Thursday, 10 February 2011

Brand new hens

Two white tails, two black.
Our brand new lovely hens have arrived. Brian fetched them from a farm in Llandysul on Tuesday - in a box identical to the one the puppy arrived in (no wonder I thought he'd be hens when that box arrived).

These lovely ladies are Calder Rangers, a cross between Rhode Island Red and Light Sussex. They're also known as Gingernut Rangers (note how they match my hair colour!) or Columbian Blacktail and they supposedly will lay up to 320 eggs a year.

They're now snug in the new hen coop ready to go off on chicken tractor* duties around the veggie beds once they've settled in.

*Permaculture term for using penned chickens to clear weeds from vegetable beds prior to planting.
Posted by Maggie Christie at 3:24 pm
Labels: , , ,

9 comments:

  1. Miss Sadie10 February 2011 at 19:09

    Horses, guinea pigs, dogs, hens. What other livestock are you getting? Goats? Snakes? Ducks? Starting your own zoo?

    Good luck with the "chicken tractors."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tattieweasle10 February 2011 at 22:09

    They look very smart will be MOST interested to know how well they do! Getting 14 eggs a day from my 70 chooks though aruond 20 are not yet old enough to be in lay... a bit of a record for us!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Chris Stovell10 February 2011 at 22:18

    Have the new girls met Scamp yet?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lou Archer10 February 2011 at 22:35

    Lovely girls, tractoring has given me ideas too... thanks

    ReplyDelete
  5. Frances11 February 2011 at 03:11

    I am trying to imagine a sound track to go with that marvelous photo of the three little hens in the box.

    That trio is so lucky to be at your place, and I think they will soon settle in, enjoying your hospitality.

    Please do report when the first eggs are found.

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  6. mountainear11 February 2011 at 09:45

    I've one Calder Ranger left - although I didn't know they were called that (thanks for telling me!). Mrs Scraggy Neck is the last of my original birds bought in 2006. I think she still lays the occasional egg. They're a good sturdy, dependable bird. I've got RIRs now and they're laying well.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Cait O'Connor12 February 2011 at 12:10

    Gorgeous hens. Wish my hair was that colour.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Posie12 February 2011 at 18:53

    Hopefully they will be good layers too!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Eunice4 April 2011 at 11:08

    Hi! My husband just directed me to your blog. We live in Aberystwyth and bought some Calder Ranger hens, I suspect, from the same place as you! They're great! Lovely little ladies, though our big black rock Inara and mixed bantam Shelley don't think so! Nice to "meet" you!

    ReplyDelete

I am sorry to have to add word verification thing again but I keep getting spammed.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)