Wyandottes!

It's been far too long since I last updated you all on the goings on around The Barn and Barford Farm House - but here we are again with much to tell! Very excited as today we increased our flock of hens by three! Ventured for the first time to the livestock market over at Salisbury. What a cacophony of noise came from the vast numbers of crated bantams, chickens, ducks and other fowl as we made our way through the throng of people to view the birds. With not much time before the auctioneer began his warblings we scurried past several rows of crated bantams, making notes on our schedule according to which birds looked of interest. A huge learning curve then took place as the auctioneer sped his way through each lot, aided by his sidekick who indicated which crated bird was being auctioned by inserting a pole into the relevant crate and surreptitiously prodding the poor creature into a flurry of activity! Bidders ranged from young lads, to older farmers and several women with glasses perched on the end of their noses with notebooks full of writing in hand, obviously very serious business for some. Then there were the would-be-country-but-really-prefer-the-city folk bidding for the prettiest bantams to become the latest must have items for the children. One black pekin bantam sold for £50!!!!! Then there was me. Finding the black pekins a tad out of my price range (my existing flock will have to grow by their own devices) and beginning to be caught up in the excitement I felt a determination to go home with something, so thought we might have more luck with the partridge pekins. My favoured lot came up - and quickly went! The next lot looked identical and I was more determined than ever and within seconds we were showing our number 333 - they were ours! It wasn't until we paid for our birds and looked at the receipt that a certain realisation came over me. Yes, we had bought partridge bantam hens, but they were Wyandottes and not pekins as my existing flock!!! My consternation didn't last long, I am able to say with some relief. Once settled into their new home I could see they were slightly larger but just as pretty as my other birds, and being larger I can hope for larger eggs! Come and stay at our lovely self-catering accommodation at The Barn in Medstead, Hampshire and you can see them for yourselves! www.barfordfarmhouse.com