urbanchick Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 (edited) Today I visited a farm and purchased 3 new chickens; a bluebelle, amber star and a speckled star (with feathered legs!) The farm was an agent of Meadowsweet and I was a bit shocked to see that the vast majority of them had been quite significantly (in my opinion anyway) de-beaked. The speckled stars were the worst and I had to keep rejecting the hens he picked up for me. My Omlet hens were not de-beaked but some of these were worse than my ex batts when they arrived. Obviously this had been done previously down the line and not by the farmer so I phoned Meadowsweet and she said they should just be "tipped" (or some similar description designed to make it sound nicer) and she would look into it. I don't know if I should have walked away but it was a bit like buying my dog with a docked tail. There weren't any others around and I would not have had a dog otherwise. I had a struggle to find anyone local with POL hens, there seems to be a real shortage at the moment. Anyway here's a pic of my new girls (in a vastly inferior wooden house to settle them in before introductions - bargain on ebay though): http://www.smugmug.com/photos/580318398_a4nfx-M.jpg On a sadder note, I took Emily to the farm to be dispatched She has eaten an egg a day for the last 6 months and the others have never accepted her (she was the last ex batt so on her own after the others died). She recently developed fluid on her abdomen and it was very swollen, I felt it was her time to go. She had a over a year with us and her last day was spent free ranging in the beautiful sunshine Edited July 3, 2009 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 aww ... they're babies, aren't they! I'd forgotten how cute they are at that age. Sorry to hear about Emily but she had a good life, and you've done the very best you could for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 They are lovely. Look at their gangly legs. Sorry to hear about Emily, but it was the right thing to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickvic Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Sorry to hear about Emily Your new girls look lovely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagazer Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 I'm sorry to hear about Emily too Your new girls look lovely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Chick Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 So sorry to hear about Emily, but you knew the time to say goodbye, and she had a good "Retirement" Your new girls are beautiful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
