Choosing chickens – it’s not all it’s cracked up to be…

After buying the chicken house, I was suitably excited and enthusiastic to put some chickens inside. I had decided to buy hybrids partly for their egg-laying ability, but also by recommendation from several friends and colleagues. I decided to visit several breeders within an hours drive of Aberystwyth with the first on my list being Camddwr Poultry in Bronnant. So off I went with my friend Kate in tow for moral support, who later told me that she had been warned by my boyfriend Martin ‘not to let me come back with a cow or something.’ He knows me a little too well…..

We left a gloriously sunny Aberystwyth, armed with a sat nav, a picnic and an empty cat carrier. In typical Welsh style, the weather did a spectacular u-turn and we arrived at Bronnant in the pouring rain. Once there, we met John and Catherine who were so friendly and welcoming that I decided not to bother visiting another breeder. I took a long look at the various 20-week old chickens running around my feet and decided on a warren, a calder ranger, and a speckledy, all friendly breeds – what could go wrong…?

My newly acquired girls were bundled into the luminescent green cat carrier and loaded into the boot of my Ford Focus without a sound. We made our way to the country store and I wandered up to the counter. The conversation went a little something like this:

Enthusiastic Me: I’d like to buy some chicken bedding please?
Unenthusiastic shop assistant: What type?
*Awkward silence
Me: Something comfy….that they will….erm….like……
*Unenthusiastic shop assistant rolls her eyes and stares at me, offering no assistance.

Clearly I am not the ‘farming type’ and will have to work on my agricultural street cred or ‘field’ cred.

I took my chickens to their shiny new home and released them into the 2m Eglu run, then sat back with a cup of tea. My chicken dream had become a reality.

And here they are:

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