When I decided to keep hens I had no idea what wonderful, rewarding pets they are. My thoughts on what they would deliver into my world were…..

1. Properly free range eggs from hens that are kept with their best interests at heart and fed on decent food.
2. Chicken shit for the garden – great fertiliser
3. Voracious eaters of garden pests such as snails…..

How could a girl ask for more from a pet?

Well, over the years I have discovered they are so much more than egg-laying, pest-eating compost machines, they are delightful, character-ful critters with the personalities of giants.

Of course then I didn’t know they were descendents of dinosaurs (and therefore have great vision for good, scientific reasons). I had no idea that their eggs (as long as they are unfertilised, which all of ours are) are single cells – bird eggs are the only single cells that it’s possible to see with the naked eye. Apparently the biggest single cell is an ostrich egg.

More so I had no clue that they would treat me like their Mum. They believe that David and I control EVERYTHING so if it’s raining they come and tap on the window to ask us to make it stop. We are constantly chasing them from the house where they like to explore for food on the kitchen work surfaces or find places to nest that are cosy and warm. We even found Hill (whose bottom you can see retreating into the distance in this shot) trying to lay her egg in Archie’s bed a couple of weeks ago. She’d found her way in through the open back door, walked through three rooms unnoticed and crawled into his bedroom under the stairs, finding the furthest corner and settling down. The only reason why we knew she was there was because I told David off for stomping around and he was in a different part of the house. Eventually, after a search, we found what was making the noise and ejected her!

Today they think we are extremely mean for making it snow again. They’re huddled under the table where they can stand on grass. It’s almost as if they feel it’s a little atelier, where they can think great thoughts and philosophise on life. Right now they’re thinking “come on now, enough of these jokes, we’re cold and fed up and we want you to make it STOP”!

By the time I got outside with my camera, Jack, Hill and Lennie had decided they were camera shy, leaving only Dusty (facing) and Martha (behind) sticking to their position regardless. BTW - Dusty is a rare breed - a Blue Anderlusian and her skin is blue!

I never tire of seeing them going about their business or interfering in mine. These days I regard their superb eggs as a bonus, not their main function at all. They are extraordinary creatures.