Hi everyone,
When I first adopted my pot belly pigs a few years back I found the A.S. forum very helpful and have kept in touch, albeit sporadically, since then reading about all things, not only pigs.
Now I have a fully occupied poultry pen (and barn for night times) - 2 Silkies, a Red Warren, 2 lovely grey coloured ladies I think are also Warrens (?), 3 Sussex and 2 Pekin female ducklings.
And… well, I just wanted to share my joy because these ladies never fail to make me smile, and sometimes laugh out loud, with their antics.
And I look forward to becoming part of the A.S. "community" once again.
Anyone under any stress or feeling “down” often… should keep chickens and ducks.
I defy anyone watching them not to smile and feel all is well with the world!
Can chickens have individual characters? I should say so!
Our Silkies like human contact and like to have a gentle stroke along their necks. Mostly they’re submissive to the other larger hens but stand their ground if there are tasty worms up for grabs.
One Silkie(Sofia) lets the other catch tasty creatures while the other hens aren’t looking and then sneaks alongside and pinches said cache out of her mouth.
The other hens too are now used to us and “human-friendly” and like a little contact if/when they want it (sometimes they just say “Oh, it’s you. To be honest I just want to be left alone at the moment, I’m a bit busy”)
And the young ducks are adorable. They never leave eachother’s side but get along well with all the hens too. When they first discovered their pond we hardly got any work done that day because we were too busy watching them.
Anyway, suffice to say I’m glad to once again re-join this great forum and share stories with fellow chicken & duck keepers. Though I have done my research (as much as anyone can) I have no doubt I shall be asking advice at some point in the future.
I hope the weather is being kind to you all back there in the UK. I have been melting today and very tempted to join the ducks in that little pond!
This hot sun could make me quackers!... actually, too late, I'm already there!