S’funny, but there’s a HUGE difference between living with 4 chooks and living with just 2 ...... not least the difference in the number of eggs reaching our kitchen ......... and our remaining 2, Meena and Myna, are the two noisiest hens EVER........ Out of care and consideration for our neighbours, they have been brought into the house each night this week, allowing the neighbourhood to sleep on past 4am..... and through 5am as well ......... we nearly overslept beyond 7am today – an unheard of possibility through these last few years !
Our (chicken-friendly) vet reassures us that there was no health link in losing Eena and Moe so soon to each other, that this was truly ‘just sad luck’. As relative ‘newbies’ to hen-keeping, this has been most welcome news for us, as ‘care shortfalls’ should always be recognised as a possibility unless you are an experienced keeper.
But, yes......... 2 chooks is just 2 individual chooks who each go their separate ways........... while 3 chooks is ‘a flock’ that moves in sequence and behaves as a whole new entity, seeming to help the participant chooks behave most naturally as themselves.
So we are now scouring the Scottish internet for prospective new housemates for Meena and Myna, hoping this time to be more successful in finding a white egg-layer and a green or blue egg-layer to help us identify more quickly which hen is off-lay. We’ll let you know how we get on.........
