We arranged to get six young chickens from our farmer friend Alain. He lives not far from here, on a property that overlooks the valley.
I know Alain because I regularly buy honey from him.
He has beehives, an extensive vegetable garden and an unknown number of free-range chickens.
About four weeks ago, I bought a pre-fab chicken house on line. It was relatively easy to assemble.
Once installed, I completed the coop by wrapping wire around the Lallandi pines to form a predator-proof (I hope) enclosure.
With the help of Cliona's brother Kieran, who was visiting from Ireland, we collected the hens from Alain's and installed them in their house.
We left them there for 36 hours so they would get acclimatised to their new home and accustomed to returning there at night to roost.
After two weeks they are still very skittish and shy. That's ok ... we will give them all the time they need.
They forage and scratch around their compound and feed on corn as a supplement.
We are getting three eggs a day, on average.
As soon as they've laid an egg, they cackle away happily for about five minutes. It's a scream!
We installed an automatic door so we can go away for short trips ... I will leave them plenty of corn and bowls of fresh water.
They are a joy.
I'm really happy I got them.
