Molly & Rosie

The two most recent additions to our menagerie have now settled in, and I thought it was about time to provide you with an update of their progress and a proper introduction.
Above you can see Molly & Rosie as they roam the backyard, looking for bugs and snails, digging up all our mulch. Rosie (formally Ella's chicken) is the one in front -- slightly bigger and with more white tufts near her legs, while Molly (Katy's chicken) is behind. They like to hang out together as they roam around, and usually it seems to be Molly following Rosie (just as Katy follows Ella).


Now, I don't quite know why they like to roam around the yard, since we've spent such a large part of our summer holiday renovating their palacial quarters in the back corner of the yard. Here you see Katy showing off their gate (constructed from leftover scraps of wood) and coop constructed from a mixture of lattice & wire. Their little hutch (where they lay eggs and roost) is on loan from our neigbour, while we have a little Ella-sized platform on the far left so she can collect the eggs -- usually two per morning. Plan is to plant a fruit tree here to give them shade, but in the meantime we will use the shade-cloth in the corner.


While I've spent much of summer perfecting the chicken coop, Nat has got to work on other projects, most notably a new section of paving under the washing line (see above) -- a split level construction which is now all finished bar the near corner.

Oh, and in other breaking news, Katy is learning to jump and has demonstrated the utility of this skill by launching herself into the bath, head first and fully clothed, much to her own surprise.