Cream Legbar & Vorwerk hatching update

Cream Legbar Chick 1 day old

I had hoped to be bringing some positive news tonight with the first hatching of the Cream Legbar yesterday at around 8am and the beginning of pipping of the Volwerk egg.

Sadly the Volwerk chick struggled to hatch and after 24 hours needed assistance. It went to plan fortunately as the best advice in this situation appears to be leave well alone.  However, after a few hours of hatching it became clear that the chick could not walk properly. After a few tweets, splayed leg was suggested and it made total sense, and I have no idea why I did not see it earlier.

This is when the chicks legs spread apart a bit like they are dancing on ice, badly. So I recalled reading some time ago that the best thing to use is a plaster as the non sticky part is just the right width apart for the legs. So with the legs taped together, I hoped the chick would start standing.

Sadly it was lying down and shutting its eyes, almost giving up. Now I'm quite stubborn when I want to be and whether this is the right thing to do or not is debatable. I decided to try and feed a piece of crumb to the chick to give it some energy.

Cream legbar bottom, Vorwerk top not standing

It would not open it's beak, so I pried it open gently and popped the crumb in. It took it fortunately and has been taking quite a few, but I can't get it to peck off the floor or food dish.

I guess I'm giving it the best chance possible, but over night, it will have to fend for itself.
Fingers crossed.


Thanks for reading.

Vandalism to chickens on the allotment

My Gold Lace Wyandottes

Having been given permission to keep some chickens on my allotment plot I have been researching the potential threats to them.

The Fox is an obvious one but one issue that still needs to be considered and addressed is the security of the chickens from theft or even vandalism.

I read a news story recently from back in January that reported 40 chickens and a turkey were killed on an allotment in the Northamptonshire region.  Police said that they were not killed by an animal. How anyone can do this is beyond me.

This is a significant concern to me being so far from my plot, and there is not necessarily a straightforward answer.

Any poultry or animal could be at risk, even if it is kept on land adjacent to your home.

So how do you reduce the risks?

My allotment plot is a corner plot with the front facing a main road and one site flanked by a public footpath.  Lucky in some ways with the hedges and overgrowth that line two sides but potential risks with the road and footpath.  

The approach I am taking is a subtle introduction of the runs and chickens, not quite camouflage gear, but positioning so that boundaries and hedges are utilised to obscure the view as much as possible from the main road.  

I will also ensure that the hedges are kept at a reasonable height and are kept to shelter and restrict views into the plot. 

I'm sure the tech savvy out there would suggest CCTV web camera to monitor the chickens, however there is a cost connected to this and some reasonable computer knowledge, so my alternative is getting to know my neighbours.  I have given them my contact details such as email and mobile number.  I am in a good position here, I have an allotment neighbour who is retired and appears to live and sleep at his allotment.  He is happy to keep an eye out and report any suspicious activity.

Of course keeping hens at the allotment will mean I will be visiting daily at the minimum.  I will try visiting at different times of the day rather than say 8am everyday. 

This will hopefully deter unwanted attention.

Finally, I can't keep a guard dog on the allotment, but I could invest in the next best thing to live with my hens - geese!  A couple of geese would act as a warning alarm.  

Yes I will need to consider if there are houses in the area and it's likely I will not hear them, but anyone walking onto the plot will be startled and unwanted visitors will hopefully make a b-line for the nearest gate.

Thanks for reading

Time is flying

Well, time flies when your having fun, that's for sure. We're in the middle of March, my chicks are 2 weeks old feathering up nicely and growing by the day. The quail have regained all feathers and are looking really healthy. My broad beans sown on 17 February are looking great and I have just sown Tomatoes and Peas. It's getting lighter too, at 6pm tonight it was still light, so I'm looking forward to taking advantage of the lighter nights down at the allotment soon to start all the jobs I have been saying I need to do over the past month.

The jobs are stacking up unfortunately, its not just my asparagus bed that needs fertiliser and compost (which should have been completed months ago) or the rhubarb that needs feeding or the ground that needs digging over, but it's the planned chicken enclosure that I last worked on in February that needs attention.

In ten days my next batch of chicks should hatch, 2 cream legbar and 2 vorwork. It has not been the smoothest of incubation periods, with fluctuating humidity, the incubator running out of water and dropping to 10% whilst I was away at a lambing course at Kate's country school in Abergavenny and water droplets forming in the roof of the incubator (high humidity).

Nonetheless in 10 days I will have more chicks to add to the 6 already camping out in the spare bedroom.

Being honest, it's unlikely I will stop there, I would love some ducks. I just have to decide if I want to hatch them or buy a pair or trio for breeding.



I also want to buy a few turkeys this year to raise for Christmas, but without a secure enclosure this is going to be impossible to achieve.


So with the planned expansion I really need to crack on with the enclosure.
The Easter break will hopefully bring some dry weather so that I can camp out for a day or two at the allotment and really gets on top of the jobs.

Jumping ahead of myself here but I have finally found the breed of sheep I would keep.

This little lady below gave me the inspiration and thanks to Twitter friends I managed to establish she was a Balwen Welsh Mountain cross.  So its the Balwen for me with their white socks and white head! :-) If I ever managed to buy or rent land!

Thanks for reading!

New chicks update 2 weeks on

One of my little friends from the farm

Well, I have been busy over the last few weeks, sowing broad beans and leek seeds, looking after newly hatched chicks, lambing..................yes Lambing.  At Humble by Nature as it happens in the Monmouthshire area.  A lovely farm owned by Kate Humble and her husband Ludo Graham.  Their tenant farmers are Tim and Sarah Stephens and they are all brilliant, lovely people.
If you get opportunity to visit on a course you will not be disappointed.  I will be posting a short review of my experience soon.  In the mean time click on the link about to see what the farm is all about.

With all this going on I feel that I may have neglected the blog and my poultry posts recently, although some of you may be thinking thank goodness for that, he has stopped talking!

7 of my 11 eggs hatched, unfortunately the Salmon Faverolle was not a healthy chick and was suffering so I had to deal with him as humanely as possible.  That's where Andy @chickenstreet and his great blog came in very useful.  Gave me that confidence that I was doing everything right.  Have a read if you get chance.   Chicken Street Blog

Silver Lace Wyandotte Bantam Chick

Croad Lanshan chick

So I have 6 chicks left, all looking healthy, 2 of them being Croad Langshan on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust watch list.  The other 4 are Silver Lace Wyandottes.

I have 4 more eggs in the incubator.  It was a little unexpected and un-planned but I was offered them recently and I could not refuse.
The question is, what next?
I could keep hatching, but it will take a long time before I will be hatching my own eggs, so I am considering buying a trio or two of birds.  But what breed?  So much choice and not enough space.  One that needs careful consideration.  Any ideas would be welcome.
In the mean time I'm going to plough on with my Wyandottes and experiment with colours. 

I am also starting to considering getting some turkeys to rear for Christmas time.  But that's for another entry so come back soon and find out how I will be preparing! :-)

Thanks for reading

More hatching eggs!!!

Croad Langsham chick

As if I would be able to put the incubator away for any length of time.  As it happens it was only 5 days or so and yes I have more hatching eggs.  This time the eggs were kindly donated by Hillside Pigs in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales.  Most unexpected but when I knew they were Vorwerk and Crested Legbars I could not really say no!


I tried to hatch a Legbar recently but the egg was not fertile, so this is a great chance to try again and the Vorwerk's are, I think, stunning looking birds and they lay light cream colored eggs.  Contrast with the blue of the Legbar and the dark eggs from my speckeldy it will make a lovely box of 6 eggs.

Candling egg

This is something I am actually keen on trying to grow and develop.  I know the free range home reared eggs taste much the same whatever the colour, but to be able to offer free range local multi coloured eggs would be a little different and a little unique.  Add to that the offer of quail eggs and duck eggs, I'm starting to build a picture in my head of something I would like to get involved with!

Enough day dreaming, this hatch will only be 4 eggs, 2 Vorwerk and 2 Crested Legbars.  

I have decided not to add to the 4 at the moment as I am still in the process of building my run enclosure down the allotment, plus I think my wife may just kick me out!
When I returned with the eggs I was met with a "I though we were getting rid of the incubator for a while"!
Ooooops!  Could be worse I suppose especially if I have turned up with a baby Lamb or something similar! :-)
The allotment is key really, whilst I made great progress a few weeks ago, other commitments have stopped me from getting down there to finish the job however I still think I will be ok to complete by end of March!

Vorwork - Photo from www.brbpoultry.co.uk

I have fancied Vorwerks for a while, they are lovely looking birds.  There were suposedly developed in 1900 by a German poultry breeder Oskar Vowerk and was standardised in 1913.  There is a bantam version which was developed later in America in 1966.
They seem a little scarce to me, which is a shame as they are lovely looking birds.
Hers hoping I am successful with my hatch.

Thanks for reading.

The Hatching report and sexing chicks

It is 4 days past the original hatching date, the incubator has been shut down and I have spent tonight dismantling and cleaning it ready for the next batch! Whenever that may be!

After I found just one egg infertile after 7 days, I though I may have ended up with 11 chicks, however as always it is not that straight forward. The final count is 7 chicks out of the 11 fertile hatching eggs.
Hatch
4 Silver Laced Wyandottes
2 Croad Langshan
1 Salmon Faverolle

Not a bad result I think, although I was a little disappointed that the Owl Beard did not hatch.

I liked to try and guess the sex at early stages of my previous hatches, I had no idea previously how to do his so it was total luck and guess work. However I had heard of a way of using the feathers on the wings at one and two days old.
Whether it is possible with my breeds I have no idea so why not try it and find out?
Have a look at the photo I have found on the Internet.  Like I say I don't know if this principal applies to my breed of chicks.

It is quite easy to see the difference.  On this basis I think I have the following:

2 Silver Lace Wyandotte Bantam Cockerels

2 Silver Lace Bantam pullets

2 Croad Langshan Pullets

1 Salmon Faverolle pullet 

Having made a note now I guess I will find out if I am right in 12 or so weeks.  Another waiting game!

Thanks for reading

Next update is on the method I use for integrating new chickens with your existing flock!