An evening spent trawling the local bit of the World Wide Web heralded a breeder of Pekins less than an hour away. A chat with the breeder confirmed she had a selection of birds that would suit our needs. Pekins, six weeks old, friendly & most importantly, hens!
We arranged to go the next day. Between the times of finding the advert and actually getting in the car, a lot of discussion went on about what colour we were going to choose. This debate continued as my youngest daughter and I drove, and didn't stop until we arrived. I brought the controversial debate to a close by making the decision that the chicken that was the friendliest would be the one, regardless of colour. This was agreeable to both parties, so in we went.
The run that we were guided to had an assortment of chicks and chickens of various ages. At that point, I was rather pleased with the decision to choose the friendliest chick...we'd have been there rather a long time otherwise!
Bending down heralded the arrival of cheeping fluffiness. Empty, food-less hands heralded the departure of cheeping fluffiness. Apart from one.
She stayed for a stroke and enjoyed being petted. She was slightly older at 10 weeks but that was immediately overlooked. She was very pretty and very friendly, we were instantly smitten...but she wasn't for sale!
She was only available as a pair with a cockerel (cockerels are difficult to re-home, so selling them with an adorable hen is a smart move) but the last thing I needed was another cockerel and I wanted that hen! Ok, I'll admit I pleaded...a bit (my daughter is likely to give you an entirely different account of how much) and eventually secured our new hen...without the addition of a new cockerel.
She had her name on the car journey home, she was our new Betty.
Betty, in her box, homeward bound. |
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