A bit big for bantams?

New arrivals always cause great excitement at RectoryReserve.... We have Linda (who loves pigs) to thank for the latest incomers.

"AJ's got some bantams he's keen to get rid of" she said last week

"I wondered if you might be interested?"

"How many?" said I "And what sort are they?"

"Six, I think" said she "They're Leghorn and/or Wyandotte, or something like that, I think" she added (not having long moved to the country she is not yet as familiar as she will become with the various types of chicken....)

Never could say 'No' to any creature, so there was no debate. And yesterday she drove up with a large crate containing a number of brownish and one black bird. Eight of them, it transpired later! (Not too good at counting, that AJ!)

We waited till dusk and then unloaded them into the bantam pen..... "Jolly big, some of these are" I commented as we took them, one by one, from their travel crate. They don't look like the Wyandottes and Leghorns I am familiar with either (will have to check with the Chicken Encyclopaedia which Santa bought me!). They were good as gold though and all but two went straight to bed with the others in their little house. The 'two' just behaved like scatty bantams, flying and squawking frantically for a few moments, before they also settled down and went to bed.

"Did AJ say how old they are?" I asked

"Point of lay" said she adding that "one of them already laid an egg this morning".

This morning Louis was more than proudly escorting them all around their new quarters and sure enough, two of them had already laid an egg. The other hens were equally happy with their new colleagues and contentedly pecked and sat alongside them all day long until Louis ushered them all into their boudoir at dusk. Nice little hens. "Bit bit for bantams, ar'n't they?" commented The Boss, stopping to admire them en route to feed Mangal and his mates.....

Ritz and Max, meanwhile, were happy to go out in the sunshine for a few hours. They wasted no time in rolling several times in the remains of the snow before mooching off in search of tasty titbits along the hedgerows.

Rocco and I left them to it and rode out to see if we could find the Harrier hounds who were hunting locally. Although we soon saw the huntsmen and a few 'followers' we didn't see much of the action ; we could hear them crashing about in the woods and doubtless if we'd hung around long enough we'd have seen more, but it was such a glorious day I decided we'd push on and make the most of it rather than standing around: a decision which clearly met with the horse's approval as he went off at a spanking pace!

And later on, after the rugby The Boss and I settled down to enjoy a delicious Rabbit stew with dumplings. As much of the vegetables came from my beating colleague, Bob (he who covets the Bestest Gundog in all The World), it was also one of the cheapest dinners ever to find its way to our table! Now I really do have to learn to shoot because if there is one thing we have plenty of it is wild rabbits..........