hillfamily Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 Charlie and I helped at the Sussex BHWT rescue at Half Term and we came home with another chook ..................well 8 chooks is such a nice round number .............and to think just this time last year I only had 2 Let me introduce Gerty.................... She's been with us 2 weeks now and has very proudly started to grow some feathers which she takes great care to preen and is putting on weight. We are hoping to start to move her out of the conservatory and into her own run later this week if the weather holds. Have to be careful as she doesn't have any feathers and only a bit of down so she can either freeze or burn. She will eventually go in with the others when she has got some feathers. She is a lovely little chook and I'm so glad that the BHWT were able to rescue her. She was with us when my son had a belated birthday gathering and there were lots of questions from his mates (all 15 years old) about battery hen farming and free range farming and the conditions chooks were kept in. Nice to see that teenagers want to be aware of where their food comes from and the price animals pay to provide consumers with cheap food. Our other rescue girls were not in anywhere near as bad condition as Gerty although they had and do still have their own problems which Annie will never overcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 Well done you Pam! Bless her she looks so cute! Went to visit AnnieP on Sunday as she has just rescued 6 ex battery hens! They have a lot more feathers than poor Gerty. I'm sure she will be fully feathered soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 I'm sure she'll settle in quickly, with the love and attention you are giving her. She's a cutey, despite the lack of feathers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillfamily Posted June 12, 2007 Author Share Posted June 12, 2007 Gerty really stood out from the other 250 chooks that were rescued. Most of the chooks resuced that day weren't in to bad condition and Sarah the BHWT coordinator had commented on how well the workers at the farm had handled the chooks. Gerty was by far the one in the worse condition and she's very tiny compared to all the other chooks. She hasn't stopped eating yet and loves greens. She's laid me a little egg (48-55g) nearly every day and is rather keen on listening to radio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura & CTB Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 Pam - she looks adorable even without the feathers. She's a lucky girl to have a Mum like you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 Pam she is lovely, I bet she'll look even better when she has all her feathers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina C Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 What a little sweetie. I can see she is going to be a favourite pet. And welcome back by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom and Barbara Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 *waves* welcome Gerty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhapsody Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 Poor thing- BTW, I thopught you had to have a minimum of 3....? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beauty-Box Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 She is so cute!! and she has certainly landed on her feet with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillfamily Posted June 12, 2007 Author Share Posted June 12, 2007 You do normally have to have 2/3 or more chooks. But as we regularly help at the rescues and we've already got lots of chooks some of which are rescued girls and as Gerty was in need of special care we were priveledged to be allowed to bring her home with us at the end of the day and nurse her back to health Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 Bless her, she's so lovely. Oh well, at least you'll be able to spot any lice without any feathers! She's picked the best home to care for her though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 Poor little Gertie. It will be interesting to see how she recovers over the next few months. Keep the pictures coming Pam! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 Oh bless her Shes got alovely look in her eyes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen & co. Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 Oh she's a real sweetie karen x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisa33 Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 What a gorgeous lady. I am hoping one day to be brave enough to have some rescue chickens. I have got a little bit of learning to do first though.... And a bit of persuading Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillfamily Posted June 12, 2007 Author Share Posted June 12, 2007 Poor little Gertie. It will be interesting to see how she recovers over the next few months. Keep the pictures coming Pam! Keep meaning to take a few more pics as she has been with us 2 weeks now...........Will try to take some tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 Great pics. Would love to see more as she progresses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy C Posted June 13, 2007 Share Posted June 13, 2007 Gertie is soooo lovely. Looking forward to the update. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted June 13, 2007 Share Posted June 13, 2007 She is really sweet I am glad that she has gone home to live with you, & the little snippets we can see on the photos of your new conservatory look great. What radio station & show is her favourite? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillfamily Posted June 13, 2007 Author Share Posted June 13, 2007 Gerty likes to listen to radio 4 in the afternoons - especially the programmes on between 3-3.30pm......money box, questions questions, gardeners world etc...although she did have a problem with an answer on questions questions last week about double yolk eggs and being told that they are very rare and only happen during the first few weeks of laying. Gerty knows for a fact that her chookie friend Babs laid a double yolk last week and Babs has been laying eggs for over 2 years and Gerty's heard all about Ginger's ability to lay double yolks for 6 months Gerty also likes radio 2 in the morning but not that Jeremy Vine who justs shouts out of the radio in a sensationlised way Gerty would like to thank you for all the 'hellos' and thinks it's very nice of her mummy to have had all this building work done just for her arrival ........ although she suspects her mummy would rather not have a large dog cage, complete with a sprinkling of organic layers mash all the way round, in the middle of her nice new open plan kitchen/dining room and conservatory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...