Rain, longer days and the shed roof

It's raining, again. It shouldn't be a surprise should it? It must have been one of the wettest winters on record.  Yet this morning, it was dry, clear and quite chilly.  The hens seem to be enjoying the slightly longer daylight hours, with the cream legbar, Lucky, and the bluebelle both coming into lay in the last couple of days.  Just in time, as last week I had to buy eggs for the first time in 12 months.

Even the quail seem to be getting a little "frisky".  The males are starting to take interest in the females again, and the odd chirp can be heard coming from the cage.  More good news for us, as the quail eggs have been sorely missed over the winter period.  As a family of five, we can easily get through 36 sometimes 48 in a week if the boys insist on taking them into school as little boiled snacks.

The good news is that the quail hatched at the end of last year should lay well this year.  

We have a total of 10 females (although I'm still waiting to confirm this officially when the mating season starts).

In theory, in the peak of laying, we will get 8-10 eggs a day, and I can't wait.

I know I will have at least one, maybe two males too many as a result of the late hatch, so I need to manage the accommodation carefully to ensure their is not any fighting.

Down on the plot, the chicken pens are empty as a result of the thefts backing in September, and would you believe the metal sheeting on the shed roof has now been stolen.  Nothing is safe these days, so seeing the rain start again has made me realise I need to get down the allotment as soon as possible to at least cover the massive hole and protect some of the tools.  Whilst old, I don't really want to be replacing them especially as thefts seem to be on the increase.

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My Welsh National Poultry Show 2014

My Silverlace Wyandotte

It was the best attended Welsh National event so far, the thirty eighth show with around 2000 entries.  Chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys all under one roof.  The noise was deafening, and the smell by the end of the day was "ripe".  That didn't matter as it was an excellent day, helped along by one of my silver lace wyandottes picking up first place in the any other colour Wyandotte female category.

I'm learning something every show I attend, and it was great to see some familiar faces there.  The problem with showing, is that it's like an old fashioned sweetie shop.  So many breeds that can turn your head along with a sale section that could easily have caused a major argument in my house when I returned that Sunday evening.

My Wyandotte following a good bath
& blow dry

 

I returned however, with the same two birds I took to the show along with a little red card for first.  Better than some, especially as we were all kept inside the building for half an hour because someone had accidentally boxed up the wrong birds.

How does that happen?  Well with several birds in the same class, pen numbers falling off and some exhibitors having in excess of 10 birds on show it is easy to see in the rush to get packed how this can happen.  I guess the only answer is to take your time and leave a little marker on your pen.

Talking to one exhibitor, he was feeling particularly sad as he had accidentally left one of his little call ducks in her box for the whole show, so somewhere there must have been an empty pen.  Thankfully she did not seem at all bothered by the experience and I'm sure he will make it up to her.

I'm not likely to be entering any shows now until around April, and that really depends on the condition of the girls and how well breeding is going.  Last thing I want to do is enter a hen that has been trodden on and feathers damaged by a frisky make.  It may be that my next show is with my own hatchings as late as August or September.  

My 1st Place Wyandotte

In the mean time I have plenty to keep me occupied, finding a male Silverlace Wyandotte, rearranging the back garden run, and potentially converting my shed into a coop.

More on this in the next entry, that's if I have had planning permission (from the wife).

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Bath your chicken?

"are people mad? - you will never catch me doing that"
My exact words some 18 months ago.  Now I have to hold my hands up (not whilst the hen is in the water you understand) and admit, I have bathed my hens.

Purely for show purposes you understand, and it was a very good decision.  From a distance, they looked fine, a little dirty on the legs but nothing a quick wipe would not sort out.  Upon closer inspection, I think they have been involved in a mud wrestling competition.  On the edges of their wing feathers the white lacing was brown.

So following the recommendations of Grant Brereton in his new poultry book, Breeding for Success, I  prepared the sink with warm water and washing up liquid, a bowl of clean warm water, laid out a towel and plugged in the hair dryer.
I plugged the hair dryer in with some trepidation, as the last time I touched one, it promptly blew up spraying springs and pieces of plastic everywhere - Not in my hands but the wife's. That is story for another day.

Quite surprisingly, the hens really enjoyed the experience.  Although the second in for the full works, decided flapping the wings when totally drenched was a sensible idea, so I ended up with a shower in dirty chicken water.
That said, it was a very nice experience, bizzar as it sounds, drying the birds with a hair dryer gives you a great opportunity to look them over and check for any problems or faults.

I could not bring myself to put them back in their permenant home, so temporarily they are being housed in the top half of the quail pen.  They have plenty of room for the next day or so, especially if I let them have a run around the garden.
They look a million times better, and I really hope it helps when at the Welsh National Show this Sunday.



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Hatching plans for 2014

Any plans to hatch your own in 2014?
Personally I thought I may have hatched my last back in 2013 when majority of my pure breed birds were stolen from my plot early September 2013.
The festive period has brought many more reports of theft, from Poultry to Pigs. Majority of these I have seen reported via Twitter.  So any thoughts of restocking my original plot with more birds and hatchings over the next 6-12 months has well and truly disappeared. 

 

This left me in somewhat of a grim mood for a few days (Rachel would say, only a few days?!)

 

In order for me to hatch in 2014, I have had to make a difficult decision.  Land to keep all my birds including the recently hatched Welsh Harlequin ducks is just not available.  I am getting to crunch point with all the poultry in the garden (it looks as though a team of Tamworth piggies have been resident for a few months). Sadly I will have to move the ducks on.
I can see the Benny Hill type scene now as I slip and slide around trying to catch the little blighters whilst at the same time trying to avoid Treacle the merciless.  Treacle is in a way the perfect broody. Don't even think about going near her chicks, even if they are now 16 weeks old and bigger than her.  On cue, every September she goes broody, and there is no point trying to break her.  So I will definitely be hatching under her again this year.  What I hatch will depend on circumstances and egg availability at the time she goes broody, which I will let her do naturally.

 

I have enjoyed hatching from eggs purchased from breeders, but I still have a desire to create my own so to speak.  From my own trio, I will hatch say a dozen and take it from there.  The overall aim to enter a bird or two into a national poultry show.  Yes there will be plenty of cockerels and below standard hens along the way, but it is something I have dealt with over the last year or two quite well.

I have a fairly good starting point I think with my Silverlace Bantam Wyandottes.  I am hopefully acquiring a cockerel shortly, and his location along with a couple of my older hens, will be top secret.

 

As and when required, I plan to move him in with the SLW bantam hens for three weeks, collect eggs and then move him out again.  This way I hope to control any potential complaints from neighbours due to crowing.

It's the only way I can breed at present, and rather than stay grumpy and frustrated for months on end, this way I can at least develop my SLW obsession.

If you know anyone who may want Welsh Harlequin Ducks, please get in touch.  I have two drakes and  three females.

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