This week has been a bit busy and I have slipped behind with blogging. Last Saturday my husband collected his mum from up north for a two week stay with us. It was her ninety sixth birthday.
We bought her some flowers and a Chinese takeaway and we organised all the family to come over for a huge Sunday roast the following day.
Birthday flowers
This weekend my mother in law went to stay with her niece for a couple of days while we had a couple of catering functions to do. We delivered a finger buffet Saturday morning and did an Indian style Barbecue on Saturday afternoon. We had done the same combination for these people twice the previous year and as with last year it all went really well.
This morning my husband is collecting his mum, from his cousin’s house, to bring her back to us and we will have Sunday roast together and then will host a family afternoon tea tomorrow for our grandson’s fifth birthday.
My mother in law is going back home on Thursday and my good friend Jackie is also moving to the Isle of Wight on Thursday. Phew! What a busy couple of weeks.
While all of this has been going on, life in the chicken run has been very quiet. My flock of five feels very small and I feel the time is right to add some new girls.
We visited a farm a year ago to see some bantams that we might like to add to our flock when the time is right. I now feel that time has come. I want to add a couple of seramas to our flock.
I knew this wouldn’t be possible until after my mother in law’s stay as I will need to separate the run, let them out early in the morning, keep an eye on them settling in, get them to bed in the evening and eventually start the integration process as well as take photos and blog about the whole experience.
I called the farm a few days ago to check that they have some seramas for sale and as Kirstin will be out all day Saturday and Sunday the following weekend we have arranged to go over on Thursday afternoon to collect a couple of seramas.
I am now getting really excited at the prospect of new girls. I know this could potentially rock a very calm boat but on the other hand it could boost Speckles as she may no longer be bottom girl.
Seramas are slightly smaller than my girls and docile by nature so I am hoping this means that I won’t be introducing any aggression from the new girls. I think Speckles and Barley will the ones to watch as bottom girls always want to move up the pecking order when new girls arrive and Barley has in the past had little spats with each member of the current flock to prove that she won’t be messed with.
Having said that, with Barley, it has been a one off and once she had proved her point she has never continued to throw her weight around and the flock are all getting along with no aggression at all at the moment. I am confident that two new little girls should fit into the flock quite well after initial integrations. Having done this many times before I know what to expect and feel ready for the challenge.
I just can’t wait to bring home some new girls. Watch this space!
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Looking forward to seeingthe new girls.
Me too. Now that I have made the decision and checked that Kirsten has some of my girls of choice, I am impatient to get them.
Upwards and onwards ! And a fresh start for me and your girls. It’s a bit like me going to the IOW … Intergrating .
I guess that’s one way of looking at it. New adventures ahead!
Good luck to Jackie and good luck to you with your new girls – you’ve always managed integration very effectively, so no reason why this time should be any different. Whilst seramas may be very small, that seems to matter little in terms of pecking order – strength of character seems to be what prevails. Hope your mother in law enjoys her stay – remarkable for her age!
Thank you. I am seeing Jackie tomorrow to get a last few jobs done (collecting her train ticket and off loading at the charity shop) and saying goodbye for now, she will visit my new girls when she comes back to sign the last of the paperwork.
You are quite right about size, they have no conception of their size. Topaz was quite happy set about the big girls, back in the day.
My mother in law is having a great time and is really good for her age. She manages our very steep stairs (Edwardian houses always seem to have very steep stairs).
I am excited and looking forward to new girls.