Our Current Chickens (ID 1223)
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Ginny (Weasley)'The Orange One'
Ginny (Weasley)
Ginny is the only one left from our original chickens. She has gone from being the smallest and last in the pecking order to being top chicken since being joined by her new friends. She can now be seen telling the others what to do and leading them around the garden. She is often the first to follow anyone who she thinks is carrying food.
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Florence (Nightingale)'The Purple One'
Florence (Nightingale)
Florence is the biggest of our new chickens and has slightly different colouring to the others. She has settled in well and is happy to be picked up for cuddles. She loves following her friends around the garden and digging in the vegetable patch.
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Coco (Chanel)'The Yellow One'
Coco (Chanel)
Coco is a slightly smaller chicken but has very soft feathers. She is more nervous than her friends and doesn't always want to follow them, particularly when it's time to go back into the pen.
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Rosa (Parks)'The Red One'
Rosa (Parks)
Rosa is another smaller chicken who had very few feathers on her head when she arrived in March. She is much happier since she has been with us and her feathers are growing back well.
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Mary (Earps or Seacole)'The Blue One''
Mary (Earps or Seacole)
Mary was named after two women from very different walks of life. She is a very independent chicken who often wanders off around the garden. At first she didn't like going back into the pen, but has got much happier to be around people and is now a friendly chicken happy to be picked up. She, like Rosa didn't have many feathers on her head when she arrived but is doing well and looking a lot healthier now.
Our Chickens
Our first group of chickens arrived as part of a science project on 10th May 2021. They were delivered as eggs and lived in an incubator in the year 2 classroom. The children were able to see them hatch out during the week. As we were experiencing Covid-19 restrictions at the time the other classes weren't able to come into the classroom to see them hatch, instead, we were able to set up a live MS Teams link so the rest of the school could see. They started laying eggs in September 2021.
Over the past years they have survived through various outbreaks of bird flu and the associated restrictions. Our first flock were named after some of the female characters in Harry Potter, their development is in the slideshow below.
By September 2024 we only had two of our original six left, at this time Bellatrix got broody, we sourced some fertilised eggs which she proceeded to hatch out to great excitement. Unfortunately they turned out to be cockerels so we had to find them new homes.
Earlier this year we lost Bellatrix-our mummy chicken, this was very sad and left Ginny on her own, although she was quite happy we wanted to give her some new friends. We got in touch with the British Hen Welfare Trust a charity who rehome ex-commercial hens. For a small donation we arranged to adopt four new hens, who we collected on 22nd March 2025. It took a little while for them to settle in but now they are all firm friends and doing well.
Chickens 2025
New Chicks September 2024
From eggs to chickens!
Our Previous Chickens (ID 1312)
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Belatrix (12/05/21 - 12/02/25)'Mummy Chicken -The Green One'
Belatrix (12/05/21 - 12/02/25)
Bellatrix decided in August 2024 that she would like to become a mummy. She spent August practicing sitting on hers and Ginny's eggs. At the end of August we bought her some fertilised eggs to sit on. We are happy to announce that on 21st September 2024 these eggs started to hatch! Bellatrix is now a mummy chicken.
Bellatrix was partner in crime to Molly. Her green band was intended to represent her house in the Harry Potter stories, but in her case, green is for go! She can frequently be seen moving at top speed across the garden usually chasing anyone carrying food. She is one of the friendliest chickens often coming to say hello.
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Molly (12/05/21 - 11/05/24)'The First Yellow One'
Molly (12/05/21 - 11/05/24)
Molly was one of the rulers of the roost, she was known for her adventurous and inquisitive nature. She was often seen leading the other chickens into mischief, her favourite places to visit included the bins, the carpark, and when she was feeling particularly adventurous, Grundy Close!
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McGonagall (12/05/21 - 31/08/23)'The one with no tag'
McGonagall (12/05/21 - 31/08/23)
McGonagall was a very resilient chicken. She had an accident earlier in the year where she damaged her leg. We were very worried about her at the time and didn't know how she would manage. She was very determined, and
quickly got very good at hopping. She managed to get in and out of the house on one leg, to get to food and water. Her leg recovered but was a little mishappen. -
Luna (12/05/21 - 04/07/23))'The one with the light blue tag'
Luna (12/05/21 - 04/07/23))
Luna had distinctive markings with her feathers being much lighter than her friends. She was quite shy, not liking to be picked up. She preferred to stay in the garden but could sometimes be found following her friends around the
school.