After my vacation in September the motivation for the outfit challenge fizzled out rather tragically. No matter, I have something shiny and new to focus on and write about.
Since last Sunday, I own chickens! Ex-battery hens to be precise. They were facing slaughter at only 18 months of age as is normal with laying hens in factory/battery farms but an animal Rescue organisation stepped in and rescued and re-homed a whopping 7000 of them. So I now have 3 in my back garden.
Letting them out of the cat carrier and into the grass behind our house for their first steps into a more natural existence was a joy to behold. I (and my cat) could have watched them for hours, stepping and pecking.
Due to having spent their whole short lives so far in an A4 size cage with only sitting, eating, drinking, laying, pooping, and sleeping to make up their existence, anything else is utterly unfamiliar to them. That said, they did not show a fearful reaction to the cat except when she made a jump towards them. And I think their reaction scared her more than it did them.
Of course, with Winter Solstice/Yule less than a month away, the days are short. Dusk and darkness are also something the hens were yet unacquainted with but I must say they handled it well. They did need to be lifted into the hen house for the night and catching them is not easy as they are unused to human contract. It's the only time they have made noise that could be described as loud. At any other times they are either quiet or make cute, low clucking sounds. Once you have a hold on them, they go quiet again, and it's not difficult to put them in the coop. Hopefully they will learn how to do this themselves eventually. Last night I only had to put two in, as one managed on her own.
They also required dusting with mite/lice spray and blue TMR hygiene spray to protect their bare skin from pecks and putting that on was definitely more than a two hand job. But hubby and I managed. And it is all worth it, because when I came home yesterday evening I found our first egg in the coop. I could not have been more proud and excited had I laid it myself.
