The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
As you get older in life and you have had more experiences, there are some conclusions about living that you come to.
At 56 years of age my conclusion is that all households should have at least one chihuahua and some chickens.
As this article is mainly about chickens, I will only give a brief reason for having a chihuahua.
They are intelligent, full of character, extremely cute and portable!
The fantastic thing about chickens is not only do they make great pets but they also give you eggs.
I have been keeping chickens for the last eight years. I am continually fascinated by their behaviour and the noises they make.
They are great free range in the garden and will eat most of your garden pests. However there are certain plants that they also love so you either have to protect these plants or choose not to grow them!
I was initially surprised by how carniverous chickens are. As well eating insects they will steal the dog’ s bones to get the marrow and other bits and pieces.
Our original chickens are quite old now. We had three left of the original six and they had pretty well stopped laying eggs. Two of these are Buff Orpingtons which we call the “galleons” due to their size.
We decided it was time to get some more. When we were selecting the chickens we wanted, the person catching them for us was being harassed by a rather fine cockerel. We ended up taking him and six other chickens home with us.
It was quite incredible the difference having a cockerel around made to all the chickens.
They all seem much more relaxed and happy. The old girls came back into lay and he keeps our dogs and cats in order. He takes his duties very seriously, running up and down keeping check on his harem. Luckily we have understanding neighbours (one has a cockerel of their own) and he generally doesn’t start crowing until about 6.00am. It is a sound that all my family love and most times does not wake us up.
I appreciate that not everybody will want or be able to keep a cockerel but it has been a great experience for us.
One of our new chickens is a little white hen we have called Happy. She follows us everywhere, talking to us as she goes. She tries to help us with the weeding. Recently she followed us into the house and settled down on the settee!
After an initial outlay to buy chicken accommodation, they are easy and quite inexpensive to keep and six chickens will keep even quite a large family in eggs. Join the chicken revolution.
Alder Veterinary Practice, 58 Bourne Road, Spalding, PE11 1JW. Call 01775 766646. Opening hours 8.30am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 10am alternate Saturdays. 24 hour emergency cover.
