Aura, Bertie and Frizzy
Even
before
he was born, Aura had an eventful life. His green egg was laid in the
straw of
a stable by a wandering hen, taken home to be eaten and then left in a
fridge
for 3 weeks. After a car journey of 700km it was left in the pantry
here. It
was only when the Bantam Cochin hen Lady Jane became broody that we put
it with
her other eggs. Surprise, surprise, on
Aura was a bit of the odd-one-out as he grew up in a big
Aura is half Araucana.
Aura Date of birth: 6th of May 2006
Together with his sister he was given some medicine and put in a separate run. But he didn’t get any better. And being stuck in that run was making him unhappy, so we let them free in the garden. Much to our surprise, while we had had difficulty getting him to eat, he started to pick at Marigolds (Calendula officinalis). Bertie knew instinctively what was good for him. Marigold has been used in the past to treat stomach ulcers and inflammations. Slowly but surely he got better.
Because of his illness he had a lot of catching up to do with the hens. That’s why we nicknamed him Flirty Bertie.
In the Winter of 2008/9 he injured his foot and so
lost some of his resistance. He became
ill again and this time it was more serious. He got Marek’s disease. He
left us
on
Bertie is a bantam
Bertie Date of birth: 11th of March 2007
We bought
Frizzy and his sister Lizzy at a
country
fair. He was one of our first chickens. His curly feathers make him special. Frizzling is a genetic
mutation in the chicken in
which the feathers grow so that they curve outward, instead of lying
smoothly
along the bird's body.
Frizzles were first bred in Southern Asia, the Philippines and Java approximately threehundred years ago. Given their frizzled wings and neck hackles, they were extremely popular in exhibitions. However, the breed was nearly extinct until a breeding program was started up by enthusiasts. Frizzling can been seen in many breeds for example in Poland’s, Japanese and more recently Cochins.
Frizzy has always been a happy chap. He left us at the age of 6. Not bad for a litle cockerel.Frizzy is a frizzle bantam
Frizzy Date of birth: 15th of August 2003
