Anyone living the good life or having a desire to do so, will understand… I’m sure!
We had a long standing arrangement with a fellow poultry keeper, that we would take her two Egyptian Fayoumi ladies and treat them like queens. Well, the appointed day arrived and the Egyptian ladies left their Raheny home for life in the country. It was lovely to meet Margaret again and her family. While we chatted I expressed a desire to find a cockerel for the ladies and of course, Margaret pointed me in the direction….
As we were some distance from home and the cockerel was close by, we decided to look him up and hopefully settle all the birds in together when we got home later that evening.
Not only did we find a lovely cockerel befitting our ladies but we also brought home a nubian goat to begin our goat herd.
We drove home in absolute delight but considered ourselves certifiable, to have impulsively purchased a goat when we only went looking for a cockerel… henceforth, referred to as our ‘Nile Valley Collection’
The Egyptian Fayoumis were put to bed in the hen house with all our juvenile birds – to ensure no squabbling, but there was no home ready for our impulsively purchased nubian.
As we’ve finished breeding for this year, all our chicken pens are open and all the fowl are free to range wherever they desire. Osiris, as our nubian was christened, was placed in a now open chicken pen, with the gate once again securely closed for just one night. He didn’t wait, but just jumped clear over the 4.5 foot chainlink fencing from one pen to the next… to freedom and was happily resting by the bottom ditch among the larger fowl when morning came.
After all the trauma of being transported rather unceremoniously and being locked in a chicken pen, he remains friendly, and will eat from our hands. He will make a beautiful daddy next year. In the meantime he has become a constant companion to our Shetland pony
Our Egyptian Fayoumi ladies and gent are settled in as if they have always lived here. They have established themselves at the top of the pecking order with all the juvenile birds. Bubble & Squeek (the ladies) parade as a unit in search of autumnal feasting and occasionally peck the more daring younger birds into proper order!!
