Diary

CheepsRSS feed

Posted: Sunday 26 March, 2006

by Rosemary at 3:52pm in Poultry Comments closed

When we got our six Light Sussex pullets 10 weeks ago, we named then the Cheeps, because cheeping was what they did. Now that they are twenty weeks old, roughly, they are now clucking and should be coming to lay pretty soon.

Unfortunately, one committed suicide a few weeks ago by getting her head stuck between the ark and the frame of the extension run, but the other five look great. If we were going to name them, which we're not, I suppose names like Persil, Omo, Daz, Bold and Fairy would be appropriate as they are sparkling white.

As soon as they start to lay, we'll move them in with the old girls and Henry. Actually, Henry's quite interested in the Cheeps. In fact, I think his sap might be rising, so to speak. He seems interested in the hens now and has been observed getting quite amorous. He's also much more vocal and seems to keep the hens with him now. I wonder if this is a sign of him maturing?

Young Light Sussex hens

We've been giving both groups their corn together for a few weeks now, so that, hopefully, when we do mix them, there will be only minor trauma. As we've done before, we'll put the Cheeps in with the others as soon as they go to roost in the hope that, by morning, they'll think they've always been one flock.

The old girls aren't laying particularly well. We lost one last week - Dan found her dead in the ark when he let them down one morning. She was fine going to bed so don't know what was the cause of death. The Leghorn is laying best, I think. She barely laid last year - well, we hardly got any eggs from her, but she may have been laying elsewhere. That's happened before.

Dan's Dad has built us a freestanding nest box. With ten laying (hopefully), we don't think two nest boxes will be enough so we've got this new nest box. It's being painted at the moment, needs some felt on the roof and a couple of ladders but should be ready for action next week. We found the pattern is a wee book that I've forgotten the name of, but when I remember, I'll post it here.

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