The Cottage Smallholder

Mrs Boss is the Bantam heroine of the Farming Friends – Cottage Smallholder Interblog Guinea Fowl Breeding Event. She has been broody more often than not throughout her four summers. As a result, she spends weeks either in the anti broody coop or being bullied by the other hens in our flock.

Sara at Farming Friends took pity on this diminutive feather footed hen and sent six guinea fowl eggs to us in the post for Mrs B to hatch out. Within days Mrs boss was living in her own castle within the main chicken run. Suddenly she had privacy, her own apartment with garden, six eggs and the prospect of a brood. Even though Hello has not yet telephoned she is already a cyberspace superstar, drawing comments from all over the world. Five out of the six eggs hatched out and the keets are now one month old.

I have never seen a happier Bantam chicken. The keets are quite a handful but still very much her brood, rushing to shelter under her wing when it rains or something rattles them.

They are growing fast and taking more interest in the outside world as each day passes. Now they know that my arrival in the run at lunchtime usually means a tasty treat of chickweed or chopped lettuce.

They shoot out of the castle followed by a clucking Mrs Boss and then cluster beside her, jumping up out down with anticipation. They play tag rugby with the lettuce leaves. Mrs Boss is generous. If she gets a leaf she immediately drops it for one of her brood.

Yesterday I had an afternoon off work so I filmed them so you can see how they are developing. Mrs Boss stunned me by performing a magnificent leap, jumping right out of shot. The keets are clearly bringing out the Svengali strain in her ancestry. Her new movie Mrs Boss Jumps – Svengali Bantam was released on YouTube today and you can see it here.