OCD

I saw a fridge magnet yesterday which said "I'm suffering from OCD: Obsessive Chicken Disorder"...I may need to get one, although I probably don't need a fridge magnet to tell me that!

Meet Hetty and Harriet:

In my defence, I've room for two more in one of my runs and I'm selling a lot of eggs at the moment - so much so that I don't have many for my family and friends. So, I popped along to Martins Wood Farm and purchased a couple of little Goldlines. They have all new stock and these two are quite young and have that gauche, coltish look about them so I don't think they'll be laying for a couple of months. Still, at least then they'll be settled in so should lay well once they start. I've put them in the broody coop for now as I'm not sure that they're ready for Simba's erm, attentions as they've been in the convent-like environs of an all pullet pen! The one on the right with the paler body and dark neck is Hetty, and the other is Harriet. I had a book when I was young with two hens of the same names, although Hetty was white and Harriet brown:

They didn't have any white hens there though so I went for strong layers and pleaded a bit of artistic licence.

The buff Sussex bantams have settled in well, and have been named Hugo, Gloria and Esme. We've had a couple of eggs - here's a pic of one next to one of Peggy's double-yolkers:

Aren't they sweet? They are great as quail egg substitutes or for dinky boiled eggs in salads and packed lunches. Or you can incubate them and have chicks :-) no no stoppit!! I think I will have to keep the pullets in the broody coop until the guinea pigs start using it, otherwise I'll develop Empty Coop Syndrome, a closely linked condition to OCD where one feels justified in having more hens all the time there is room for them...