the accidental smallholder :: diary archives

Who's who in our hen flock

Until yesterday, we had three RIR in our laying flock. Last night, we had to despatch Mrs Pink. She had been failing for a few days - I don't think she was in any distress, just fading away so we decided that it was time to call it a day. I was conscious of the fact that the RIR were quite old hens, but I wasn't sure how old. This set me thinking about the other hens too, and I realised that my records were quite inadequate and that I had no real record of who was who.

Last night, I set about trying to work this out, using and Excel spreadsheet and back entries of the TAS diary. Wow, doesn't time fly when you're enjoying yourself!

The RIR were hatched around September 2003, so they are almost five years old. Our Light Sussex were hatched in November 2005 (bought in ) and April 2007 (homebred) and the main Black Rocks in November 2007. Our Copper Black Marans hatched in April this year and our single Cream Legbar in May along with our six young Black Rocks. Our single Cuckoo Maran hatched in July. I now have all this documented (yes, I know I have too much time, but the rain WAS heavy) and have a sheet similar to the Sheep Flock Record so I can record ins and outs, so to speak. I'm off to check our stock of leg rings so that I can mark up the various batches.

These poor hatches are a bit of a pain, because they tie up accommodation and equipment for small numbers. If we'd been smarter, we would have stuck some day-old Black Rocks in with the Cuckoo Maran and the broody hen, and used her more effectively. However, you live and learn.

I've set 12 Cream Legbar eggs today; 10 in the incubator and two under the RIRxLS who also seems to be broody. If she sits, she can raise all chicks that hatch but I don't really trust her to sit - she's not as tight as the Black Rock was. I am following the incubator instructions to the letter (I have been a little cavalier with the last two batches, which is probably why, at least in part, the hatch rates have been poor - familiarity breeding contempt, and all that). Naturally, I will post progress regularly.

Blanche

We don't normally name our chickens - the closest we've got previously was "Mrs Green", Mrs Red" according to the leg rings. Now we have Blanche.

Blanche is a Black Rock with distinctive white "earrings" - she's quite young and was in the batch of Black Rocks I bought at Stirling a couple of months ago. Actually, I'm not sure BR can have white lobes but that's another issue.

She's always been tame-ish and bit of a loner, but over the last couple of days (bribed with dried mealworms) she has become quite tame and I rather like it! She's also very vocal and if you talk to her, she "talks" back. This evening, we spend a happy 10 minutes in the garage, with the dogs excluded; I fed her some mealworms and caught her by one leg (!) before lifting her on to my knee. Once there, she sat quite contentedly for a few minutes before heading off quietly on to the straw bale next to me where I was able to stroke her.

I should really have been busy doing "useful" things like weeding but I enjoyed it so much that, buoyed by my success, I set off to tame the 10 week old BR and Chip. Boy, are these girls bold! Poor Chip must have a life of Hell!

Two of them are big girls, and cheeky. I have a slice of brown bread in my hand and offered them a wee bit - one of them grabbed the whole slice and, had she been a bit bigger, would have been off with it. Within a couple of minutes, I could stroke one of them and when I caught her, she sat on my knee for a few minutes before heading back to the rest.

I threww in small pieces of bread and soon all were taking it from my hand. the BR were eating it; Chip was picking up bits and running around with it in his beak; pick up another bit; run around; pick up another bit; run around - never eating it. Eventually, he had so much in his beak, he dropped it all the the girls ate it. Just as well we're keeping him for his good looks and not his brains!

Chocolate Eggs - and it's not even Easter!

Six Chocolate Orpington hatching eggs sold on eBay today for £250 (Two hundred and fifty pounds - just in case you think I've misplaced the decimal point). Apparently, a pullet sold for £250 and a cockerel for £500 this year.

They are stunning hens IMHO, but I wouldn't pay that for a REAL chocolate egg!

I bought 12 Cream Legbar eggs - and am committed to following the incubator instructions to the letter. I fear I have been rather complacent with the last two batches, which probably explains the poor hatch rate. Must do better!

Chip

Here is a recent photo of Chip, our sole Cream Legbar. I'm pretty sure he's a boy. He has a head for heights - I've found him perched on top of the water container yesterday and here he is on top of the feeder. You can see his little harem, and Meg, gazing up at him in awe and admiration!

Broody hen update 3

Our broody hen and her small family seem to be fine.

The weather here was overcast and cool this morning, but at about 10am, the cloud cleared and it is now a lovely warm, sunny day. I checked on them both this morning Broody refused to stay out of the nest - if I shut her out, she was terribly agitated, so I decided to go with the flow.

As a mother who quite often has no idea what she's doing, I projected my fears on to Broody. However, her maternal instinct seems to be in good working order. She and chick have been out in the sun since it came out. Chick is pecking away at chick crumbs, with mum, and toddling about (he's not very good on his feet yet).

I am referring to the chick as a "he" but I don't actually know what sex it is - but it is a Cuckoo Maran not a RIR.

It really is the sweetest thing - he's cheeping and she's clucking back and seems immensely proud of her little brood. Just before I came through to the study, he scooted under her wing, presumably for a nap, after all his exertions.

I'm really glad we managed to get her a little family ( not that I'm sentimental or slightly hormonal) - hopefully, if she comes broody next year, we'll have our own fertile eggs for her to hatch. She's sat so tight, I would have no hesitation giving her more eggs, but back them up with the incubator. Now I've got the temperature sussed, I hope we'll have better hatch rates!

Tomatoes

We had our first tomatoes yesterday - a few little "Sungold". Delicious!

Broody hen update 2

From previous entries, you will know that we have a broody hen, rather unexpectedly. We have no cockerel at the moment, so I bought 12 eggs - 6 RIR and 6 Cuckoo Maran; just in case she got fed up, I put four (plus the ones of ours she'd already hijacked) under her and the remaining eight in the incubator. They were due to hatch on Friday. I noticed last week that the temperature in the incubator was low, so wasn't at all hopful of getting any chicks - Dan candled them and said two looked like they were full of chick.

Nothing Friday, nothing yesterday; I was going to switch the incubator off today. I awoke this morning at 6am to the sound of cheeping! One egg in the incubator has hatched! I will leave the incubator on for another 24 hours or so, just in case.

I have to confess, I made Dan get up and mow a patch of the lawn (at about 6.15am), so that the broody coop could go in sight of the kitchen window and be on short grass. I have put the chick under the broody hen - I hope (everything crossed) that she will accept him.

Well, either she will or she won't - I'll keep you posted.

Raspberries

I've said here before that if I could only grow one fruit, it would be raspberries - and now it's raspberry picking time, I haven't changed my mind.

I was on picking duty yesterday evening - it's really Dan's job but he was away on business- the sun was shining, the raspberries were plump and tasty, the ones damaged by birds were being shared with the hens, who were chooking about my feet, and all was right with the world.

Once I'd finished, I made a few pounds of raspberry jam. Now, my record with raspberry jam is not one to be proud of. Last year, I think I over boiled it (because I was too impatient to let it cool enough to check the set properly) so the jam is like toffee - tasty, but a real jaw breaker. This time, I stuck to the recipe and waited for a bit longer to check the set and it was OK first time. The result - jam-textured jam!! It will still give you dental caries, but it will leave existing filling in your mouth!

I've set aside a jar for The Show in September, unless I make a better batch another day.

Blackcurrant tomorrow!

Tess

Tess is lame. I have a horrible feeling that she might have a problem with the cruciate ligament in her left leg - she ruptured the right one earlier in the year and had surgery to repair it. She can't / won't put any weight on it, although she's eating and doesn't seem in pain. I'll get her to the vet tomorrow.

Both dogs were at the vet for their annual check and booster on Friday, along with Cass, who had a lump on his back a couple of weeks ago and was going back for a final check. He's been a bit sneezy, so the vet had a look at his mouth, where he had a tooth removed a couple of years ago. It was a bit inflamed, so he's got antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory - we should have shares in "Metacam". She thinks there may be a tumour on the bone, but "Metacam" may have a retarding effect on it, so I suspect he'll be on it for the rest of him life. Other than that, he's in the pink, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Today's news from the madhouse!

It's been a mixed bag, weatherwise. We had heavy rain this morning, changing to dizzle in the afternoon; now it's bright and dry but cloudy. It's very warm though - good weed weather.

We've done a fair bit of weeding today - in the peas and beans, the beetroot and the carrots. The beans are woeful - last year we could have contracted with Tesco. This year we've got about 5 plants out of 16 sown. I stuck the last of them in the ground today in a forlorn hope that they might grow. The double row of peas that were direct sown aren't doing much either - the ones started in the guttering are covered in flowers and peas - you can see where this is going, can't you?

Next year, we're not going to bother with onions. I don't think there is a taste advantage in growing your own and organic and / or British onions aren't hard to get. To be honest, we lose so many is store that it's a lot of bed to use for not much return. We'll grow shallots, leeks, garlic and spring onions though.

The sweetcorn looks a bit better - it was quite yellow but a couple of feeds of comfrey seem to have helped. Dan fed all the tomatoes this morning - fingers crossed, they're looking good. Now there's something with a taste advantage over shop bought.

I read this week that 80% of strawberries in the shops have a cocktail of pesticides on them - the organic strawberries tested had none. This was at the end of an article titles "Pesticide shocker" - the shock in question wasn't the 80% with a cocktail but the fact that the EU is proposing to deregister a number of pesticides currently on the market. In response, the NFUS combinable crops chairman is quoted as saying "These proposals woudl make it more difficult for Scottish farmers to continue producing high quality food at affordable prices. Scottish consumers repeatedly say that they want more, affordable, fresh fruit and vegetables that are grown locally". No doubt - but, for me, high quality means the absence of a cocktail of chemicals. Anyway, we had a lovely summer pudding tonight - strawberries, raspberries, black, red and white currants - pesticide free and delicious.

Summer holiday

We're all going on a .... Actually, we're not. But I'm now on holiday for five weeks (bar a few hours when I'm going in for specific meetings), so it's pouring rain, of course.

Still, I've got lots to occupy myself. I've decided to offer a couple of "Backyard Poultry Keeping" courses in July and August, with maybe a third in September. I've done some posters and I'm going to contact the local rags on Monday - hopefully they will be desperate for copy, since the Council is in recess! I kind of know the format I'm going to follow but I need to firm up on that. There are a few other things I need to chase up as well.

I've ridden twice today - a (very) short hack this morning and half an hour in the arena this afternoon (in the rain). This is progress for Smokey and I as I kind of lost my nerve a couple of years ago, but I've started having lessons again; we do some groundwork to keep our relationship in balance and now we're riding. I'm just taking it one day at a time. Actually, Smokey's turned into a pretty nice horse (not that I'm biased or anything).

I'm trying not to make too many plans for the summer; I do want to tidy up the flower bed by the living room window, which looks quite nice from a distance but is absolutely full of weeds and to do some more work on the pond and its surrounds. It's looking a bit unloved at the moment. There are also some things I must do, like painting the chicken arks and stuff, but so long as I don't sit down except to eat, I should get through it all!