On Thursday 19 March, with the Coronavirus crisis upon us, we had two phone calls in quick succession. One was from Martin Kirkland, supreme builder of chicken coops, to say he would deliver our new coop at 11 am on Sunday 22 March and the other was with the British Hen Welfare Trust to say that the last pick up for rescue hens for the foreseeable future would be at 11am on 22 March. Hasty arrangements were made and Pa Kettle stayed home to help Martin offload the very heavy coop whilst Ma Kettle shot off to Nantwich with several wicker baskets to bring back 12 hens.
Just as it looked like our rolling log arrangement to move the coop into position was going to flop, our nephew foolishly turned up just at the right moment and manhandled the coop across the field injuring his jaw at one point in the process. A big thank you to John. As Ma Kettle arrived back, Pa Kettle was scrubbing out our old coop which was to house the newcomers. That coop is surrounded by a large fenced inner pen so will be ideal for the new girls to see out their 30 day quarantine period whilst socialising through the pen netting with our existing flock.
The video above shows the girls first few moments in the coop. Tomorrow they get to see the sky for the first time in their lives. Better than facing the chop by some horrendous chicken disposal machine that gets rid of most cage chickens deemed to no longer be laying to peak efficiency. No wonder the state they are in! These people are evil. I’ll upload a video showing their first moments outdoors tomorrow!