I'm so excited, I've reserved my three girls from my local breeder and am putting the Eglu back together this weekend! I've had a two year hiatus from chicken keeping as my favourite hen (Madame De Pompadour) died in the brutally hot summer of 2022 despite my efforts to keep her cool.
My heart just went out of it then and after her best mate died I vowed to list the Eglu and give up. But nearly two years later the Eglu is still in the shed as I haven't had the heart to part with it, and after a bit of soul searching I've realised that I really miss those girls and their antics.
My first flock was a gaggle of ex batts who really threw me into the deep end of chicken keeping, I loved those girls and they had such a good retirement with us. When they went I had bantams as I wanted to try and keep a bit more lawn! Also I had small children and felt bantams were a bit less intimidating. Then I moved to silkies and oh my god I love those birds. My two bearded girls were my favourites (I also had two non bearded who were a bit more stand offish) they would seek me out for cuddles and assume the 'being picked up' position to tell me to pick them up. And the noises they made, the little croaky honks.
So, three bearded ladies coming to us in May. I have everything I need stashed and just need to give everything a good jet wash. We're putting them a bit nearer to the house, right off the patio so we can have non-muddy access all year round, and I can chase off any foxes that almost certainly will spot them and sniff around. I'm also making a bigger effort to block access at the back of my garden, though I think foxes will find a way if they want to get in, but I will do a bit more active deferral this time.
My DD is nearly 6 now, absolutely animal crazy and talks with longing about hens and how we used to have them and how much she loved them. I'm going to try to keep the new girls a secret until they arrive as she will lose her mind!
One thing though, they're going to need names! Any suggestions?