These last two were very beautiful. They were especially bred so that they were resistant to a particular disease that chickens get in the area where I used to live in northern New South Wales. They were Laced Wyandotte crossed with Black Australorp. The Wyandottes are the very pretty American birds. Their feathers are speckled and look very delicate. They were first bred in NY State of all places. The Australorp is a very handsome black chicken from Australia. Very pretty birds and they were tame so they'd come and sit on your lap. Birds are very intelligent creatures. More than I ever realized.

These were the last two of only 6 that we had. No rooster. We brought them with us over 1000 miles north to where we are now. Eggs are very nutritious but I just can't force myself to eat them anymore unfortunately. I would if I could because they're high in choline and we all need that in our diets.

Unfortunately some breeds have a very short life span because they've been bred to lay copious numbers of eggs per year. The Wyandotte/Australorp, apart from being immune to certain chicken disease tended not to lay as many eggs and for the health of a chicken that's a good thing.

Sorry.. on a ramble again.