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| Cackleberry Cottage in bloom |
Cackleberry Cottage or just "the chook house"?
The term "Cackleberry" refers to an egg if you grew up in rural parts of Australia back in the late 50's - or sometimes a "bumnut". I refused to call the chook house "Bumnut Barn" as suggested by my beloved, nor did I position roasting trays as nest boxes as the husband of a friend of ours threatened to do for their chickens; said he " that way they will get a reminder of where they'll end up if no eggs appear" !
We also have some interesting nest boxes (though not quite as quirky as roasting pans). These are hand-painted and decorated. One day soon I plan to post step by step instructions on how this was achieved - stay tuned if you need a purty home for your feathered friends.
This is Mimi trying to hatch an egg...or two!
I think Mimi is planning on a family :)
The large bluey-green egg, whilst fake and just there to encourage the girls to lay there, happens to be an exact replica of the egg laid by a South American breed of chicken called an Araucana.
So Dr Suess was right - there is such a thing as a green egg to have with your ham!
If you are interested in tips and facts about keeping chooks, as they say in the classics "stay posted", I will have loads of posts coming as I am dotty about my chooks! Below is an overview of the flock at present.
Introducing the "domesticated feathered garden occupants" aka "The Girls" or "The Chooks".
Name: Lottie - Breed: Hamburgh. Colour: Golden Spangled.
Source of name: Laid her first egg day after arrival moving my beloved to dub her "a Hamburgh-er with the lot" and so she became "Lottie". A nice Germanic sounding name also and as my father was born not far from Hamburgh all very appropriate somehow. Anyway with out any further ado our "Glamazon Chook"....da da!!
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| Lottie the 'Glamazon' Chook |
Funny Facts about Lottie: Lottie likes to sleep up in the Banksia at night instead of the chook house and for all her good looks and size is super super shy.
She also sometimes utters a vocalisation that sounds as if someone stepped on a cat's tail. A surprisingly 'scozzer' noise to come out of such an elegant looking bird!.
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| Lottie and Vegie post the great Rhubarb Raid of Winter 2014 |
Name: Little Vegemite - Breed: Australorp Bantam. Colour: Black.
Source of name: Australorps are the only pure bred Australian breed of chook so I wanted an iconic Australian identity for her and her little Blue pal (Whose name is 'Happy'. Get it? If you don't, you are possibly under 45 years of age, or are the right age bracket but weren't allowed to watch much telly or you didn't grow up around here. :) No matter - get someone to explain it to you or go here The Story of Vegemite ..and for some spine tingling angry- making corporate espionage stuff that builds on the story go HERE ......The story of an Aussie Icon . Grrr I may have to change Vegie's name...and not buy Kraft anymore! (actually I don't any way- too many additives!)
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| Rhubarb post the raid! |
Curious facts about Little Vegemite: She is not really a "bantam" but at 3kg somewhere between a standard Australorp and a bantam. The breeder swears she does not know how this could happen. She is our top chook and incredibly good natured and a good layer (a feature of the breed).
She has also proven that chooks can eat the leaves of at least one rhubarb plant and still be upright the next day. Find out more here: Is Rhubarb poisonous?
She has also proven that chooks can eat the leaves of at least one rhubarb plant and still be upright the next day. Find out more here: Is Rhubarb poisonous?
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| Wheatie, Bluey. Mottley, Honey and Blackie |
Name: We haven't named these as some are destined for a new mountain abode very soon so they go by the nicknames of "The munchkins/urchins/ratbags/five musketeers or abbreviations of their colours- Breed: Japanese. Colours (L to R) : Wheaten, Blue, Mottled, Honey Dun and Black .
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| Posing for their close up in the convulvulus |
Curious facts about Japanese Bantams: They are a true bantam in that there is no standard (ie large) version of them and rumour has it they were bred for the Japanese aristocracy who wanted birds that would not damage their gardens. So Jappies as we affectionately call them have very short legs! They lay a 30g egg which is a fabulous size for kids and small pastry basting jobs!
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| The brown egg is around 70g, courtesy of Little Vegemite |
Name: Happy - Breed: Australorp Bantam. Colour: Blue.
Source of name: See "Little Vegemite" above. Happy also has a nickname but I won't put it here as I want this to be a child friendly blog. :) Let's just say it's "Miss Bossy Pants"!.
Here is a video of her with chicks she hatched from fertile eggs we bought at a Poultry Auction .
Curious facts about Happy: Despite being Ms Bossy Pants she has a very unusual trilling vocalisation and is fond of coming up behind me and gently tugging on my clothing with her beak when I have my back to her hand feeding the other chooks. It reminds me of a kid saying "what about me mum?".
