Hen of the Day - Bonus edition

As promised we have two hens of the day. The first is the Voorwerk, who is kitted out in a natty little ginger outfit featuring a black head and tail and white ears. We have four Voorwerks who are all well-mannered and get on well with the other hens. They lay brown eggs and the breed originated in Holland I think.

Our second hen is a brown araucana. Araucanas originate in South America and aren't related to other breeds of chicken. They lay blue or green eggs which leads to them sometimes being referred to as "easter egg layers". The blue shell is thicker than the brown and the egg itself is lower in cholesterol than regular eggs. They have a cute little topknot and some have either fluffy earmuffs or a beard, or both. In temperament they can be very squawky when roused and in the three years we have been keeping them we have never had one go broody. We have four full blood araucanas - three lilac (which is really a light grey), one brown and a half dozen crosses who carry some of the characteristics of the araucana.