New Hens!

I forgot to say Amy was dead in the nesting area when I opened up yesterday, and on putting the girls to bed Betsy was slouched under the raspberry canes with an almost black comb - so I brought her home with me. Hens look so downright miserable when they are unwell - as do most of us! 
Well, this morning Betsy was looking absolutely fine and was she ever noisy! If it hadn't been raining so heavily I would have taken her back to the coop!
later in the day Colourful Mai facebooked me a post about free hens in Gunnislake, my next door village! So I messaged to say I would take two and the woman said great, come pick them up 5-5.30 today! 
I decided Betsy could be taken back as the rain had stopped, and it would have been a performance getting 2 cat carriers up the muddy lane! Then It was great fun trying to catch two hens from their very wet and muddy enclosure at the bottom of a lovely garden! There was no point me choosing which of the four I wanted - simply a matter of which two we could corner and grab! The woman explained they were 8 months old and in lay. The only reason she was giving them away was that they did not like her rooster and feathers were flying! I gave her some money to buy new ones - the white hens she had with the rooster were fine, it was just the hybrid red ones that were being problematic so she was going to buy more like the white ones. I didn't see of hear the other hens so no idea what breed they were. The two I had were a little bald round the necks - they had been pecking at each other in all their upset with the rooster!
Once home and in the dog cage they proceeded to eat the pellets like they had not been fed for a week! They looked just like that old fashioned toy that has hens on a wooden  bat attached by threads to  a ball underneath which makes them peck manically as the bat is moved round and the ball spins! I'm in love with them already! Just got to think of names for them!