At half past three this afternoon we arrived at the farm in Wendover to collect two new girls. Catrin the farmer had four girls in a rabbit crate for me to choose from.
There were two goldtops, an ancona and a vorwerk. I wanted two different girls so it was an easy choice, it had to be a goldtop and an ancona. One of the goldtops was lighter in colour and smaller in size than the other so that was the one I chose.
I wanted to stick with my theme of descriptive names and had been thinking about a name for the goldtop as I have used quite a few gold themed names already. I came up with Butterscotch. I didn’t know what other breed I would choose so couldn’t choose another name but as soon as I saw the ancona it had to be Speckles right there and then on the spot.
When we got back home I took a photo of them in the dog crate which we used to transport them.
Butterscotch and Speckles
I had already separated off part of the run for them and as it was only a couple of hours until bedtime I put the dog crate up against the little coop where they are to sleep tonight. I then put in some shavings and a dish of pellets and water.
The new girl’s home for this evening
I will shut them in the little coop later and hope this will help them to know that this is where they will sleep for now. I will let them out first thing in the morning and set up a feeding station for them.
I have a feeling that integration isn’t going to take long as none of the girls seemed at all bothered by each other.
I will give a little information about the breeds.
Gold tops are a cross between a gold silkie father and a white sussex mother and they are a sex linked breed. This means from the moment they hatch you can tell the sex as the hens are gold like their father and the cockerels are white like their mother.
They are a docile and friendly breed but tend to go broody and make excellent mothers. They lay cream coloured eggs. They have a small black comb and a bouffant crest and slightly feathered legs. They also have blue lobes.
Ancona originate from Italy. They are good layers of white eggs and rarely go broody. They are active and good foragers and are flighty. They have a single comb.
At half past six I went up to see how it was going. All the old flock were in on their top perch as usual. Speckles had gone in the little coop and Butterscotch was standing in the doorway. As I went through the gate she went in and I simply closed the coop door. I removed the dog crate and set up their feeding station for the morning.
I will let them out into their portion of the run tomorrow morning and see how things progress.
I am thrilled with my two new girls and can’t wait to get them integrated into the flock.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
They’re adorable! I hope the others like them too, though I have no doubt they will. This past week I went to the fair and saw Silkies that were tiny. They looked like rabbits in a cage. I wonder if Butterscotch will end up tiny like silkies or Sussex size.
Butterscotch is already quite big for a bantam, much bigger than a silkie, more sussex sized. The ancona is smaller than the gold top. She is probably now our biggest girl but maybe partly due to her fluffiness.
I was waiting for you to report in! They look wonderful .
I have been really busy clearing the garden of a tree or two and the chicken run I wanted down has gone .
I am awaiting an invitation . I can’t wait they are beautiful . I’m voting for Speckles already .
I was waiting for your comment to invite you meet the new girls. How about tomorrow at two o’clock? I thought Butterscotch would be my favourite but I too am leaning towards Speckles. Already she is looking to have much more character. Richard says Butterscotch is the dumb blond, nice but dim, whereas Speckles was already desperate to meet the flock and much more alert.
Haha, that’s how I catagorize my Cochin, Princess Peach! She’s sweet, but not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Your description of Speckles reminds me of my Speckles. She was alert the day we got her, and flew the coop within a couple hours of arriving! Thankfully, we got her back and trimmed her wings. She’s still very alert though. 😉
I did think that I had nicked your Speckles name but with this girl in front of me and a descriptive name needed, it was just perfect and many of the blogs I follow have the same names for their girls, they just fit! She sounds the same as your Speckles from the behaviour already. I can already see that she is going to be a character.
You have chosen two absolute beauties; Speckles takes me back almost 50 years, to when I used to help my uncle with his flock of bantam Anconas. Fingers crossed for an easy integration (you’re a seasoned player at this by now!) and may they both remain healthy; I’m sure you’ll get lots of pleasure from them – as your readers will, from the many photos we’ll see.
I used to worry about integrations but have now come to the conclusion that a mixed flock of big and small girls was the problem. All bantams seem to integrate much more easily plus we now have a bigger run, bigger coop and lots of high perches and easy bolt holes. I have a good feeling already that this will be easy and I already love the new girls.There will of course be loads of photos to come over the next few days. Watch this space, as I often seem to say these days!
SQWEEEEEEEE!!!!! I love them. I love the name Butterscotch.
Thank you. At first I thought it wasn’t really a proper name but once I’d thought of it it grew on me and I couldn’t seem to change my mind so it stuck.
“One of the goldtops was lighter in colour and smaller in size than the other so that was the one I chose.”
As always, Mum chooses the runt of the litter to take home!
I like small, I was always going to choose the smallest one given a choice. Even though she was the smallest of the two she is quite big. Speckles is much smaller and the vorwerk was tiny, much smaller than Honey or even Amber. Catrin said it’s because they are now breeding from a smaller cockerel. She said if you are not careful your bantams gradually get bigger and you need to keep them small to meet the set standards.
Butterscotch is very mild whilst Speckles is feisty.