The joys of keeping hens
We bought our first hens about seven years ago. I researched the whole thing busily and selected a breed which was hardy and flighty, the Frisian bantam. I had the idea that if they were to live free range it would be good if they had the element of self protection offered by being able to fly. Funny how your priorities change! This is the cockerel, a fine, shouty fellow. For a while he and five hens had the run of the garden. I had not realised we would have to fence the vegetable beds, particularly in the spring, and quite how much soil they could dislodge in the search for a something tasty in the flower beds. Still they were bantams and could only do so much damage! The flock grew. We bought a lovely little white Wyandotte, just because I liked her. A friend gave us a Welsumer and we liked the rich brown eggs they lay and bought some eggs to raise some more. We experimented with an old incubator and raised more hens: a Crea...