The chickens have landed!
Six young ISA Brown hens have taken up residence in our backyard, and I am completely besotted. I had a long list of tasks planned for this morning, and instead I’ve been sitting outside watching them scratch and forage.
ISA Browns are a hybrid cross of Rhode Island Reds and Rhode Island Whites, and particularly suited to suburban backyards. They’re reputed to be excellent layers – which may well be true, as we found our first egg within half an hour of the chickens arriving…
The chickens are here to garden for us – the supply of eggs is an ancillary bonus. If the permagarden gurus are correct, they’ll weed and de-bug our vegetable beds, then fertilise them, ready for planting.
One day in, and I’m no longer concerned with any of that – I’m just so happy to have them in the backyard, with their gentle clucking sounds and funny little ninja moves. They scratch the ground with one foot, then the other, then leap back quickly like a Phantom Agent and gaze intently at the ground to see if any worms have been uncovered. They’ll repeat this over and over as they work from one side of the enclosure to the other. I could watch them all day long! In fact, I think I’ll go see what they’re doing right now…
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
They’re beautiful!!!
What lovely chooks Celia, it must be so exciting. They must indeed be happy with you to have laid so quickly. I’ve never kept chickens, but we are always planning “our ideal house & garden” so talk about having them as “chicken tractors” although I actually like the idea of them free ranging around a large orchard too.
They really are beautiful…we’ve now had three eggs! Our chicken dome seems to be working well, and they have so much room in there. When they first arrived, Pete was concerned that they might not know how to scratch – apparently chickens don’t learn that unless they’ve been taught by their mothers. But as you can see from the video, they’ve figured that out now! :)
Ah Celia I have chook envy! I never thought I would say that, but I do. I grew up always being the delegated backyard chook carer as a kid and vowed never to get them. Time passed and now older and wiser and I would so love to have them again.
They must be happy to have 3 eggs already… lets be truthful here, I would probably lay an egg for you if I got to eat your scraps too :-)
Brydie, you’re too funny, thank you! :) The “girls” do seem to be enjoying themselves…
Oh Celia, what fun! I’ve just had to replay that 10 ten times for my toddler! Enjoy those eggs.
Sue, I had a longer video as well – I’ll upload it for you. It’s a little tragic that I’ve been videoing our chooks…hahaha
Heroine……….you never cease to amaze me with how you discover and do……Enjoy your farm fresh eggs dearie!
How sweet. We have 3 ISA browns and a few bantums. We don’t let them roam free though. They are kept in a chicken house using the deep litter system and perfectly happy to be there. The benefit of this is the mico organisms in the litter used in the floor of the house, breaks down the floor and can then be used on the garden.
Enjoy your chickens and the eggs. There is nothing like eating a fresh egg.
Word of warning on the vegie patch though. Those little chickens will eat some of your seedlings. Especially things like celery, broccoli and lettuce – any leafy green vegie that is available.
Celia, we have 6 cross bred hens too and they are just wonderful. They continue to lay well – even though they are almost 2 years old now and it is cold and the days here are short. i will have to start introducing a couple of new ones to the flock soon as their laying tends to abate after 12 months and we have come to rely on them very heavily!
I can see lots of egg dishes in your future!!
Ozoz, thank you! :)
Bec, ours aren’t free roaming either, although they have lots of room in the chicken dome. We’re basing our garden on the permaculture principles in Linda Woodrow’s fabulous book – The Permaculture Home Garden – which has been written for Australian gardens. The idea is to have a moveable chook enclosure the size of the garden beds, and you move it from bed to bed before planting. In theory, the chickens will clean up the ground, eat all the onion weed and slugs etc, then fertilise it ready for planting. You then move the enclosure to the next bed, and start all over again. Fingers crossed it all works to plan, but as I said, I’m so enchanted I don’t really mind either way.. :)
Amanda, that’s really good to know that they’re still laying well after so long, thank you!
They look like a lovely addition to your garden… So interesting to hear what you got them for. A colleague has recently had several from chicks, and is thoroughly enjoying having them round the yard.
ooohhh…how exciting that your chooks have arrived! And three eggs already?! Very good indeed. They are lovely creatures. Have you started making a list of all the phrases that orginate from Chickent (pecking order, scratching around looking for something to do, getting broody, etc, etc)? We did that when we first got our chooks and were amazed at how long the list kept growing! Have you named them yet? Go on, you know you want to…..
celia, you’re a riot! chickens as phantom agents, not a comparison i’m likely to see anywhere else! it’s why i keep coming back :))))
i am envious. there’s no way we could keep chickens here. we don’t have the room and i doubt the neighbours would thank me for 5am rooster songs.
enjoy your eggs!
Ooh congratulations on your new additions! My SIL has chickens and they were just adorable. Do you have names for them? We gave hers some very unusual names although I couldn’t quite tell them apart-we ended up calling one “fluffy bottom” :)
Thanks Blue Penguin!
SG, no-one takes care of their chickens like you do! Haven’t named them yet. So far I’ve figured out they won’t eat apple cores (too hard, I suspect), but they love nasturtium flowers, oregano and buckwheat!
Dana, we’re allowed to keep hens, but no roosters – local government ordinances won’t allow it. Ahh…the Phantom Agents, I was such a fan growing up. Though maybe I should have written “Bantam Agents” :)
Lorraine, not yet! I’m still trying to tell them apart. But “Fluffy Bottom” is certainly apt, they certainly have those.. :)
Love the idea of fresh eggs and revamped garden beds- not sure I could ever talk my husband into chickens.
He grew up on a farm and doesn’t ever want to revisit the experience.
Your chickens are, indeed, lovely.
Heidi, thank you! They are lovely ladies.. :)
I am so pleased that you have got them, don’t they look happy? I don’t think we could dare to keep chickens being on a major fox run here. The dogs would be barking all night indoors and the foxes outdoors, I will enjoy yours and hearing about them this way. Webcam maybe? :)
They’re gorgeous Celia and I love the way they scratch around looking for worms – thanks for the videos!
My brother would be very envious, he’s always wanted chickens and I can see why now!
They are adorable! My husband keeps insisting we should have chickens, I told him to choose the chickens or the wife.
So far, I am winning… :-)
I just cannot picture us taking care of chickens on top of everything else, and our two dogs would certainly disapprove having them around
But I am sure it’s wonderful to have fresh eggs available anytime
I hope you will keep posting photos and updates….
See, I told you they will end up in your house like ours are. They wheedle their way into your affections and you will be inviting them in for a cup of tea. If you really want to make them happy give them some cut up bacon rind.
Cool chickens! You will have to get some tips from Chris – she is a chicken expert.
Oh congratulations on the new additions to the family. Hehehe. They really are lovely. Wish we were there to meet them in person. I’m with you, they are so nice to watch and the clucking sounds are very soothing. And Small man must be enjoying his kings breakfast even more now with backyard fresh eggs.
How fun! When I was very young, maybe about 3, and living in Ukraine, my grandmother brought home a chick. I loved watching it grow into a rooster. One day, grandma told me it flew away. I was so sad and too young to understand that chickens can’t fly!
A couple of years later, I learned that she had killed it because it was waking up all the neighbors with its calls in the morning. And she had made it into soup for me and my brother that very evening! I had thought of it as a pet and grandma just thought of it as dinner!
So what I’m trying to say is, enjoy the company of your chickens and the fresh eggs :)
What lucky birds! I would like to live in your back garden pecking at chocolate treats, shortbreads and the like :-)
Best of luck and I look forward to some eggy recipes.
Jo, thankfully we don’t have a fox problem here! They do have a high roost though, so hopefully they’ll be safe up there.
C, they’re completely captivating – I spent most of the weekend just watching them! And calling out directives from the sidelines – “go on, eat that nasturtium leaf, it’s good for you!” :)
Sally, apparently dogs aren’t usually a problem unless they’re terriers, or so I’ve read. I’ll keep posting photos, and maybe you’ll change your mind.. :)
Chris, Alex, it was seeing Chris’ chickens in her dining room that finally sold me on getting some. They were so endearing! Chris, thanks for the headsup on the bacon rind…
Dan, Small Man has eaten all the eggs so far, and he’s been blissfully happy about it. “Hmmm…these eggs are pretty good, mum, and they have a very large yolk for such a small egg..”
Liza, that’s terrible! Although probably good that your grandmother kept it from you for so many years! We’re not allowed to have roosters for that very reason – in medium density suburbia, they’d wake everyone up!
Gill, Pete told me we’re not allowed to give them chocolate! But they seemed to like the date biscuits we gave them yesterday.. :)
I second the bacon rind, they go crazy for it!
Hello celia!!
The brown chickens look really beautiful!! Good for you to have your own hens!
There is nothing better then freshh eggs from your own hens!! Yeah!!
BTW, just about all dogs are a problem – most dog breeds would love to hunt or “retrieve” chickens. When we were looking for a dog, it took a lot of research to find a dog that would not attack the chickens. And we did have the incident of someone elses dog create carnage with two of our very first chickens, leading to some very expensive fencing around our backyard (to keep other people’s dogs out) and a rather large vet bill.
My chooks particularly love a nice bit of lamb…preferably plucked out of a small child’s hand while she is trying to eat her dinner! Oats are good for chooks, particularly in the winter as it is supposed to be ‘warming’ for them. Fresh corn and any type of seeds are also very popular. Our dog is outraged when we give the chooks any scraps at all – she believes them to be way, way down in the pecking order. She makes a point of stealing and eating whatever we give them, even if it is lettuce or something she would not normally touch.
Wonderful to see that you chickens have arrived!!
They must have felt happy straight away – we always seem to wait a few weeks before our new chickens start laying!!!!
Are you going to name them??
Haven’t read all the other comments but they do love any fish scraps- skin etc and its very good for them!!
Diana
Your chickens look the business Celia.
So, what’s it today. Mayonnaise? Soufflees? No, bake a cake. You could call your cake Rhode Island.
Enjoy the new additions.
Brilliant!! Those eggs must taste really good whether poached, soft-boiled or pan-fried sunny side up …
Are you keeping them just for the eggs or are you going to “slaughter” them one day?
Christina, Brydie, I gave them some bacon rind – they loved it!
The chickens have stopped laying now – we had four eggs in the first few days, but now I think they’re readjusting to the move, so it might be a couple of weeks before we get any more. We ate those first four eggs with complete joy, but they weren’t really ours – they were a carry-over from what they were eating before.
They’re now on a steady diet of greens from the garden, foodscraps and a daily dose of grains. They seem to be learning all sorts of chickeny things, like how to get up to the high roost, how to get down again from the high roost, how to take dust baths and how to establish a pecking order. Of course, as they’re our chickens, a couple of them are quite bonkers. One of them was having a dust bath, and picking up bits of leaves and twigs and tucking them into her feathers, like fashion accessories. Wish I’d had a camera then.. :)
Sophie, Gill, thank you – as you can tell, we’re enjoying them immensely!
Di, thanks for the tip on the fish, as well as all the advice you’ve given us so far on which breed to choose and where to get them. If there’s anyone else in Sydney’s inner west wanting ISA browns, you can get them at Enfield Produce.
Wink, definitely eggs only! :)
Knowing I would like chooks in my garden, Joanna said I should drop in and see yours. So, I hope you don’t mind, here I am and don’t they look lovely! Oh, the pleasure you must have every morning when you go outside to let them out and the daily egg-collecting chore. And they are such funny creatures – to watch them run is to guarantee yourself a good laugh.
In a spare bedroom at home there are two books, bought about 6 weeks ago, both ‘how to’ books on keeping chooks. So far Messrs. Lepard and Hamelman have the upper hand. But soon, when I’ve read them …… I very much hope to join you in the chook owners department.
Nasty thought though, I’ve just remembered something. Before I can get chooks I have to rehouse everything that’s currently in the garden shed (AKA future chook house). Not looking forward to that bit ….
Blue, thanks for stopping by! We’re still completely obsessed. They’re so entertaining! It’s the middle of winter now – we’re fast approaching the shortest day of the year, and the chooks are spending about 14 hours a day in their roost, so they’re not laying – I doubt they’ll start until they get more sunlight. But I don’t mind in the least, they’re so happy and contented! Please come back and let us know when you get yours – what type are you planning to get?
To be honest, I’d no idea but after seeing the stunning portraits of your ‘girls’ on the chicken update, I’ll do my utmost to find a Rhode Island cross in any colour range available.
They are absolutely gorgeous!
Blue, they are beautiful! The ISA browns are probably the most widely available hybrid – they were originally bred for intensive farming to lay lots of eggs. They have a nice disposition too, although they don’t tend to live as long as other breeds. My friend Christina has the most beautiful chickens I’ve ever seen – black Australorp crosses – I’ll see if I can get her to take a photo…