Emma the Gardener

Buttercup is a Cotswold Black Tail, very similar in appearance to Chewbucka except her tail feathers are black, not white. In fact, they’re quite hard to tell apart from a distance and both disappear into the bark chip background when they stand still. Most of Buttercup’s feathers are a lovely honey colour though.

When she initially arrived, Buttercup was the most inquisitive of the Raptors, but after a couple of months they still haven’t developed any individual character traits. We struggled to name them (despite suggestions to the contrary, we’re not massive Star Wars fans and felt no compulsion to continue to original naming convention). I eventually gave them fairly conventional names, which Pete still can’t remember. Hopefully they will distinguish themselves as they get older, and at that point we may rename them. But in the meantime I refuse to call them ‘grey chicken’, ‘brown chicken’ and ‘brown & black chicken’ the way Pete does.

Their Raptor antics are very entertaining, though, so they get given a lot of greens as treats. In fact, since they arrived Cluck and Chewie have upped their consumption of veggies as well – both in terms of quantity and variety. I think they felt left out, after having been very picky in the past.

Buttercup left, with her sisters and Cluck Skywalker, for a free-range village life in January 2012.

Daisy is a Black Star, although she’s just about as brown as they come. When the assistant at Cotswold Chickens asked me which Black Star I would like, I was actually pointing at the chicken next to Daisy – but she scarpered and Daisy ended up in the net. It turns out that Daisy is a most beautiful chicken; she has dark markings around her eyes that make her look like she’s wearing mascara. Together with colourful head feathers, she always looks like she’s put on her make-up.

One of the Raptors, Daisy is very fond of eating her greens. She and the others lay almost identical brown eggs, so it’s hard to tell which of them laid each egg. They all tend to lay an egg a day, though.

Daisy is a bit shy and like one of those people who’s always in the way – if I go into the run with her she never knows which way to go to get out of my way and generally stands frozen like a rabbit in the headlights.

Although the Raptors are now integrated with Chewie and Cluck and we can leave them alone without risk of bloodshed, their over-excitable antics seem to stress Chewie out, and so more often than not we keep them separate and they have access to the big run (with the fruit trees) in different shifts. None of the Raptors have yet been allowed to free range in the garden – it’s the growing season and they’re far too rambunctious to risk them damaging the plants.

Daisy left, with her sisters and Cluck Skywalker, for a free-range village life in January 2012.

When Princess died, Chewie and Cluck were perfectly happy on their own (although they did miss Aunty Princess to begin with) – they’re firm friends. The second eglu had been dormant for months, and remained so over the winter. But once spring came Pete began to hanker after more chickens.

Our neighbour Ivan had been talking about getting his own chickens for a long time, and in spring 2011 he finally did – from Cotswold Chickens, of whom he spoke very highly. As we were passing close to them on our way home from the Edible Garden Show, we popped in – and inevitably chose three new chickens to come home with us.

My choice was a Bluebelle – a beautiful grey/ blue chicken, a striking change from the usual black and brown ones. She grew up in a different enclosure to the other two we chose, and so there were some ructions in the box on the way home. When we introduced them to their eglu and its run, all three were spooked by being able to see the sky, as much as by each other.

To begin with, Bluebell was an odd combination of bolshy and a scardy-cat. She bossed the other two around, but was afraid of us. She’s still not keen on us, but she’s less mean to her new sisters and they get on fine.

We call the three new chickens the Raptors, because of the way that they devour any greenery that comes into reach. They jump and peck, snatch pieces and run away, and chase each other around the run. It’s hilarious to watch, but you have to keep your fingers out of the way as they’re indiscriminate with their pecking. Bluebelle, in particularly, is fond of pecking at the string bracelet I wear, when I’m not looking.

Although the Raptors were point-of-lay when they arrived, they were already bigger than Cluck and Chewie, but with age comes experience and the two older ladies have kept the youngsters in their places lower down the pecking order. They now co-exist calmly, although the Raptors are still often fended off with mock pecks and real pecks when they transgress.

Bluebell left, with her sisters and Cluck Skywalker, for a free-range village life in January 2012.

When Chewbucka arrived with Cluck Skywalker, she was tiny. Although theoretically around the same age (both were sold as ‘point of lay’), she was probably younger. A fluffy ball of feathers, she was very friendly and affectionate and happy to be picked up and cuddled from day one.

It was mainly for Chewie’s sake that we bought a second eglu and separated the two new arrivals from Princess (and mine – I wasn’t sleeping, from the stress). Princess was a big chicken, and Chewie was so tiny she was regularly flattened when Princess went on the rampage. She’s much bigger now, of course, but will never be as big as Princess and Henny were.

As she grew, Chewie developed a limp. We took her to the vets, but she had an unpleasant experience – we had to sit in the waiting room for 45 minutes (with dogs and cats) and a tired vet was not as careful in her examination as she could have been – Chewie pecked her when she hurt her leg, and as the world’s most placid chicken Chewie never pecks people. The vet wasn’t certain of her diagnosis, and although during a course of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories the limp went away, it came straight back again when the medication stopped.

As Chewie’s limp didn’t cause her any problems, we stopped worrying about it (although we keep a close eye on her). As she was gimpy we called her one of the Raggy Hens, with Cluck.

Chewie loved free ranging in the garden, and never got in trouble. Although she was less keen on cuddles as she got older, she was always a friendly chicken and liked to be close to me when I was gardening. She was probably the least photographed of our chickens, as she always has her head down, looking for things to eat on the ground!

Chewie clearly was never the healthiest of chickens. Although she was happy, and made as much of her life as possible, her limp got worse. She began to lay eggs without shells, and we were relieved when she stopped laying regularly. Sadly her health did not improve, and it was with a heavy heart that we said goodbye to her on 27th December 2011.

After the death of Hen Solo, Cluck Skywalker and her friend Chewbucka came to keep Princess Layer company. They arrived as mere bundles of feathers from one of our local garden centres. Cluck is a Silver Amber Link, originally a very white chicken but now the colour of whatever she has been dust bathing in most recently.

Cluck and Chewie rapidly became firm friends, possibly out of solidarity because Princess initially hated them both. Aunty Princess mellowed, though, and they had a few lovely months together before Princess passed away.

Cluck is the roadrunner of chickens. She’s lean, fast and almost impossible to catch. She has remained nervous around humans, although she’ll come and say hello if you’re holding a pot of poultry corn.

During the early days, when Princess wouldn’t accept the new arrivals and it was hazardous to go to bed in the eglu, Cluck decided to roost in a tree one night. As dusk fell I spotted her because she was white, but attempts to catch her simply sent her running off through next door’s garden and into the alley behind. I eventually caught her trying to squeeze through a hedge, but as she would not have survived on her own Pete was very afraid for her and still doesn’t really trust her not to run off again!

Despite her lean physique, Cluck lays giant white eggs almost daily – even through the winter. She is top of the pecking order, but she and Chewie never fall out. They’re the best of friends, but when we introduced Bluebell, Daisy and Buttercup, Cluck was keen to exert her authority even though they arrived bigger than she is!

Cluck has a weak beak that regularly cracks and then breaks off, although it doesn’t seem to cause her any problems and grows back right away. She’s one of our ‘Raggy Hens’ – made imperfectly – and we love her regardless.

Cluck Skywalker left, with the Raptors, for a free-range village life in January 2012.

Princess Layer arrived with Hen Solo when we bought our first eglu. She was a Gingernut Ranger, with beautiful brown feathers and a fluffy bottom. She was bottom of a two-hen pecking order, and much less adventurous than Hen Solo, and we took care to ensure she got her fair share of any treats. She was fastidious in her personal grooming, acting like the princess she was.

Princess avoided catching Henny's cold during the early days of their stay with us, but had to have a trip to the vet herself later on after developing an infection. Although a course of antibiotics quickly cured her, she was left with a lasting distrust of people after a rather invasive (but necessary) examination by the vet. She was never again keen on being caught and held.

When Henny died and left Princess alone, our initial thought was to rehome her (it's not kind to keep a single hen, as they are flocking birds). But she made it clear that she loved in our garden, and the calm and dignified manner in which she coped with her bereavement persuaded us to bring home two new hens – Cluck Skywalker and Chewbucka.

Unfortunately, grief and a rapid promotion to the top of the pecking order turned Princess Layer into a homicidal maniac, and it became clear that she would not quickly learn to live with Cluck and Chewie. As they were tiny compared to her, we invested in a second eglu so that we could all sleep soundly at night. It was two months before things calmed down, and then the three became firm friends and the second eglu became redundant again as they started to have sleepovers together.

One day in November 2010, Princess was a bit quiet. The next day it became apparent that she was not well, and we brought her inside to keep her warm and safe. She was calm and comfortable, but she passed away during the night.

Hen Solo was one of our first pair of chickens, companion to Princess Layer. Henny was top chicken, a born explorer, and could be a bit bossy. But she and Princess got on very well and made good companions.

Hen Solo was a Miss Pepperpot, and she came to us direct from Omlet when we had our first eglu delivered. She loved sweetcorn and dried mealworms.

Henny was a generally healthy hen. She developed a cold after the stress of relocation, and we had to take her to the vet. Although she was quiet in the box on the way to the surgery, when we opened it she flew (despite having her wing clipped) up onto Pete's shoulder – we laughed about it for ages, because the vet was too short to reach up and get her down. A short course of antibiotics sorted her out, and she never had to visit the vet again.

Henny took every opportunity to sunbathe and take a dust bath, and her black plumage was a striking mixture of colours in bright sunlight.

Henny died in April 2010, after a short illness, and is sorely missed.