Just over a year ago, our neighbours asked me if I was missing a chicken, because one had been spotted on the meadow outside our house (I was not missing a hen). About 6 weeks later someone caught the hen and brought her to me, assuming she was mine (she was not).

She was very thin and weak so I brought her indoors and set about finding her owner. She clearly loved being around people and we assumed she was a pet. We advertised everywhere but no one claimed her. She lived in our bathroom for six weeks while we tried to find her owner.

New hens have to be quarantined, preferably with a quarantine buddy. That way, if they have recovered from something infectious but remain a carrier, you& #39;ll find out when the other bird gets sick. I learned some carpentry and made her a coop, and bought her a new friend.

The big grey bird is a bantam Brahma - full size brahmas are HUGE. They are gentle giants though, and we figured that a big bird would defend Domino, since she& #39;s a dinky little bantam about half the size of my existing flock birds.

My friend named her Michelle Obrahma.

Domino wasn& #39;t delighted with losing her heated towel rail privileges or sharing her new palace with a stranger, but the two hens quickly became best buds. A few weeks later and with neither bird sick, they were ready to start being introduced to my other girls.