Big Bird

After our grey hen reared a clutch of chicks, I posted them on TradeMe to make sure we didn't get overrun with birds - roosters in particular. I gave some to a local family and agreed to sell the remainder to the first bidder along with the grey hen.

Whilst I was boxing up the grey hen and her brood at dusk, one of the chicks got away, together with a little brown hen. They dashed into the bush and there was no chance of me catching them. I sorted out some chick starter and sawdust from the shed for the buyer and then went back down to the coop to see if the runaways had returned. And this is what I found.



How could I separate them? I couldn't bring myself to do it. Particularly as I was fairly sure that the chick would grow up to be a hen. So I told a small white lie and said that the pair were still hiding in the bush. Sorry.

For a few weeks, the little brown hen and the one remaining chick pottered up and down the fenceline, close to the bush, sheltered from the hawk. But now the chick is much bigger and the little brown hen has decided that she's big enough to join the main flock. This week the pair of them have been strutting around with two roosters and the other two hens, happy as can be. Here they are, hanging out on the front doorstep, bold as brass.