Ducks, Rain and the Welsh Poultry Show

Merry Christmas and I hope you have a fantastic New Year tonight.

My ducks are characters and great entertainment.  I'm not sure I would want to be without them now. The problem is they destroy the back garden in a short space of time, especially the grass.  They do not scratch like chickens, but they have an amazing ability to dig over a period of time with their beak, especially around drinkers or water for bathing.

This recent spell of rain (monsoon type conditions at times here in Wales) has destroyed what was left of the grass.  The Chickens, ducks and quail all look very fed up, proof in the pudding is the lack of eggs, even the hybrids have shut up shop.
 
I knew when hatching ducks under broody hen Treacle, that I would have to move some on.  I am fortunate that there are only two males and three females, meaning I have the choice of keeping a pair or a trio.  But I am surprised at the noise the females can make, and the mud that they create.  On top of that, they seem to eat for two constantly.  They are also still very timid and nervous of any human approaching them.  They are 15 weeks old today so  I am interested to see if this changes when they get older and are less dependant on Treacle, who still insists on staking in the run with them.

Needless to say these ducks need space, and I am constantly looking for some land closer to home, not easy when 3.5 acres of grazing land is being sold locally for over £60,000.

I'm off to the Welsh National Poultry Show in Haverford west on 12th January 2014.  I'm taking my 1st and 3rd place Wyandottes to see how they look on a larger scale (some 1700 entries in previous years).

I will of course update the blog with results and the experience.
In the mean time, if I go a little quiet its probably because I am concentrating on some contributions for Home Farmer Magazine www.homefarmer.co.uk

Happy new Year and thanks for reading in 2013.

  

  

 

My Royal Welsh Winter Fair 2013

In 2012 I visited the Winterfair at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society show ground in Builth Wells as an excited and intrigued fist time visitor, keen to investigate the poultry, pigs and sheep sections.
I returned this year as a poultry exhibitor but just as excited.
My day started with a rather smelly one and a half hour drive from north Cardiff to Builth Wells with three Silverlace Wyandotte Bantams safely stowed away in the boot of the car.  I mention smelly, as the hens seem to have decided to hold off exercising their bowels all night, only to release them when placed in the transport cage in the rear of the car.  I spent the first 20 minutes driving with the windows open with the temperature at 4 degrees on a pitch back early morning.

Smell to one side, I made it to the show ground at 8.45am.  Latest pen time was 9am, so I had to work fast, giving the feet and legs a final clean, the comb and wattles a little oil and Vaseline.  Fortunately for me judging did not start until 9.30am.

There were 9 birds in my class including chocolate and barred wyandottes.  The white wyandotte were separated into their own group which is fortunate as I have found they tend to be preferred over other colours.
With the hens safely in their pens I left the hall and set off to explore the food hall.  First stop was the welsh Venison centre for a bacon roll, then over to the food hall for a coffee.
There was plenty of welsh food and produce on sale in the food hall and at the farmers market, but it didn't take long before I was drawn to the pig and sheep buildings.

Time did fly and by 11:30am majority of judging was finished in the poultry building.  A first and third place out of three entries was not a bad result.
Speaking to other entrants I managed to get a little feed back as I unfortunately missed the judges.  The legs seem to have been a significant factor, not mine but the hens yellow legs.

I have put this down to a combination of things.  Firstly, the leg colour of the parents (obvious I know).  Secondly the fact that they have not quite started laying eggs yet and a reasonably amount of maze and corn is being fed.
I will watch closely to see if the leg colour changes significantly when they do start laying, most likely in the new year around March time.

As you can see the reindeer were visiting again this year.  


Finally I could not finish this entry without including a photo of the First Place Welsh Harlequin duck.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

A Short update

A month, a whole month!  What on earth have I been doing to have left the blog alone for so long?
Well going back several weeks I spent a day in Oswestry at the show ground learning about poultry genetics, a day seminar by Grant Brereton.
It was a great day and to meet up with fellow twitterers and chicken hour contributors made it extra special.

I was fascinated by the subject, and still find it amazing that all chickens are red and black underneath.  Whether they be lavender or white, the basis is built on red and black.

The Royal Welsh Winter Fair is upon us, I have three of my silver lace wyandottes entered into the poultry show on the Tuesday 3rd December.  My first show since the theft of majority of my birds.
I am looking forward to the day, I am not expecting any success, but the day spent chatting about poultry and wandering aimlessly around the stalls and other animal pens will be superb.

Watch this space for photos. :-)

Why do I pick the difficult hobbies!

My Silverlace Wyandotte Bantam Pullet

GRUMPY POST ALERT!!

Hatching in the Homer household has gone quiet for now, not a bad thing as the back garden is full at the moment and the boss has dropped several hints about wanting her garden back.

The accommodation situation has not been helped by the reluctance to put anything back down on the plot for fear of more theft.  I am, as they say up the creek without a paddle.

That saying never made any sense to me really, if you were "up" a creek, I doubt you would want a paddle to go faster? Presumably you could just throw yourself off in your kayak and hope for the best.  Mind you being down in sh1t creek without a paddle would not be much of a concern either I guess.

Where was I?  Oh yes, I'm buggered!  I have too many birds for the back garden.  The garden looks like a pig has been living in it.  If mud were valuable I would be a multi millionaire.

We can't move house, I can't find any land locally to rent. Trying to find land in north Cardiff is like searching for a winning scratch card.  So that's that.  Do I give up?

What is the point if I can't breed the poultry?

That would certainly be a waste of some rather fine silver lace wyandottes I have (photo above) who will be ready for breeding next year.

I guess I have to take on board some advice given to me by Grant Brereton whilst at his Poultry Genetics seminar on 26th October up in Oswestry.  Pick one breed and one type (feather colour) and stick to it. Concentrate on it, give it your all.  Get to know it and love it.
Very sound advice.
So perhaps this is what I should do.
Ducks were possibly a step too far at the moment, even if they are a lovely Welsh Harlequin.  Mind you, I had never planned on keeping them in the garden.

So on that note I'm off down the local shop to buy a lottery ticket.  That way I may be able to keep the ducks!

Thanks for reading.

Sexing Welsh Harlequin at 5 weeks

Welsh Harlequin Ducks at 5 weeks

Some may say this is attempting the impossible.  From research and hours staring at the colours of the feathers, they could very well be right.

What I have established is that Welsh Harlequin are adorable.  I love to watch them waggling their tails around the garden.  They are almost dog like.  The way the collapse on the floor on their belly, and then stretch the back legs out is definitely dog like.

I assessed the sex of the ducklings at 2-3 days old using the colour of beak method that is apparently 90% successful.  I mentioned this is a previous post, but to re cap, slate grey bills are male, lighter bills almost a hint of yellow with a dark tip are female.  On this basis I was expecting definitely one female, maybe two, and definitely three males.

I would add it is rather confusing at this young age as when older the females have slate grey beaks and the males yellow.  Yet it seems to be the reverse at a young age.

Looking at the group at 5 weeks, I am stumped and I know that I should not be trying to sex them until 15 weeks at least, but I can't resist.  The feathers can change drastically and so not reliable at all.
There is however a more reliable method, and that is listening to their quack!  Or if it's a male their rasp.

I have one duckling that has a loud quack, the bill is a lighter colour almost yellow and her colouring is a lot lighter, so I think definitely a female, she is a noisy quacker.  (I will wait for the abuse for this one).  

I'm waiting for the others to develop .  The males are not as noisy, problem is I think the others are not developed enough.   

They are still chirping in duckling mode, so I am hoping in the next week or so to hear a distinct change in the vocal department.  If not, I could be looking at four males and one female.

The duck second from the right in this photo is making a quacking sound at 5 weeks, and is much lighter in colour and has a lighter almost yellow beak, suggesting she is a female.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Welsh Harlequin Ducklings at 2 days old

Welsh Harlequin Ducklings Video

Have you seen a ducklings tail waggle as it walks? It's not really its tail, but the whole rear end swaying side to side as it desperately tries to keep up with its siblings.
They are fascinating little birds, and I can see that they will easily become an obsession for me.
The fact is, they are not exactly little birds, even when they first hatch I was amazed at their size.  Now two weeks on they are a substantial little unit and I think mum, Treacle, is a lot more relaxed with them possible due to their size and agility.

They are still yellow at three weeks as you can see in the photos and video, but the dark colours are starting to creep through at the rear end.

I'm under no illusion I will need to create some room for them longer term and at the rate they are growing this could well be in the next two or three weeks.  I have an area that is currently covered with bushes.  So I will need to dig them out and level the ground.  But I am undecided on what to use for the floor.  I have seen pebbles, stone, and concrete used.  I know I can not leave bare earth.
There is also the decision on the enclosure.  The original intention was for them to live down on my allotment next door to the chickens, but with the break in and theft last month I will not be keeping any more of my pure breed birds on the plot.  So I need to accommodate the ducks in the back garden, certainly for the next 4 months or so whilst I keep looking to rent some land.  
I'm considering buying some poultry netting to create an area for them it's relatively cheap and quite flexible. 

  

  

Ducks are the right choice

I can honestly say ducklings are super cute and very entertaining.  I think they may even beat chicken and quail chicks on entertainment.  Mix that with a foster hen for a mum and it's fascinating.
I am surprised how big they are when born and at only one week old they feel very solid to hold in comparison to a chick.  I can already feel there down is very different, it feels almost like wire wool to touch.  At a day old they were happy away from mum, say in the corner of the run watching as she filled her boots with feed and water after 28 long days sitting on the eggs.

The ducks must be born with built in navigation.  They are like sheep or i guess ducks (they are ducks i know) from day one, where one goes the other follow, two by two as if connected by invisible twine.



I am very pleased I chose Welsh Harlequin ducks, they are beautiful birds.  I can not wait for the eggs to start flowing early next year.  I am however still facing the usual problem of space.  The recent searches and enquiries for land have not been successful.  The only land for sale within 5 miles is currently prices at over £10k per acre.

 

Well out of my price range sadly.  It seems as always, I have managed to find a hobby or interest (obsession my wife would say) that is expensive and difficult to follow.  Mind you, isn't everything expensive these days?

I won't give up.
Thanks for reading.

  

  

  

Perfect weather for ducks

To say the weather has been changeable down here in South Wales is a bit of an understatement.  Today is a good day for ducks, quite apt as Treacle, my seemingly forever broody hen, has delivered yet another group of newborns.

This time it is ducklings, Welsh Harlequin, established as its own breed from the Khaki campbell back in the 1940's.

They are on the Rare Breed Survival Trust's Poultry breed at risk list.  I have no idea why, as they look fantastic and are brilliant layers of eggs, (coming from the campbell breed no doubt helps).

Treacle has hatched 5 out of 6 eggs.  Fantastic work as it did seem a challenge for her to cover all the eggs, but never the less, she did it.  The sixth chick was fully formed but just did not hatch, perhaps had a problem or lack of strength.

It is fantastic news for me, especially off the back of the recent theft of 13 of my chickens.  It does however present me with a bit of a problem with space.  I am reluctant to move them or any of my stock back down to my plot as I'm sure it will be watched closely by whoever took all the other birds.  I have successfully intergrated the crested legbar into my back garden hens. (more on this in another post)  However, having freed up that run, Custard, the most famous veteran hen is eating all the eggs being laid. So she has been isolated.  Cue one very noisey and objectionable hen.  My other run and coop is housing three silver lace Wyandotte bantam hens.  So I am full.  In fact overcapacity, double booked you may say.

I have some garden left (just), but with two coops and two runs, plus two double tier rabbit hutches housing my 17 quail, the garden is becoming a B&B for poultry.

My best option is to build a Heath Robinson approach run to extend the broody coop for the ducklings and treacle.  At only 2 days old it is not critical now, but I've no doubt they will grow fast and need more space soon.  

As always, I am trying to guess the sex of the ducklings already.  Having done some research it appears it may be possible with 90% accuracy, to predict the sex at only a few days old.  The colour of the bill on the ducklings is the key area.  The females have a pink coloured bill with a dark spot at the tip, with the males having a dark grey bill all over.

90% accuracy is not bad, but it's not guaranteed so I will be interested to see results.  Using this technique I should end up with two ducks and three drakes.  I bet the one that did not hatch was a duck, but that's life isn't it.

That is the end of hatching for me during 2013.  I will be posting photos of the ducklings as they grow.  My project over the autumn and winter is to find and rent some land locally. That way my wife can have her garden back "almost" animal free.

Thanks for reading.

What's up Duck!

Lucky the crested legbar

It's always useful to have something to concentrate or focus on when things go wrong. Settling the 10 week old birds back in to my garden at home and trying to integrate Lucky, the crested legbar hen that was left behind at the allotment has helped.

I have split the run at home on a temporary basis so that lucky has a small run and can see custard and the gang.  Her home during the day is a plastic box, which she seems to have taken to quite well, laying a lovely blue egg almost every day.

At night, she has settled onto a lovely routine, perching on the plastic box and then letting me pick her up, carry her to the hen house and pop her on a perch with the other hens.

There is no fuss or bullying as they are all rather dopey at night. Every morning I then have to collect her from the perch and carry her to her run.  Cute in a way but not something I fancy carrying on forever.  I just hope the integration will work.

The other distraction is Treacle the broody Speckeldy hen sat of 6 duck eggs.  Time seems to have flown by, as we are now on day 23 of 28.  I'm excited to see ducklings being raised by a hen, but I am a little nervous, as my lack of secure land is still an issue, and I fear that I will not find any in or near by my village.


Going forward the main project is finding land anyway possible, in the mean time, the back garden is turning into a poultry palace.

Thanks for reading

Chicken Theft South Wales - Cardiff

I would never have imagined I would be writing first hand about chicken theft.
It has been almost a year since I started my mini breeding plan for bantam silverlace Wyandottes, along the way I had picked up Bantam Lavender Araucana's, Bantam Croad Langshan's some crested legbar and a rather strange looking lavender Orpington.

The thieves took them all apart from 4 silver lace Wyandotte chicks and 4 lavender Araucana chicks at 8 weeks old plus a crested legbar hen at Point of Lay who from now on is called Lucky.

My show birds and planned breeding stock for next year are all gone and I bet it took the horrible, thieving buggers (toned the language down) all but 10-15 minutes to clear the pen.

Gutted is not the right word.  The shock is still working its way out and I don't think it has quite settled in yet.

It is not the monetary value of the chickens I am concerned about although I'm not happy, it is the impact on my boys who will be devastated that Colin the cockerel and his girls have gone.  I put lots of time and effort into hatching all the birds, looking after them and feeding them the correct foods.
They had a good life and were well looked after, now I don't know where they are or if they will be treated correctly or even slaughtered for meat.

Its almost a year since I had some difficulties and spent significant time off work unwell.  These animals gave me a boost, a purpose and a fantastic hobby, that even if I do say so myself was going very well.  It will not stop me, but I need to solve that long term problem of land and space to keep them.

I have reported the theft to South Wales Police, but to date I have not received a phone call or visit.  Any clues at the scene have no doubt disappeared.  So I have taken it into my own hands to start making enquiries, The local pub next door, my fellow allotment plot holders, I have even contact the local paper and I believe they are going to run a story on it and quote the crime reference number.

 

The chance of getting my birds back in practically nil, but you have to try.

The thieves knew what they were taking.  Whilst they stripped most of the point of lay stock they specifically took 2 of my lavender Araucana chicks that are 8 weeks old and that are almost certainly hens presumably to match up with one of the cockerels they stole assuming they were not related.

What next?  I am not giving up on keeping chickens and breeding Wyandottes, but due to the time of year I will be better starting all over again early 2014.  Gives me plenty of time to find a breeder with hatching eggs but more crucially find a small parcel of land to rent.

Thanks for reading friends and make sure you cheer me up with some nice chicken stories and pictures.
 

Broody hen with duck eggs

Treacle, my broody hen is on day 7,sitting on 6 rather large duck eggs.  The Welsh Harlequin duck eggs are a fabulous size, lovely and clean and I hope, fertile.
I have never hatched duck eggs before, let alone under a broody hen so I have had to read up on ducks.

Firstly 28 days is a long time, I get quite impatient but hopefully it will be worth it, secondly, they have slightly different requirements in an incubator when compared to hen eggs, specifically temperature.

My research has suggested that these will not be an issue under a broody hen.  How then does she know to site for 28 days and not get off at say day 23 or 24 when she would perhaps naturally do so if  none of her own eggs hatch?  And does she somehow increase temperature and humidity?

I can't answer these questions, but it seems she just gets on with the job.
It is not an ideal time of year to try and hatch, in fact this morning, temperatures seem to have dropped.  I hope the hatch is successful and I will add more bedding for her to nest in to try and help with the dropping temperature.

Welsh Harlequin Ducks

Time will tell if I get chance to candle the duck eggs.  It will just be luck if I am there when Treacle leaves the nest.

As we head into September the quail are slowing down, with only two eggs daily, it's quite a shock to my boys who love them boiled as a snack. On the positive side, the hens at the plot are laying and providing a nice supply of bantam eggs.  I am still waiting for the crested legbar to lay.  They are now 22 weeks so I would hope they are on the verge of laying our very first blue eggs.
Fingers crossed.

Thanks for reading.

100% broody - signs your hen is broody

100% broody and 110% grumpy.  That is how I would describe Treacle the speckledy hen at the moment.
I had a close encounter earlier this summer but managed to avoid it. This time around Treacle will not be moved.  She is determined and will not be broken despite being locked out of her nest box daily for the last week.
I have had to move her to the broody coop as her antics were upsetting the other hens and my boys, as the egg supply was becoming erratic.  Combine the broody Treacle with a spot of egg eating and supplies in our household have dropped significantly.

Just in time the bantams on the plot have come to the rescue and have started laying, and they are laying well.  We are still waiting for the crested legbars to start laying, but at 21 weeks old it will not be long.  I think inspection of the nest box for blue eggs is the main reason for the boys insisting on coming with me to the plot on a daily basis.  It's nice they are that interested though.

Back to Treacle, and she has form.  Going broody this time last year, I gave in and purchased some goldlace wyandotte eggs.  Two hatched and they are now thankfully providing us with some lovely little eggs.  So do I give in again, and let her sit on eggs?  

I never thought I would say this, but I did have to think very hard.  I was not sure I wanted her hatching any more, this year anyway.  
I have a pen full (and more) on the plot, but it is hard if not impossible to resist the lure of hatching under a broody.
I have heard that chickens make great surrogate mothers for ducks, and I am keen to see how it works in practice.  
So there you have it, after a little searching I have 6 Welsh Harlequin duck eggs on the way from a breeder in Ammanford, Wales.

A few things to look out for to establish if your hen is broody.

1. Sitting in the nest box refusing to move.
2. Looking as though they are in a trance, staring at the wall.
3. Loss of condition, comb going pale, not looking after themselves.
4. Being aggressive and trying to peck you if you try and move her or retrieve the eggs.
5. Plucking out feathers on the chest area to line the nest and enable skin contact with the eggs.  

Thanks for reading.

Home Farmer magazine article on quail

I have been privileged recently to have a piece of writing about keeping quail published in Homer Farmer magazine, a publication I have been following and reading for some time.  I find it has some great tips, information and recipies on all sorts of topics and projects that anyone with a smallholding or a backgarden can benefit from.

My article looked at the basics of keeping quail, and I have been very fortunate that the Home Farmer team have allowed me to publish the link to my article on my website and blog.  So you get to read part of the magazine FOR FREE!

Here is the link, have a read, you might just find yourself planning to keep quail and signing up to a subscription of home farmer.

Quail article link to Home Farmer quail article by Andrew Homer

Thanks for reading.

Quail hatching - the final stages

It's easy to get complacent, just pop the incubator on, buy some eggs and away you go.  I am usually good a planning my hatching and incubation periods, allowing for the postage time and the 24 hours of resting the eggs before setting.

Some how with my quail hatch I have managed to miss quite a significant issue.  Power cuts.
I would normally  be unlucky to have a power cut during our peak hatching season and the loss of power to an incubator for an hour or so would not be a total disaster and spell the end of the hatch.  If fact if the incubator is left alone and closed I'm sure the eggs will be unaffected.

Its not ideal but you have to work with what you have got. After all a hen naturally leaves her eggs daily for 30-45 minutes to eat drink and "clear out".

My issue is that we have building work on going and the power has been off for an hour the last couple of days.  School boy error but one I can not change.
 

The quail eggs are now into the last 3 days in the incubator.  Rather than risking further heat and humidity loss by candeling, I left well alone. I hope it helps and I will find out soon.

 

As with chicken eggs I have stopped turning and added more water to increase humidity ready for hatching.  The humidity should increase to around 70-75% now with the extra water and a slight reduction in temperature.

I hope to hatch a reasonable number of females.  I have massive demand from my three young boys, who will eat 6 quail eggs each as a snack.  They are lucky as with eggs priced at £2.85 locally for 12, we would not be buying them.

I will be sure to update once hatching is complete with photos of the new tiny chicks.

Thanks for reading.

Quail hatching

So off I go again. The incubator is set and the 21 quail eggs are in position.   They are the courtnix type, a mix of white, light/golden, dark brown and the Japanese colour type.

Most incubators these days will allow you to hatch different breeds and my corti 25, which has proved very useful hatching chickens, states that it will incubate 50 quail eggs at a time.

The incubation period for quail is shorter that hens as 18 days, so to make sure I don't miss candling and turning off the auto turning mechanism I have made a calendar note.

Some suggest the humidity and temperature is slightly different to incubation hen eggs, but the reference books I am using require similar levels to chicken eggs.  I'm currently running at 37.5 degrees c and 54% humidity well within the ranges suggested.

You can candle quail eggs at 7 days as you do with all other egg types but the markings on the eggs can make this difficult, so I use my brinsea candler rather than a torch that has worked on some of my hens eggs.

This is my first time hatching quail eggs, hopefully not the last, but having been through the process several times before with hens I am feeling relatively relaxed about the whole process.
I have had a couple of enquiries locally for quail in particular males which is a little unusual but something that will be beneficial as no doubt there will be a significant number of males hatched.

My own quail eggs have been hatching out at 60-70% of all eggs set by local hatchers.  Ok but not the best hatch rate.  I did have 9 females to 2 males and this ratio may have been a little high with some suggesting 1 male to 3 female.  With the loss of a couple of females recently it has improved the ratio and I hope the will have a positive effect on the hatch /fertility rate.

I have recently written a piece for Homer Farmer on keeping quail, published in their September 2013 edition.  Whole books tackle the subject so I'm not suggesting this will tell you everything, in fact it is just a snippet of information.  But just as if you are going to keep chickens most important is to ensure you can provide the right type of continuous care and attention and to understand the commitment you are taking on, in addition talk to your neighbours about keeping them, especially if you keep the males.

Thanks for reading.

Wyandotte, Araucana Chicks at 4 weeks and quail

 

It is four weeks since the latest batch of silverlace wyandottes and lavender araucana chicks hatched.  11 out of 12 fertile eggs hatched, and so far all have survived.   A great result for me and now I am itching to work out if I have a nice mix of male and female.
I hope I have. It will enable me to match up with the earlier hatches and create one or two breeding pairs or trios.

I do need to get into gear with the enclosure as my current pen is full to capacity. 

But I am also itching to get à trio of Welsh harlequin.  I think I have found a good breeder so really it is all down to how quickly I can create space. I can then be collecting duck, hen and quail eggs.  How lucky!

Talking about quail, I have 24 mixed colour courtnix eggs arriving shortly.  
It is a little unplanned, as I was more than comfortable with the group I have.  
With the loss of two of my hens recently I decided it was time to keep egg production at a reasonable level as we have become quite a quail egg obsessive family since they started laying.  If we were to run out of quail eggs I can see there being a revolt in the household from the children.

Introducing new quail to an existing group is very difficult and many say impossible as the established group will pick on the newcomers and can seriously injure them.  So the hatching of a new group has been something I have been thinking carefully about.  I have allowed for the new hatching's o be kept separate permanently, although I believe with careful management I could integrate two larger groups once the younger birds are of a good age.  Say 3-4 months old.     Watch this space.

Thanks for reading.