A school trip...for hens...

Today I took my hens to school. My small boys class is doing a topic on the environment and they have an incubator in the classroom and have been waiting patiently for the eggs to hatch. Eggs waiting to hatch are not very exciting (they will be though!) so when his teacher heard I had hens she asked if we would mind taking ours in to meet the children. I had visions of chasing terrified hens around the classroom pursued by a lot of over excited children like some terrible comedy sketch..cue music!

Of course in reality the children were lovely, sat beautifully and listened perfectly to me talk to them all about Barbara, Betty and Boo. My little hens who had never been out of the garden before let alone in a classroom surrounded by children behaved themselves too, apart from squawking loudly through registration...they were definitely present miss!...it was almost as if I'd trained them;)

 They even allowed all the children to have a little stroke at the end and didn't peck or poo on anyone!

I'm a bit concerned that I will now be known as hen lady (guess I've been called worst) but it was lovely to share them with the children and hopefully teach them a few things they might not have known before...who knew that hens go bananas for ...bananas?

If looks could kill...

The hens have just started laying again...just in time for pancake day, how did they know?!...Now I know spring is on the way:)

 

 

They've also started shrieking again...I hope the neighbours  will be as forgiving as they were last year about the noise these 3 small hens can make! The one thing the lady at the hen class (yes I really did go to hen school...they really do exist!) didn't mention was the amount of noise they can make! It really is quite unbelievable but I guess for those of us that have given birth before..it's not that surprising! They shriek just before they are about to lay and then afterwards they sort of 'sing' about it, makes me feel a bit guilty for taking their eggs away after all the  trouble they've gone to.

 

They are also very hormonal beasts, pretty soon they will become broody and they will become vile to each other, this as a fellow female I can really sympathise with..there are certain times of the month I could kill but sometimes they get so aggressive I'm worried they actually will...wish I could give them chocolate and convince them that it really is a girls best friend:) Think I might just have to work out how to make their run a bit bigger to allow them to get out of each others way a bit better.

 

If like me you live in a terraced house and your neighbours really are quite near I'd suggest before you think about getting hens that you check how they would mind the noise. Some people just don't appreciate the sound of the countryside in their own city backyard...sometimes Chris isn't that impressed himself. Luckily my neighbours have been great about it and love the sight of my 3 pecking about the garden. I have considered moving them up to my allotment but I can't always get up there every day so it's not really an option.