be the winners, after all it’s highly likely your other rescue chooks were into their menopause years anyhow! Good luck with them Rhu – you deserve some homegrown bumnuts xxxx
I do hope that Parsley and Sage knock the stuffing out of your egg-ony and become egg-sellent layers for years to come.
give Parsley and Sage some Rosemary and Thyme (play on words eh eh?!!) and you will have plenty of bum nuts before u know it ;)
(blog comment inspired by Simon & garfunkel)
You’ve named your chickens exactly what I was planning on naming my when I get them in the next few months.
I hope those girls are keepers for you.
they will be eggsellent layers I’m sure!
Even though my grandparents had chooks, I never fathomed the mysteries of egg production, broodiness and and chook life in general. I was too innocent and ignorant. Although I am less innocent, I am still ignorant.
Good lucj with these new chooks, though.
Oh dear Lord… the puns!! My ears are bleeding… too funny. So sorry for the chooky trauma. It’s really no yoke…
*slinks off*
Bum nuts made me laugh! Better luck this time. I was just sure you were going to call it quits with the chooks! :-)
I sure hope these pullets smarten up and flood you with eggs. :-) I’m having chook issues too, discovering that my Black Spanish, Belgians and Bantams are my best layers. The “laying breeds” don’t seem to have any inclination for such things. :-) Ah well!
Hi, I love your writing, you are very funny. Rachel x
Hi Rue, lets hope by now your getting lots of yummy eggs, i have the same breed of chooks and their great layers!
I just love their names! Gorgeous. How lucky they are that you care for them even when they’re not the most straightforward animals.
Just checking on you! It’s been a while since you posted! Hope all is well!