Yesterday afternoon my husband was going over to the farm where we get our disposable supplies from and where we re-homed Pepper and Dotty. He asked me if I would like to go with him and see if I could find them on the farm.
I went along armed with my camera.
My husband went to collect our supplies while I set off to look for Pepper and Dotty. At first there didn’t appear to be a chicken in sight. I checked the barn which was empty. I could see by the amount of feathers in the yard that there is some serious moulting going on.
I went to the orchard which seems to be the chickens favourite place on the farm. At first I couldn’t see any chickens but then I spotted Pepper emerging from the undergrowth. Then Dotty appeared from under the yew tree.
I called to them and crouched down to try to get some photos while cursing myself for not thinking to bring some treats. Soon they came close to me and I was able to get some photos.
Pepper
Dotty
I don’t suppose they remember me but there again they did let me get close to them which the other chickens and the cockerel didn’t.
The feathers have grown back on Dotty’s head whereas when my husband last saw her, her head was still bald. She is moulting and has lost most of her tail but I remember her looking just like this last year.
Dotty
Pepper with some of the other hens
It was good to see Pepper mixing easily with some of the other hens.
Pepper and Dotty together
They still seem to stick together which is rather nice. I love Dotty’s crossed legs.
Pepper in the foreground and Dotty in the background
Pepper has her bottom feathers back in so despite the moult they do seem to have got their missing feathers back which is a really good sign.
Claude the cockerel
This was closest I could get to Claude the flock’s cockerel.
Some of the geese on the farm
I felt so happy to see them free ranging happily on the farm. I feel this environment is much more suited to them and how ever long a life they have here it will have been a happier one than in an enclosed run.
It is so good that they are together too as it would have been heartbreaking to have them separated. Seeing them again reassured me that I had done the right thing re-homing them on this farm. They looked so happy scratching in the meadow and grazing on the grass.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
This is amazing to see ! Was the best you could have done with your situation ! I am in the same process of re homing 1 of my chook in my little hurban coop in Roma and is not a funny process …sad but good to think she will have a better home in a more big enviroment ! Your post give me positive energy GRAZIE !!!! Marcello
I am so glad if it helps you because I agonised over the decision but I knew it was best for my flock and also a better life for Pepper and Dotty. Still it was hard to do though and going back and seeing them happy is so reassuring.
Dotty may look scruffy but it is only the moult. I looked back at photos of her this time last year with me and she looked just the same, in fact they both looked identical to how they look now so I am happy that they are doing fine and have a lot more freedom on the farm. It was heart warming to see them still together but also part of the farm flock and enjoying free ranging in the meadow.
These decisions are very hard and I cried at the time but I know it was the right decision and I now have a happy flock too. You will make the right the decision for your flock as only you can and you mustn’t feel bad about it as we must do what is best for our flock.
Oh! I had a tear in my eye.
I am so glad I did my bit .
Oh! I had a tear in my eye.
I am so glad I did my bit .
I felt tearful when I visited them before but not this time. I felt so happy to see them so well settled.
I would like to do a follow up post on Bluebell now Blossom. Next time I visit you I would like to take some photos and do an update on how well Blossom is doing with you and your flock.
You are so lucky that you can go check up on your hens. I’ve given away a few birds before and asked that the new owners just send me a photo and update once in a while. Well, each time, I got one the following day or two and then nothing. I know people get busy and they forget. But I would love to know how my girls were doing. They were all special to me.
I do think that moving forward I will only get Buff Orpingtons. They are sweet and relatively quiet. And I think for my small flock setting, there is more harmony if you have all the same type. I might be right, I might be wrong. But that’s what I’m going with.
Busy morning but I’m going to try and hit the feed store and buy a big bag of crickets to celebrate Coco’s 4th Bday a tad early. Watch for photos.
I agree that I am so lucky to be able to visit my girls. It is sad that your new (chicken) owners haven’t kept in touch.
Jackie being a friend kept me updated all the time when she first adopted Bluebell now Blossom and of course she is only ten minutes from me so I see Blossom regularly.
The farm is nearly an hour away but when we go for supplies I can wander round the farm and find Pepper and Dotty. There is an artist who works in a building in the orchard where the hens like to hang out and she said she would let the farmer know that I had visited them and taken photos.
I will look forward to Coco’s birthday celebration photos. What could be better than a bag of crickets for a birthday!
It must be a huge relief to see them integrated and settled. All’s well that ends well. As usual, lovely photos!
It is a huge relief to know that they are happily settled. I realised how their cryptic colours help them to blend in to the background as I could only use close ups of them or they disappear, blending into the background.
Also Dotty does look tatty but that didn’t worry me as I looked back at last years moult and I did a post saying something like “look at the state of Dotty, what do you look like!” She was worse than these photos with loose feathers falling and no tail and looking comical and sad at the same time but she soon feathered up and came out looking great so I am not worried at all.
Looking back to last year they look identical so I am happy that all is progressing as it should do. Despite moulting I could see that they still stick together but also integrate with others and happily go about the farm and also were okay with me getting close to them but also were okay to go off and do their own thing as they are obviously now used to doing .
It is hard to let go but rewarding that they now have a different life but I think a life better suited to them. Pepper still had the same vocal sound and Dotty still following her in her own sweet way without needing to be so vocal. I did think this is still my sweet Dotty just in another environment and Pepper, I would recognise her voice anywhere.
I know it was the right thing to do and am happy now to see them happy. My flock are happy too so that makes everything okay after difficult decisions.