We Have Chickens!

It was a wet, windy and stormy day when we went to the hatchery. It was a real family affair, with my dad and our older son and his girlfriend coming along.

Dad supplied the box to put them in (and I wondered if it would be big enough for four chickens – I tell you, I knew nothing). Turns out it was plenty big enough as they all huddled and squashed together taking up a fraction of the area. We probably could have fit 20 chickens in the box.

At the hatchery I followed the lady into the chicken area which was surrounded by wire - wire fences, wire roof and a wire door. I was so excited that I forgot the first rule of being in the country and that is that if you see a gate open, leave it open and if you see a gate shut, leave it shut. Luckily Lovely Hubby closed it before there was a mass escape.

The lady caught the hens using a net on a pole, then handed them to me to hold to make sure I was happy with them. Well, never having held a chicken before, I didn't hold one firmly enough and she flew out of my arms and ran back in with the rest of the flock before I even knew what had happened, but the lady was lovely and didn't hit me over the head with the pole.

She needed more patience with me than with the hens.

That's a big box for four little hens

Every other time we've acquired a new pet I've felt confident that it was coming to a good home, but this time I wasn't sure. I’d never had chickens before and I was worried sick about foxes. I was having sleepless nights. Were the hens coming to a good home, or were they coming to be a fox’s dinner?