We now have our Mrs Chickens.
There's Butterscotch & Toffee the Bovan Goldlines (reddish brown ones) and Chick-Chick who is a Black Star.
They are settling in well and are already such characters. Chick Chick is the noisiest and seems to have declared herself top chook - she was the first to venture out of the house to explore. Butterscotch and Toffee are a little quieter and a little more reticent.
We're all getting to know each other although they're already very friendly. My first task is to train them to climb the ladder - there was much panic and sqwaking at dusk yesterday when they didn't seem to know what to do! Hopefully they'll get the hang of climbing the wooden hill to bedfordshire soon!
ooh I am sooo jealous!! they are really gorgeous - clever Amy for the great names! xx
Posted by: debbie | January 20, 2009 at 10:54 AM
Would love to have chickens but not possible so will share yours!! Any knitting getting done or are you still not back in gear?
Posted by: barbara | January 20, 2009 at 11:10 AM
chick-chick-...lay a little egg for me! What fun... and terrific for Amy and Toby to learn about where food comes from!
Posted by: jill | January 20, 2009 at 11:13 AM
What beautiful girls they are! Fabulus names too!
Posted by: Gina | January 20, 2009 at 11:18 AM
Wonderful, I'm so envious, we just don't have the space yet.
But just how do you train chickens??
Good luck and have fun!
Posted by: Leigh Shepherd | January 20, 2009 at 12:43 PM
Oh! How cute! Dont forget to post pictures of your lovely eggs! I cant wait... I love your chickens!
Posted by: Kendall | January 20, 2009 at 12:47 PM
I just read my comment and it sounded really weird.... Sorry!
Posted by: Kendall | January 20, 2009 at 12:48 PM
those chooks look lovely!
your own freshly laid eggs, yummy!
Posted by: susetheslowknitta | January 20, 2009 at 12:50 PM
Wonderul, wishing you lots of luck (and eggs) with your new feathered friends.
Posted by: carolyn | January 20, 2009 at 12:57 PM
Oh they are lovely! I hope you have many eggs!
Posted by: Amy | January 20, 2009 at 01:46 PM
Awwww, you are going to have so much fun with those clucky ladies around! x
Posted by: Kitty | January 20, 2009 at 01:46 PM
I love that little chicken house you built, how clever! And lucky you, no coyotes or other large animals to steal your chickens away. Hoping you enjoy many fresh eggs!
Posted by: peggysue | January 20, 2009 at 02:02 PM
Let me guess, you're a one-woman chicken escalator until then?! Wishing you eggs-a-plenty!
Posted by: Ali | January 20, 2009 at 02:18 PM
How exciting (eggciting????) (sorry...). Have fun with them - I'm sure they'll learn to go up the ramp quick enough - poke 'em with a stick......
Posted by: Caroline B | January 20, 2009 at 02:26 PM
O MY Gosh....they are so cute!!! It is so fun following along on this adventure with you! We have a little Hen. She showed up on our porch one day "in the CA city" we still have her and she is a cuddle bug. They make very sweet pets....Have fun....Lisa
Posted by: lisa | January 20, 2009 at 03:26 PM
Oh, they're adorable! Lucky you - and lucky children to have new pets!
Posted by: dottycookie | January 20, 2009 at 03:31 PM
I love your new chickens....I had two chickens a long time ago...we called them Romeo and Juliet. :)
Posted by: Dianne | January 20, 2009 at 03:55 PM
We call our hens "the girls" also. They are such fun and so endlessly entertaining. Good luck with them.
Posted by: Dianne | January 20, 2009 at 06:12 PM
What lovely chickens! And chick chick is the best name ever :D
x
Posted by: Rhiannon | January 20, 2009 at 06:54 PM
I love them - we always had chickes growing up and I miss it. Such memories.
Posted by: Heather | January 20, 2009 at 07:27 PM
Hee hee hee, three little chicks =) Can't imagine the squawking! Don't suppose ladder-climbing comes naturally to chickens...
Posted by: Emily | January 20, 2009 at 08:31 PM
I'm so jealous! They are such pretty ladies. I love the way bird feathers make designs, which might be a weird thing, but truly, if you look carefully it's amazingly interesting and beautiful. Hope they are all cosy in their bedroom tonight. Wish I could have chickens too.
Posted by: Samm | January 20, 2009 at 09:23 PM
http://store.scarystories.com/hepemeineyeb.html
heedley pecked me in the eye - read it to your children! - don't be fooled by that cute fluffy image- the beaks peck! HA! Have fun with your new creatures! t.x
Posted by: kitschen pink | January 20, 2009 at 10:45 PM
How precious! They are so eggs-trodinarily beautiful! My sister Laurie has chicken's and one rooster and they all love to follow my nieces around the yard. One of the chickens is very attached to my oldest niece. She (the chicken) loves to ride in my niece's baby doll stroller. Can you imagine that? I wouldn't have believed it except that my sister happened to have her camera out that day.
Have fun with your feathered friends!
Cluck,
Deanna :)
Posted by: Deanna | January 20, 2009 at 10:52 PM
As soon as their little crowns grow bright red you will get the lovliest warm egg. I promise you that first egg will be the best you have ever tasted. I'm so excited for you
Posted by: claire | January 20, 2009 at 11:28 PM
Welcome to chicken world, it's really entertaining. On the first night here ours went to sleep in the apple tree above their run. I was at a friends and so my husband called me back in a panic thinking I might know how to get hens down. There we were, in the dark, poking them up the bum with broom handles and tons of sqwaking. They worked out the ladder the next night to avoid us.
Your ladies look lovely.
Posted by: Bobo Bun | January 20, 2009 at 11:31 PM
Aaaah! I love your feathery flock! They're chook-tastic!
Posted by: frazzy dazzles | January 21, 2009 at 12:12 AM
So cute! What a nice addition to your family. ~Kelly
Posted by: Kelly | January 21, 2009 at 12:39 AM
The warmest welcome to your ladies! They'are really lovely... I would like so much to have a bigger yard to have some too!
Hugs
Gallinavecchia (old hen)
p.s. please tell them if they would like to go on vacation next summer and visit a florentine hen house they will just be very welcome ;-)
Posted by: Gallinavecchia | January 21, 2009 at 10:06 AM
LOTS OF LUCK WITH YOUR NEW FEATHERED FRIENDS.
Posted by: G K JONES | January 21, 2009 at 10:38 AM
Your new ladies are beautiful. I don't know if you'll have come across this site yet, but http://www.omlet.co.uk/homepage/homepage.php is an excellent resource for all things chook. Their newsletter is always a good read, too, with recipes and activities for the children. Great stuff. I am soo jealous!! :)
Gemma x x
Posted by: Gemma | January 21, 2009 at 10:46 AM
how exciting. Bet those first eggs are going to taste wonderful. Will be watching out for the pics
Posted by: julie | January 21, 2009 at 01:48 PM
It looks so well ^_^ And aren't they gorgeous! Oh I envy envy envy... I wish I had a big enough garden. Can't wait to find out how it progresses :)
Posted by: Sinta | January 21, 2009 at 07:14 PM
Lovely looking girls! I hope you get some eggs from them soon - our girls have just come back into lay after three months of being lazy freeloaders so I'm overwhelmed with eggs!
I think maybe I should cut back on how many we have. 13 is ridiculous for one family ;)
Enjoy your girlies!
Posted by: Vonnie | January 21, 2009 at 07:48 PM
Welcome to the wonderful world of chickens! The thrill of getting an egg in the morning never diminishes! It's like treasure!
Enjoy
T x
Posted by: Dragonfly | January 21, 2009 at 09:32 PM
Your little girls look so fun! Do you live in a climate that gets snow? If so, how does one take care of chickens in winter? I'd love to know! Thank you!
Posted by: Else | January 21, 2009 at 10:51 PM
I'm so glad that the chicks have finally arrived at your home. I'm guessing Amy and Toby will be having lots of fun with them!? I love their names and Mr Cotton Rabbit is very clever to have built them such a lovely home! As with Else' comment, I am curious to, to know how you take care of them when your winters are so cold!!? Hope they start giving you lots of yummy eggs!X
Posted by: audrey | January 22, 2009 at 06:23 AM
Oh, they're such lovely ladies! Great names too. :)
Posted by: Kitty Vane | January 22, 2009 at 07:39 AM
Oh how wonderful.
love
Alison
x
Posted by: Alison | January 22, 2009 at 07:39 PM
How fun Julie! Does this mean that there will soon be Little Cotton Chickies???
Posted by: Thimbleanna | January 22, 2009 at 11:26 PM
Oh I love your chickens! My eldest daughters loves these feathered friends.... cute little chicken house too!
Patricia
Posted by: Patricia | January 22, 2009 at 11:36 PM
i love their names ! chickens really have funny personnalities, don't they ?
Posted by: Emilie Reid | January 23, 2009 at 08:36 AM
We live in Memphis, TN in midtown (older part of the city) and we recently acquired four Rhode Island Red hens. We love having urban chickens--we built them a nice pen in the back and they have a coop for laying and sleeping. We get beautiful, delicious jumbo brown eggs daily. They've fit in nicely with our family (two indoor bunnies, a lovebird and a miniature Dachshund). My daughter stands in the garden digging worms and hand feeds them. Delightful. Enjoy your new girls!!!
Posted by: Susan | January 23, 2009 at 09:21 PM
BTW, our girls are named Ginger (after the protagonist in "Chicken Run"), Rhoda, Octavia and Zelda. The last two were discarded names from when my daughter was a newborn. Since we're all redheads, they suit the hens well!
Posted by: Susan | January 23, 2009 at 09:23 PM
Hi Julie!
I was introduced to the world of blogs last summer and since then have a few favourites that I love and follow regularly. Yours is one of those blogs and I have just realised that your blog was the one that introduced me to some of the others - in particular "Soulmama" and "Jane Brocket". In fact, your blog was the first blog I found and the one that introduced me to the world of blogs! I can't remember now how I found your blog, maybe in another 6 months time that will pop into my head, but I do remember that yours led me to some of the others. I found great inspiration through these blogs and in November last year I set up my own blog, an art blog, which covers drawing, knitting and graphics to name but a few categories. I think you would like it.
If you have time check it out - www.littlehillbigsea.typepad.com
Enjoy your chickens, wouldn't it be great if they laid knitted eggs!
Posted by: Gill | January 24, 2009 at 11:09 AM
oh wow, chickens, how lovely and such great names too, welcome!!
kat x
Posted by: Kat | January 24, 2009 at 03:23 PM
chicken love big time, I would so love to have my own. lovely to share with yours tho.
happy knitting, have you got your knitting groove back yet....
Posted by: Suzie sews | January 25, 2009 at 12:39 AM
I love your chickens and bet they'll provide endless hours of entertainment for the whole family. :)
Posted by: teeweewonders | January 25, 2009 at 02:02 AM
Awww chickens :) - I am extremely jealous, I would love to have some chickens and lovely fresh eggs. Fresh eggs are soooo much better than store bought!
Posted by: thereddeer | January 25, 2009 at 02:25 AM
OH! They are gorgeous!
Posted by: mare | January 25, 2009 at 09:39 PM