Arietty and The Sith Lords. Part 1

Part One:  Arietty and Mary.

For some time I'd been thinking about getting some hens.  In the Tauranga City Council bylaws it says that as long as we don't have a rooster, we can keep up to twelve. They can even be free-range as long as they don't go next door.

I decided to get two bantams.

When they first came we kept Arietty and Mary in the old budgie cage. During the day they were on the front verandah and greeted visitors with excited peeps. It was hot on the verandah sometimes so we shaded them with an umbrella.  Sometimes the rain splashed back as far as the cage so we covered the cage with a plastic tablecloth.  We chose green for the umbrella and the tablecloth so they would feel it was leafy and tree-y and they'd feel at home.  As well as chick crumbles, they were given lots of green stuff to eat.  They would eat out of our hands.

We bought them in each night, because it was very early spring and still a bit cold.  We put down a plastic sheet on the lino to catch the tiny piles of poo they did during the night.

They were very good friends and preferred to be together in the same part of the cage. I put a little wooden perch in the cage so they could practice roosting. They loved being handled and I could fit each one in the palm of my hand.

Mary (back) and Arietty.

Arietty.

They each had a tiny little comb growing on top of their heads.  Mary (full name Mary Poopins) was a little more timid and usually allowed Arietty to come forward first, and show the way. 

Tomorrow:  Part Two.