Poultry
Broody or not?
Monday 28 September, 2009
I spent Saturday morning (and a bit of the afternoon) at Caledonian Mart in Stirling, at the sale of rare and traditional breeds and poultry. The mart has a regular poultry sale and has just started selling rare and traditional breeds. It's certainly closest to us, with Lanark being next, then Inverurie or Carlisle.
The largest livestock entry was of Hebridean sheep, because the breed society was having a show and sale. There were a few ther sheep breeds - Ryeland, Soay, Shetland, North Ronaldsay - but in small numbers. In addition, there were a few cattle and goats, and a Shetland pony. I only went into the sale ring for a few minutes to watch my chum, Andrew, nab a bargain Shetland tup.
Cheeps
Tuesday 25 August, 2009
I think our two cheeps might be hens. That would be good. I'm pretty sure they are both the same sex and they look too fine to be cockerels. Fingers crossed.
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They also look like Light Sussex; the cockerel was Light Sussex and the hen either Light Sussex or ex battery, but I suspect the former.
They're only six weeks, so will be in their run for a while yet.
Hubbards no more
Monday 4 May, 2009
We dispatched the three remaining Hubbards yesterday. Once it was done, I started looking forward to a roast chicken dinner, but I get keyed up before we kill them - just because I want to be sure it's a swift and stress free as possible. Anyway, it was fine.
I made a right mess of plucking one; I managed to badly rip the skin. Dan's much better at plucking than me, but I need to keep practicing. He's very methodical; I think I try to be too quick, and it really is case of more haste, less speed. In teh end, we took the skin off and raosted it like that but it didn't work very well. The meat was really tasty but you really need the skin for roasting, and the outside was a bit dry. Anyway, curry tonight and I'm making stock for soup; Chicken and Tarragon, I think.
Living free
Monday 4 May, 2009
I decided to let the young Black Rocks out on Saturday. They seem very small compared to the mature birds, but there was no bullying. I've been giving them corn together since the new ones arrived and Hector is very good at sorting out any nonsense. He immediately intervenes if there are any squabbles. He doesn't bother Hugo now either - first thing in the morning, Hector half heartedly chases Hugo, who runs away, then that's it sorted.
All the young Black Rocks return to the ark at night, rather than the layers' shed, which is fine. Last night, we moved the Legbars into the layers' shed and the big ark so that we can repair the little ark. Where the wood is in constant contact with the ground, it's got a bit hard up. We decided to put Hugo and two Legbars in with the young Black Rocks at the moment - Hector and Hugo in a shed together might be too much. When they all move in later in the year, hopefully Hector won't notice Hugo in the melee.
Cheaper by the dozen
Sunday 26 April, 2009
We took delivery of 12 Black Rock pullets on Wednesday. At 16 weeks, it will be five or six weeks before they come into lay. They are in the big Forsham ark with the extension run and seem quite settled now. It's "Sardine Sunday" today so we'll see how they like fish!
These are replacements for the laying hens killed by the dog. Although we only lost 6 layers (and 7 meat birds), the delivery charge was £20 so I decided just to get a round dozen. They'll stay in the run until they start to lay, then they can go in with the other layers.
Unwelcome visitor
Tuesday 31 March, 2009
We had an unwelcome visitor today that killed 13 of our hens - 7 Hubbards, 5 Black Rocks and one Light Sussex. Our postman, John, phoned me at work at 12 noon to say that some of our hens were dead. My father-in-law came round, as Dan was in Edinburgh, to help me collect the bodies and round up the survivors.
We know who the culprit is but we can't prove it; the evidence is circumstantial. I have informed the police, who are making enquiries but they won't be able to do anything about it either. The dog concerned is kept at a local yard about 200 yards from our land; we know that this morning it had slipped its chain and gone missing (the owner actually asked my mother-in-law if she had seen it) and it has attacked our hens before. I asked the owners at the time to ensure that he was properly secured but he's been seen running loose since then. He's a Staffie and is just "jaws on legs".
Candling eggs
Sunday 22 March, 2009
I set 20 Cream Crested Legbar eggs a week past Thursday; eight from eBay and 12 of my own. We candled them tonight and 15 look as though they are developing. But not counting until they're hatched!
Hubbard update
Sunday 22 March, 2009
The Hubbards are now 6 and a half weeks old. Dan has built them a bigger run as they are really active - much more so than the ones we had last year. They're now on grower pellets, which they'll get until they are at killing weight / age, in four to five weeks.
Prolapsed hen
Sunday 22 March, 2009
One of our Cream Crested Legbars suffered a prolapse yesterday. Typically, she wasa small, young hen laying large eggs. We isolated her immediately, so the other hens wouldn't damage it. I cleaned it up and put it back where it should be twice last night but it was out again this morning and looking very bloody and swollen.
So we took the decision to kill her before she really started to suffer. I was quite upset - she was a really bonny wee thing and happy to be handled, even though she couldn't have been very comfortable.
Hubbards
Wednesday 4 March, 2009
Our Hubbard meat chicks are now nearly four weeks old and are outside. They have lost all their down and have grown tremendously - we don't notice it so much but dan's parents hadn't seen them for a week and couldn't believe how much they had grown.
They are in the "batchelor pad" with a run and are on adlib chick crumbs. They are very active - more active than I remember the ones last year being. I didn't intend them to be off the lamp as quickly as this - I was going to bring them into the garage at night and put the lamp in but it's been quite mild, so they've been out 24/7. The box is quite sturdy, they have good bedding and they huddle for warmth.
