Star and Matilda Approaching Their First Eggs

My first two hens - Star the Cream Legbar and Matilda the Welsummer - are now 16 weeks old and rapidly approaching their first egg.

Their crests have started to pinken and enlarge, so I really expect the first eggs to appear in the next fortnight or so.

For the last ten weeks the girls have been fed on protein-rich growers pellets, which has really helped them to put on some weight ready for laying. The pair get on reasonably well, but it's clear that Star dominates the partnership and keeps Matilda in her place.

As these are my first hens, I'm not really sure what to expect. The girls are tapping at the pop hole of their chicken loft as soon as the sun rises in the morning. After a drink and bite to eat they seem quite happy to laze around in the shade of a well-established clematis plant.

To help keep them entertained I've constructed a small climbing frame from an old wooden ladder. I've also hung up some old CDs for them to play with. Of course they love to have a good rummage around for tasty morsels on the ground. They seem to really enjoy snacking on freshly cut grass clippings and sticky jack. By some quirk of nature they somehow know not to eat the clematis plant they rest under, as it's not very good for them.

They are very easy to look after. Last thing at night I remove their drinker, give it a quick scrub and refill it with fresh water. I keep an eye on their pellets to make sure they don't run out or get damp, in which case they are replaced with fresh ones. The girls get a lot of their food from scratching about, so I only need to top up the feeder every week or so. I make sure that I go into their enclosure every day to get them used to human company. When I'm in there I spend a few minutes tidying up any droppings that are lying around.