A Poultry Return

We have some new chickens. An enthusiatic party of Coles attended the Domestic Wildfowl Trust H.Q. in Winterbourne today and, after much deliberation, debate, dissent and discussion, departed the admirable poultry paradise with three hens. We chose a brace of White Stars and a single Pekin Bantam. They are lovely birds and the White Stars (Leghorn hybrids, I’ll have you know) are phenomenal layers by all accounts. The trio are all ‘point of lay’ so we can expect eggs sooner rather than later. Of course, they have names. The White Stars have been named after famous female Whites, Meg (after Meg White out of pop pranksters The White Stripes) and Cilla (after Cilla Black, the truly ghastly and unacceptable face of light entertainment, who, as any schoolboy knows, was christened Priscilla White). In a clever play on words, the Pekin Bantam has been called ‘Duck’ after the spicy dish Peking Duck. They appear to have settled in nicely. Security is high after recent events. They are safe.