We have new girls

We collected our new girls from Dave this morning. He was an hours drive from us and now that we have found him we could go to him again in the future when we need new girls.

He had loads of girls to choose from, all variations of buff and white with different markings.  He had all the feather types including what he called srizzles which he said were a cross between silkies and frizzles. He had some beautiful black cockerels but no black hens. Seramas don’t breed to colour so you never what you are going to get. He had plenty enough choice for me though.

I wanted another buff one and chose one that was darker in colour than Caramel. Dave was surprised how quickly I chose and told us some people take ages. I then had to choose from the white ones and the first ones I pointed out were too young to take. I soon settled on one that Dave considered was the right age to take.

Dave says that these girls are four months old but the buff one looks much younger. He said that it was because she is silkie feathered and they mature a lot slower than the straight feathered, which the white one is.

As usual I chose  descriptive names and we thrashed out the name choice on the journey home. We settled on Rusty and Freckles.

Rusty and Freckles in the cat box

I put some water in with them on arrival back home. I usually start them off in the dog crate but as it was only lunch time by the time we had arrived back home I decided on a different strategy. I decided to put them in the little coop and shut them in for fifteen minutes while I got the run separated and then open the little coop. I thought that this way they would know that this was where to go at bedtime, but they could have their portion of the run to explore for the afternoon.

I put them in the little coop

Rusty and Freckles

Are you looking at us!

They didn’t want to come out of the little coop. I lifted them out and showed them the feeding station.

They investigate the feeding station

Pebbles is taking a look at them.

This was as far as they ventured

They went straight back into the little coop where they obviously felt safe.

Peaches and Speckles take a look

I lifted them out a couple of times but they kept returning to the little coop. When the other girls went to bed the new girls were snuggled together in the little coop and I closed them in for the night.

Bedtime

I hope that will they will be a bit more adventurous tomorrow. They have a whole new world to explore and just need time to get a bit of confidence. I am sure they will soon get the hang of it.

I am thrilled to bits with the new additions and feel sure that they will soon settle into their new home. Tomorrow we will start them on the journey of getting used to a bigger world and eventually the rest of the flock. I feel certain that they will fit in really well very soon.