It's been a busy weekend, Saturday saw us bright and early setting off for the Smallholders Sale in Thame to buy some new birds. We didn't expect to buy as many as we did but there were some lovely birds and in my opinion I think we got the best of the bunch.
Mum was with us for her first ever auction and she even had a bid, securing the beauty above for just £5, he's a Mille Fleur Pekin Bantam Cockerel, and in memory of our brave boy that died, with his sons, protecting our flock of hens from a fox, our new cockerels name is' Caldwell the 2nd'. We've decided our main cockerel will always carry this name.
We also couldn't resist this particular hen and her little brood, they aren't chicks, but goslings, three Grey Chinese Goslings to be exact.
They're going to end up looking like this.....that will give their Mum a surprise!!
We also got ourselves six more Lavender Pekin Bantams, 2 boys and 4 girls, at the moment they are refusing to come out of the henhouse in all the rain, and to tell the truth I don't blame them one little bit. They are just 8 weeks old and gorgeous friendly little bundles of fluff. The big girls are all treating them very well, which is a huge relief, Caldwell 2nd seems to already exerted his authority over the flock and brought about a calmness.
We also bought 5 Sussex, 4 Black Marans, 2 Light Sussex, 1 mystery white bird, she looks like a White Star, but she has pink rather than yellow legs so we'll see how she looks when she's a bit older, she was hatched with the 2 Light Sussex and gave the owners a bit of a surprise, so I guess she could just be an albino Light Sussex!
So a total of 23 new birds to add to the 15 we already had, making a grand total of 38 birds, made up of 35 chickens and 3 geese.
A happy and successful day at the Smallholders Sale.
Sue xx
Oh my goodness, Caldwell II is so incredibly handsome!
ReplyDeleteJane x
Love your new birds Sue and Caldwell 2nd is a beauty. We're not allowed to keep cockerels where we live which is a shame. But I'll enjoy hearing about your boy.
ReplyDeleteJulie xx
Caldwell 11 is a real stunner and the geese look interesting too.
ReplyDeleteHope your Mum is keeping well and enjoying her stay with you
So exciting !
ReplyDeleteWow, aren't they beautiful? I was looking at some point of lay hens in a local garden centre. There were also some smaller ones. I'm not sure what they were. There were also some small speckly birds, someone said they might be quail?
ReplyDeleteCan you clarify a couple of things for me please Sue? What is the difference between a bantam and a pullet?
I wish I lived closed to you I would buy eggs from you (if you sold them).
I went to my smallholding on my way back from a bike ride to collect a dozen eggs and it is lovely to see the hens running all over the place. Truly free range.
We are not allowed to have livestock in our gardens, something to do with the original owner of the land. It used to be Ministry of Defence property and although the land is freehold, there is this stipulation on the house deeds.
That's a lot of birds, your LH must be pleased to be surrounded by so many.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see what you have eaten over the weekend and today, hope the Harcombe is still going well. Waiting with baited breath.
Best of luck.
Arwedd xx
What a handsome chap! And I do love chickens with fluffy feet....who knew chickens could be so pretty?!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous day you must of had. I do love a happy chicken tale. :) x
ReplyDeletewow, what lovely chooks! I wish we had sales like that :) but then again I already have 21, I really don't need anymore! Need and want... 2 very different meanings!!
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