New arrivals...
Just a little under two weeks ago we visited the Rhug Country Fair. Waking up early, I was very excited, we had been planning for sometime to purchase some new additions to our family. Since moving to the country and becoming self employed again, I have been able to indulge my passion for animals. Working from home all day means my chickens are able to roam free in the garden and generally enjoy an idyllic life. I've been itching to add some more birds to my little family... so the whole family set off in anticipation (well nearly the whole family, my husband just about manages to stem my yearning for a small holding and the need to acquire a small menagerie of birds!) We've been discussing for sometime now about adding a pond so that we could get some ducks, but as yet haven't achieved this, as there is always something else more important to get done... like fetch water for example! Then we settled on a cockerel so my broody hens had a mate and I had a new model for my artwork... so this is what we set off to purchase.
When we arrived we headed straight for the poultry stand. Now, shopping for birds with two boys in tow is tricky, there was a peacock that 'soooooo' needed a home, needless to say we weren't going to give him one, much to the boys disappointment. After sometime searching the cages we realised they only had two cockerels, one was an enormous leggy pure breed and the other a tiny bantam, neither appropriate for.... um servicing the girls, shall we say. So that was it... but of course it wasn't, what lay in the next cage was the most adorable collection of fluffy yellow goslings. Now, I know I went for a cockerel but sometimes I just can't help myself! As a family we had indeed discussed getting geese previously. They have many fantastic attributes: they let you know when intruders are near, keep the grass down, weed the borders, guard the chucks and produce the most exquisite eggs for baking and for decorating at Easter! Of course they had already stolen the boys hearts (and mine) even my husband couldn't resist these little balls of fluff.
So, we now are the proud owners of a beautiful trio of geese. Hopefully they will become fairly tame, as we handle then regularly, and will grow up to indeed earn their keep (as long as at least one of them is a girl!)
These little cuties are growing like monsters, after just one week they have nearly doubled in size and are beginning to feather out. They have indeed already modeled for me, as I'm sure they will do many more times, just as the chickens have. I count myself very lucky to be able to bring all this inspiration to my doorstep.
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