As Robert Burns almost said, “the best laid plans of mice and hen most often go astray”. I am in danger of going astray now. I am waiting for my new henhouse to be built. I have been waiting a very long time. However it should be here fairly soon and it should be wonderful. So wonderful that hubby and I might want to move in too. The sensible plan is to get the new henhouse and then think about some new arrivals. Right?
But everywhere hens keep popping up for sale. Not only am I booked in to see some 12-week old Orpingtons this weekend, but my local hen shop has just today taken delivery of a flock of point-of-lay hybrids. And then there are the many ex-battery hens who would benefit so much from a place in our new dormitory….
So what’s a henhugger to do? The options as far as I can see are:
- Wait: forget about new hens and focus on getting the henhouse first.
- Don’t wait: Go shopping for new hens and hope the new henhouse arrives soon
- Don’t wait plus: Go shopping for new hens AND a small spare house to act as an airlock between the existing hens and the new arrivals.
- Combine b) and c) above and ignore a).
So what would YOU do? Or to put it another way, what do you think I “Orp” to do – to buy or not to buy?