Seven in the total head/bird count at the moment, that's Crow, myself and five chickens.

Crow is heavily into geocaching these days (more about that on another update), we are both still exercise junkies, I still grow lots of vegetables, cook and make crafty things.

Here are the five current chicks

Tat - now in charge	Clover - 17 October 2010	Frida 2 - arrived 9 August 2010, with Aggie 2
Aggie 2 laying an egg in the leaf bin	Ginger - arrived 4 June 2011	Click on any photo to see a full size image in a new window

and those that have come and gone since October 2007

Lacey - left us on 6 February 2010	Aggie - left us 9 August 2010	Pepper - left us 29 October 2010
Salt - left us 27 June 2011	Honey - arrived 4 June 2011, lost 11 July 2011

Longfield inhabitants update (18 October 2007)

Well Crow & I are still here and I celebrated (?) my 50th birthday last month.  This picture was taken in a Portuguese restaurant on the big day.

There's been a few changes with the other chicks......

On 2 November 2006, we were joined by Muppet & Lacey,
two beautiful new bantams.  Muppet is a Buff Polish with a silly hairdo and Lacey is a very elegant Silver Laced Wyandotte.

By February 2007 it had become very apparent that Muppet was a little boy, so he had to go back and Clover replaced him on 10th.  She's a Lavender Pekin, very fluffy with feathered feet.

Tat became the best layer in the world (well, the world of Longfield) after she laid for 89 days on the trot!!!  So far this year (291 days), she has produced 210 eggs.

Great sadness on 1 August when we had to have a very poorly Titfer put to sleep.

Salt & Pepper joined us on 29 September - two more Light Sussex, in memory of Titfer.  Only 18 weeks old, it's good to have young chicks around again.  They certainly boost the amusement factor as they learn about their new home.  Too young for egg laying, but they certainly eat a lot!

Remember, you can read about the full day-to-day hen antics in my Chicken Diary.

Longfield inhabitants (December 2005)

Chick - that’s me. I hate having my photo taken so this is our best recent photo, taken in December 2003. If I get a more recent one that’s not too horrifying, I’ll include it.

Why Chick? Well, I’m married to Crow and one of our wedding gifts was a wonderful plaque, very appropriately in the shape of a hen, stating "An old crow and a cute chick nest here". Chick sort of stuck from that point.

Crow - that’s my husband, Ray. Been known as Crow since school days when he lead the Crow gang.  Then in the sixties, he acquired his rally licence in this short form of our surname, Crowther. Ray’s main pastime is writing novels - three so far - and you can find further details at http://ray.crowther.name/

I think they are brilliant, but I may be biased of course.

New hens

Titfer & Tat are not yet one year old.  We bought them on 13 June 2005 to boost our supply of eggs, just before we lost Frida.

Titfer - Best layer and more dominant of the two new chickens.

Tat - most submissive of the threesome (on the left in the picture).

This photo was taken when they were very young - they're quite a bit fatter and a little bit dirtier now.

Old hens

Aggie - now believed to be 8 years old!  She's a grumpy old hen, but very handsome and we love her.  She rules the roost, often pecking the two new chicks for best pickings from the food and perch position.

She's a bantam, so compared to Titfer & Tat, she's quite small, but still the boss.

5 Apr 2006 - Aggie, our old chick, had some very senior moments today, parading around the front garden with a purpose, examining all of the pots as if searching for something.  She finally settled in the nest and laid her fourth egg in four days!

Frida - Sadly, Frida disappeared on 16 June 2005, lost to a fox we think.