I wouldn't describe myself as a fervent Royalist but I do find the Queen's passing quite moving and I am certainly very happy to pay the 5p the estimate her funeral will cost each UK tax payer. In fact I'd happily stick in a skin diver to cover 100 naysayers. And I wish Charles III the best. He's grown on me to be honest and I think he'll do OK.
Anyway, I wanted to commemorate the Queen's sad death in some way so I thought I'd do the very Buddhist thing of giving a good life to a few new chickens. I popped into town with the daughter.
I've always enjoyed letting the daughter pick out our new family members (and she's like me... she picks out the sickly underdogs in the hope of rescuing them but she's growing up fast and doesn't share my enthusiasm for these family traditions. I always love to pick out the lucky hens who will get a life and not be destined to live out its life in a small cage.
But the daughter was much more interested in the ducklings.
I've always loved ducks. They have much more character and personality than chickens and who doesn't like a boiled duck egg on a Sunday morning? We used to keep Khaki Campbells when I was a kid... wonderful layers and our drake 'Francis' used to keep the flock of ducks AND ducks in order.
But ducks need lots of water and would just make too much mess to keep in our chicken run. I would love to make a 'duck island' in the pond for a few ducks to live on but they would last about three seconds with our dogs... not the dogs fault of course, they just haven't been trained.
So anyway, no ducklings for my daughter this time...
We brought the new flock members home - no battery cages for these guys - and had the 'release' ceremony.
Meet Elizabeth, Charles and Camilla. It was a shame that Charles had to be a hen but we can't have two cocks in one family.
And who says Royalty doesn't have it's supporters... Yogi stands for no-one, normally.
Before their release, Charles became strangely nervous and tightly gripped my finger with her left foot. I guess it's nerve racking to start a new life but I'm sure she will settle in. It won't be too far in the future until Charles feels Nelson's hot breath on the back of her feathery neck.
I love releasing these new hens into their new home. This is the first time they've ever had space and Camilla loved it and started running and flapping her wings. Elizabeth made no fuss, of course.
Nelson now has a big crew from from a wide range of backgrounds but I'm sure he can handle it.
So dog vs drake, one on one, you'd give the edge to a dog, Mendip?
Topper, a drake would last about 3 seconds against one of our dogs.
They are all show and bluster... a beak is no match for a mouthful of teeth.
Thunderdome. Goose and dog. Who comes out alive?
I'd still give the edge to the dog... a proper dog like Yogi that is, not one of these toy dogs the likes of Reg Dingle seem to prefer.
I
Toy?
You don't see my dog wearing the wife's negliget. That ugly lazy thing that lies on your outdoor dinner table licking his sweaty balls all day is more the toy out of them both
And I'll have you know mine has started to lift his leg to pee...and also hates ducks geese and swans
Toy? You don't see the kids playing with mine after a days hunting
His favourite food is duck dujon
Killing machine
Thank you NPT... she was a wonderful dog.
It's strange... we just came in an hour ago after a couple of beers with my Welsh mate and the dogs of course went mental to greet us... but no Dan. These times bring it home. Even after a month we miss her and the daughter teared up tonight. She of course had known Dan all her life.
But anyway, back on topic and with the headline news changing so frequently lately it's hard to keep up, but for those interested, Elizabeth, Charles and Camilla are doing well. They seem to stay a bit aloof and separate, and haven't really mixed with the rest of the flock yet which is strange as usually after three weeks any newcomers would be completely integrated. Maybe Nelson needs to sort them out.
Speaking of chickens, can any Phuket members confirm if poster Attilla The Hen fell off the perch last week? I have only heard rumours.
Nelson is in the middle of that lot. He's settling in nicely.
My cock spends all day, every day wallowing in a dust bath while surrounded by adoring females.
What a life.
A little while ago 'Fanny', Nelson's wife number one went broody and started sitting on a couple off eggs in a nest. I've been a bit busy lately and forgot all about her.
Today, Nelson our resident genuine red jungle fowl cock, was strutting around beneath Fanny's nest looking particularly pleased with himself.
Fanny was also getting visits from some of the red 'egg' chickens, which was unusual.
And then everything fell into place!
Congratulations Nelson and Fanny!
Fanny is also a genuine red jungle fowl (hen) and this chick is the first pure jungle fowl we have bred. Fingers crossed for the second egg. These red jungle fowl are reputed to be the ancestors of all domesticated fowl and are called 'gai baa' in Thai. 'Gai' is chicken and I think 'baa' is old, although I'd need a cunning linguist such as Edmond to confirm.
I'll leave her alone to enjoy motherhood and not for the first time a Fray Bentos Steak and Kidney pie tin has come to the rescue.
Congrats
Named them yet ?
I know that you prefer naming your chickens after gay admirals, but here is a few real sailors.
Magellan, Ferdinand
Hudson, Henry
da Gama, Vasco
Drake, Francis
Popeye - Wikipedia
It's a bit early for names yet, Helge. I'll wait until I know the sex first.
I once had a male Khaki Campbell called Francis but it wouldn't seem right for a hen.
You were more ....casual when you named your dogs then ?
Or do you blame your daughter for that ?
Bligh was a bit gay/needy, so he'll pass for both genders, sorry "all" genders.
^ I don't want to sound like a dinosaur Helge but we only recognise two genders in the chicken run.
And yeah, the daughter and wife are responsible for a few of the dog's names.
You never experienced having hens without a ..cock ?
Top hen will take on the role and the way she/he/it crows, is unforgettable.
It is estimated that about 1in 10000 chickens are born with a condition termed gynandromorphism, where, under the right conditions the sex will change (spontaneous sex reversal).
Last edited by helge; 23-11-2022 at 03:49 PM.
^ Perfect. Francis Drake and his girls had real personalities and I'd love to keep ducks again but they make so much mess. If our dogs were better trained I'd like to build a duck island in the pond and keep a small flock.
Fanny sat on two eggs... one hatched and after she left the nest with her chick I checked the remaining egg and there was a dead chick inside. This is fairly common and it always seems sad to me that the chicks have developed for three weeks but can't cross the final hurdle and break out of the egg.
Ootai called the other night to tell me he could do with a new cock, so if this is a boy he'll be heading to deepest Isaan in a few months time. If a girl, she'll stay with our flock.
Our first genuine jungle fowl chick with it's mum. I suspect it's a boy as he's a bold little thing. It's extremely difficult taking good pictures of hens because their movements are so fast and jerky... maybe Shutree has some advice?
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