Posh Ladies:

The new pure breed Light Sussex have settled in nicely now. We introduced them to the hut at roosting time so they could get used to each other a bit before the morning. This went well, apart from two of the Sussex deciding they wanted to roost on the same branch as the others, and being bigger birds there wasn’t much space. I still laugh at the site of the 5 Isa’s and Lord Eggward (An Araucana) all crammed on the branch, probably thinking what the hell are these interlopers doing in our house.

In the morning there was the expected pecking of the new birds by the Isa’s, and Eggward attempting to show who was boss, but it quickly became evident that the size of these birds (about 7lbs when mature) was an advantage, and they were not going to be pushed around, by lowly hybrids or by a cockerel. Group dynamics are fascinating!

As they are Point of Lay, we expect to see some eggs soon as they become settled. And next spring we hope to breed from them. Pure breed are more likely to go broody than hybrids as the behaviour hassn't been bred out of them over the years. So roll on next spring as the kids would love to see chicks about. We will use these to increase our stock, keeping the hens and fattening the cockerels for the table. Our target for next year is to have a Sunday Roast, where everything on the plate has come from the garden.