A couple of weeks ago our lovely pet chicken Petra died. She got pretty sick, and in the end it was the better option for her to let her go to be put to sleep. It was a pretty sad day, and I cried a lot during the little ceremony we had when we buried her body.
Chickens are quite social animals, so it was clear to us that we couldn’t leave Gerda all alone in the huge run. The following weekend we went on a mission to get a new chicken. Since both Gerda and Petra initially came from our neighbour, we had no idea where to buy a chicken. But luckily we’re members of the Book Book Club on Facebook, a community page for chicken owners in Wellington. There we got the tip to ask for a chicken at the Rural Trading Post in Pauatahanui. And that’s where we got lucky; the owners of the trading post have chickens themselves, and they regularly raise chicks for sale. It was a pretty hot day, so the decision which chicken to take home was made purely based on who was standing by the water bucket, so she wouldn’t get thirsty during the drive home.
Gerda wasn’t too impressed with the youngster moving in. She pretty clearly showed the new one, which we named Ingrid, who was in charge. During the first night Ingrid didn’t even dare to sleep in the house, but after dark we went up to the run, grabbed her, put her into the house and closed the door. No escape possible. Turned out that two chickens locked into a dark house can keep the peace. From there on it all went uphill. By now they’re basically friends, at least as long as Ingrid lets Gerda eat and drink first. Gerda still plays the boss when it comes to food, but Ingrid found out quickly that she can have an amazing life if she lets Gerda believe that she’s in charge.
If you want to know more about this new chick’s life in the exciting new environment, you should follow her on Twitter.
Baby’s coming home.
Exploring the new home.
How does this feeder work?
Gerda isn’t impressed with the new run mate.
Kai and both girls (the white fluff on the right is Ingrid’s butt).
Petra was a very friendly sociable chicken, she’ll certainly be missed. Ingrid will learn to trust all the visitors that come to see her and will maybe run up to you in the same excited way that Petra would (and not just because you have food :-).
Comments on this entry are closed.
{ 2 trackbacks }