Incubators

There are sixteen chicken eggs keeping warm in our incubators which are due to hatch in ten days time. 

We have two incubators - an R COM Mini and a Covattutto 16.  The R COM holds only three eggs, but is fully automatic and has a digital display.  Once the eggs have been set, the only thing you need to do is top up with water every couple of days.  The Covattutto 16 (as it's name suggests) is supposed to hold sixteen eggs (but I find only has space for 12-14 normal sized hen eggs).  This is a manual incubator, so the eggs have to be turned three times daily (until a couple of days before hatching) as well as topping up with water when needed.  I have found the hatch rate is good with both incubators.  The only problem with the Covattutto is the fact it is heated by a lightbulb, so there is a risk that it may blow in the night.  This in fact happened a few days after these eggs had been set and I came downstairs to eggs that were cold to the touch.  However, I have candled the eggs with my little candling torch and to my relief, there is still life inside! 

We are looking forward to the arrival of the little chicks. It is so exciting after twenty one days of incubating, to listen for the cheeping sounds, see the eggs start to crack and watch the chicks slowly hatch out!

Blue eggs!

We have had our first blue egg from our Lavender Araucana hen!  Aracaunas were originally from South America, but introduced to the UK in 1930.  The blue colouring in Araucana eggs goes throughout the shell, so the inside of the shell is as blue as the outside!

Seeds!

Today I sorted through our seed collection to see what we could sow over the coming weeks.  The radish, marigold, parsnip and lavender seeds can all be sown from this month onwards.  The broad beans (Aquadulce Claudia) should really have been sown in the autumn for harvesting in the spring, but they should hopefully be alright, albeit a little late! 

Because the hens are now laying well, I planted some cress seed today. Egg mayo sandwiches aren't quite the same without it!

Nettles!

I've started digging over the veggie beds.  My mission this year is to try (!) to keep on top of the weeds (in particular the nettles).  If man could live on nettles alone, we could possibly feed the entire county with the amount that grows here!   Even though they are edible and apparently delicious in soup, (which I may try out this year) nettles are not a popular food choice in our family.  The nettles have to go and as they are starting to creep through the soil now, the war against them has begun!  I must say, it is extremely satisfying pulling them up (especially when you don't get stung) and today the pigs were extremely satisfied too - they got the nettles as a tasty afternoon treat!

From nest box to egg box to honesty box!

 

We have an honesty box outside our house from which we sell our surplus eggs.  We know that they must be good because quite often if the box has been empty, people knock on the door asking for more!  Now that a lot of the hens are laying again after a long winter's rest, we've been able to put a few more boxes of eggs in it this week.  The extra pennies help go towards buying their layers pellets, wheat and corn.

 

Meet the other chickens!

These are some of our other chickens. They are a combination of ones we've bought, ones we've adopted and ones we've hatched.  Along with Light Sussex, Pekin Bantam, Silver Laced Wyandotte, Rhode Island Red, Araucana, we have a colourful bunch of mixed breeds.  All of our chickens are allowed to roam round our gardens, woodland and paddock (and have been known to venture down the lane, into an adjoining field of cows or the nearby church yard!)  They really are free range!  They love sunbathing, scratching around and having dust baths in the flower beds.  The youngest hens have just stated laying, so hopefully we shall look forward to an abundance of eggs over the coming weeks!

Meet the ex battery hens!

In October we took home twelve ex-battery hens from the BHWT (British Hen Welfare Trust) collection point in Wragby.  This was our second batch of ex-bats.  A year ago, we adopted twenty of them, but because of the harsh winter and their lack of feathers, we had a lot of fatalities.  It was heartbreaking to watch the numbers slowly dwindle and I used to dread letting them out in the morning in case any had died in the night.  Anyway, call us mad (or a soft touch) but we decide to adopt more.  Thankfully these hens looked much more healthy than the last lot and a good job too because a few weeks after they moved in, the snow fell again.  Because of the sub-zero temperatures we suffered in the following weeks, we sadly had five fatalities.  But now the remaining seven hens are looking fully feathered and enjoying their free range freedom!

Meet the pigs...

In November we got our pigs - three British Saddlebacks.  We had wanted pigs for over a year, it was just a matter of being organised first!  Mr B had gone on  a pig keeping course at Pigs Paradise in Wiltshire and came back full of enthusiasm.  For months, our thoughts went into deciding upon where the pigs would live, how they would be fenced in, how many we wanted, what breed to get and where would get them from.  Meanwhile, Little Miss B announced that she really, really wanted a pig for her 7th birthday present. This was after seing a magazine article about Emma's Pigs (Emma received a pig for her 14th birthday present). She especially wanted a pig for this birthday because she didn't get one on her 6th birthday and if things carried on this way, she would be an old lady before her wish was granted!  So the plan was put into action...Fence posts were banged in, stock fencing was erected, barbed wire was dug in below the stock fencing to prevent escapism, a gate installed and the outbuilding where the pigs were to sleep was cleared of all the wood and roof tiles which had been stored in it. Next step was the pigs themselves... After much searching for weaners, we eventually found some available in the next village and went to visit.  A few weeks later on a snowy day, three little piggies were delivered to us.  The birthday present pig is called Cheryl (and I think Cheryl Cole should be delighted that such a fine looking animal is named after her!)  Cheryl will be for breeding when she is old enough (well you can't slaughter your child's birthday present, can you?!)  The other two will be off to the abattoir in around 8 weeks time.

Sunshine & eggs!

The sun came out for a while today which brought me out into the garden to rake up, sweep up and give the garden a quick tidy.  The hens are enjoying the recent sunshine too.  Yesterday they laid four eggs which is the most we've had in a day since the summer!   Their combs are all looking a lot redder so hopefully, they should all be back laying soon. The warmer weather has sent the cockerals into mating overdrive!  Maybe in a couple of weeks, we can think about incubating again. The battery hens which we rescued in October are also looking really well, most of their feathers have grown back and their combs have shrunk back to near normal size.  All the chickens seem less hungry as well.  A couple of weeks back, we couldn't even step outside the back door without being surrounded by them. Now they seem much more content (although they do a get a bit miffed when the pigs get fed in the afternoon!)