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Today we visited Durham Hens. We have been getting a few hens each year from Durham hens, since our project began. It is always a popular visit for our students who enjoy going out to County Durham, visiting the fantastic set up they have at Durham Hens and selecting new hens for our little flock.
Its a great place to go, the staff are always really helpful, offering advice over which breeds to buy and how to integrate them with the rest of our flock. We decided to separate the new ones in a section of our run - however, they broke in with the rest before school the next day - so far they seem to be mixing well.
Two columbines, one speckledy, one white leghorn, one amber and a rhode rock were picked to come back to North Tyneside.
As well as buying 6 new hens, one of our original flock has 'gone broody' and has been sitting on a nesting box pretty much constantly for the past week or so. We decided to see if she can hatch a few eggs, so we bought some fertilised eggs, four different types, handily numbered so the students do not collect them by accident. This is quite unlikely as our broody hen is rather protective and territorial.
The eggs were placed in the broody hens nesting box - she has claimed one and will not let any of the others near.
The two new Columbine hens lay rather distinctive eggs, one laid one inside the box we used to transport the hens back to school - you can see its a bit smaller than the rest and a blue/green colour.
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