Total Besties 4 Eva

Charlotte and Henrietta are such a funny pair. 

They're joined at the hip 24/7. If Charlotte catches a grasshopper, Henrietta is over straight away. If I'm feeding Henrietta sunflower seeds, Charlotte wants some too. Most of the time Dr Octopus is still over the other side of the yard, totally oblivious to it all.

But this is the first time I've witnessed this.

I guess the chickens that lay together, stay together.

The Grass is Always Greener..

Our next door neighbour's chickens (yes - they have chickens too) can't resist sampling the bugs in our backyard..

Ekka Highlights

I took advantage of our public holiday on Wednesday to visit the Ekka!

Would you believe it was the first time I'd had one of the famous strawberry sundaes? I was curious to try the new icecream by Mamminos - and I was pleasantly surprised - it was so delicious! They just need to get rid of the rubbish cardboard cones..

A new attraction this year was the Lindeman's Open Garden - we were drawn in initially because it just looked like a nice place to sit and eat lunch (and buy a bottle of wine!)...

... but we discovered they had a great hanging basket activity. This was the huge metal "tree" in the middle of the site.

In exchange for your email address (inputted into an ipad by promo girls) you were given a hanging basket, and could choose two flowering and one herb to assemble into it. This was the very cute planting area..

There wasn't a huge selection of plants - but hey - it was all free! I chose a poppy, some white pansies and some cat grass. After we had finished our baskets they hung they all up on the tree, and we picked them up on our way home. A brilliant marketing idea if you ask me.

But of course it wouldn't be the Ekka without some gratuitous chicken shots.

I always find it funny how I'm certain that my chickens have soo much personality and are so unique and I could pick them in a line up easily - until I visit the Ekka. We saw row after row of Charlottes, Henrietta's and even a few Dr Octopuses! (they must have caught the bus in)

I'd Never Wear a Fur Coat...

...But Dr Octopus manages to pull it off.

It's high maintenance garb - she spends hour upon hour preening, scratching, dust bathing and fluffing, but she always looks like a million dollars for a stroll through the garden.

I've never entered any of the girls into the Ekka - but I have no doubt that they'd be prize winners.

Hanging Chicken Feeder and Tres Chic Tomatoes

I spotted an extra little friend in the chicken coop last week (let me give you a hint - it rhymes with house..) and realised that we needed to re think our hanging feeder set up.

Mr Tchotchke knocked up a great little hanger from the mesh roof of the coop - and when I queried how it would go in the rain - he repurposed an old light fitting to act as shield. Not bad hey? 

Charlotte likes it.

Separated at Birth?

Dr Octopus and...

A Visit to Capalaba Produce

Our go-to location for chicken supplies is Capalaba Produce. We get our chicken feed, shell grit, sunflower seeds, straw and even wire mesh from there.

But the highlight of every trip is always a visit to their livestock section..

This was just a taster - more animals after the jump.

Deck Update: Nearly Done

So the deck is oiled and with only a few small paint jobs to complete it's all finally coming together.

We've brought up some furniture from the yard - it's far from done but I thought I'd give you a sneak peak.

I'm loving the leafy outlook from our kitchen - that's our massive ponciana tree in the backyard. 

It's been nice (albeit chilly) sitting here and having breakfast in the morning.

We've referred to the deck as the Chook Viewing Platform or CVP - here's the view looking down at the girls pecking around the bottom of the passionfruit vine along the side fence.

The Chicken Proof Fence

After a few zucchini seedling casualties last week Mr Tchotchke put his foot down and decided that the veggie garden needed to be fenced.

We've chicken and possum proofed in the past with wire mesh - but I'm the first to admit its not terribly pretty - and doesn't always work.

We decided that we'd try a small fence around the perimeter of the garden bed to deter them from even entering the area. To be honest I didn't think it'd work at all - but I might as well ensure it looked nice.

So we ended up buying a 3m roll of bamboo fencing from Bunnings (not too bad for $29) and cutting in into 40cm strips and attaching it with cable ties to veggie stakes.

This is the before..

...and here is the after. Not to shabby - and would you believe its working so far? I think our dear chookies have forgotten that they can fly. Either that or they're getting too fat. They just sidle up to the fence, peer quizzically at it (see above) and get distracted by eating grass instead.

I wonder how long that'll last?

Chicken Pecking Order and Dust Baths

We have three very naughty chickens.

Not only do they delight in playing and taking dust baths in the Chicken Exclusion Zone that Mr Tchotchke has created to help our grass grow back..

(I think they actually think its a partitioned Chicken VIP Area to keep the riff-raff out.)

... but they also delight in being so cruel to each other!

Henrietta always picks on Dr Octopus - who is usually the bottom of the pecking order, but today I spotted Dr Octopus picking on Charlotte - luckily I caught it on my camera otherwise Mr Tchotchke wouldn't have believed me.

In his words - the abused becomes the abuser...

Designer Chicken Coop

Would you look at this?

This is The Nogg - a gorgeous modern chicken coop designed by a US furniture designer and engineer.

We've spent countless hours tinkering and adjusting our chicken coop (or as Mt Tchotchke sometimes refers to it - The Summer Palace) and although the thought of simply buying one online is pretty appealing - I have to say that the guy who designed this one must have never kept chickens.

It would be so dark in there for the poor girls - it must be a nightmare to clean out and I don't think our little fattie Charlotte would even make it through the tiny door.

Although it would be fun collecting the eggs every afternoon from a giant egg..

via Design*Sponge

Gardening Australia Expo

I was tickled pink here on Friday when my new copy of Gardening Australia arrived in the post - so of course I wasn't letting the weekend slide by without a visit to the Gardening Australia Expo at the Brisbane Convention Centre.

I dragged Mr Tchotchke along - and when he wasn't being accosted by shoe shine demonstrators or distracted by food stalls I think he enjoyed himself too.

I bought two bougainvilleas from this stall to plant alongside our side fence.

We caught up with Ingrid at the City Chicks stand.

I couldn't believe how placid this silky was! And can you believe she's wearing a chook nappy?

Another stall was selling these gorgeous hyacinths.

And I couldn't resist taking a photo of these ridiculous plastic garden sculptures - Mr Tchotchke warned me here that it's a slippery slope from a plastic owl to a plastic tiger. Can you see the velociraptor in the background?

Chook Business

I caught Charlotte in the nesting box this morning - they always look a bit perturbed when they catch me having a peek.

I always think of it as their office - "oh Charlotte's just in the office conducting business" - it's really the only work they ever do.

And here's Henrietta on top of grass mountain (the pile of dirt and grass left over from our under deck excavations).

Who am I kidding? They look perturbed almost all the time.

Chook Baking Dish

Okay so of course this stood out in tonight's Peters Of Kensington newsletter.

At the totally bananas price of $4 - I'm a little tempted. It's a little red hen just like our Charlotte!

And surely if I also rounded out the purchase with the Carp and Duck varieties I'd just be kitchenware obsessed and a little less chicken crazy?

Yard Work Chicken Style

So yesterday we removed a patch of lawn from our backyard to make way for our upcoming deck. Very exciting stuff - not only for us but also our chooks because it was worm central.

I know posting videos of my chickens on the internet takes me one step closer to crazy chicken lady - but you really have to see Dr Octopus in action to see how adorable she is.

So in the interests of a "before" shot - this is what our backyard looks like at the moment. The deck will be added to the right side of the house (over the dirt patch.)

And what did we do with all the good dirt we removed? Topped up the veggie patch of course!

Gratuitous Chicken Videos

I saw this on I Can Haz Cheeseburger and couldn't resist reposting it.

It actually reminds me of this chooky classic..

A Three Egg Day

Today was a special day - a three egg day.

It doesn't happen very often so I always take it as a good omen.

Gratuitous Chicken Shot

Oh Charlotte - you're such a poser.

Suburban Chickens

I don't know if its because I never really had proper pets as a child - (well, with the exception of the three goldfish named DJ, Stephanie and Michelle after the Full House sisters - but they didn't last very long) but I've grown so attached to our three chickens since we got them last May.

I'll admit it was a slightly longer wait than I expected until we started to get eggs, but they're the funniest little pets and the fact that they earn their keep with lovely eggs is a bonus.

This is Henrietta - she loves to lay out in the sunshine with one wing extended.

This is Charlotte - named after the white chook on a kids show I worked on.

And this is Dr Octopus our adorable silkie.

I've given her a haircut since this photo was taken so she can see properly now. She lays teeny tiny eggs and goes broody at least once every two months - she spends all day in the nesting box and makes the most pained squeals if you try and move her little furry butt.

We got our girls from City Chicks and I can't recommend them highly enough.