Say hello to the Hockey Girls

As soon as we got back to Moyhill after our trip to the UK in June, we finished the preparations for the hens and headed off to Loughrea on a wet afternoon to pick them up. Had hoped to buy them from a guy who lives about 5 miles away but for some reason he never answered his phone or returned my calls - perhaps too busy in the pub.

On the way home we were discussing names and it seemed like a good idea - to me anyway - to name them after some of Linda's hockey friends. Obviously we had to study them carefully to ensure that the names were appropriate, but after at least 10 mins consideration we are pleased to present Susan, Karen, Jinty and Ali T (from L-R):

I will leave it to those who know their namesakes to guess which of their traits we recognised but it is probably fair to say that Jinty was the first one out of the house wanting to make friends, while Susan always wants to be in charge!

They took to the henhouse immediately and Linda was delighted to find the first egg on their first morning with us.

Within no time at all, they were each producing an egg every day - a little on the small side to begin with - but they are now averaging 28 medium eggs a week. No consideration at all for my low-cholesterol diet! And the noise they make when they are announcing the arrival of an egg - no need for a rooster to wake us up!