Broody Bantam!

Croad Langsan Chick

Two days ago I was smiling smugly to myself. The 7 week old chicks were down the allotment, 3 week old chicks were outside under heat, the next batch of chicks are due to hatch in a few days, all five hens were laying, the asparagus starting to show and I was starting to imagine poached eggs on top of asparagus and toast for breakfast.

Today however, I discovered one of the Wyandotte bantam chicks I hatched approximately 6 months ago has gone all maternal on me. Yes, its broody bantam syndrome.

I should have realised sooner as she was spending more time in the coop than usual. When I returned from a night away, eight eggs had been pooled together neatly in the bottom of the coop. A perfect little spot for a bantam to sit.  Today I had to fight to get the two freshly laid eggs. At least she did not peck me, but she did look rather disgusted at being shoved off her nest area.

A final check on the undercarriage area confirmed the broody status, as she was free from feathers, plucked so neatly, I am sure in a past like she had been a beauty therapist.

My Bantam Goldlace Wyandottes

I have a few options I guess. I think any more fertile eggs may result in a divorce just at the moment, so I will try and encourage her to stop as soon as possible by collecting eggs frequently so she can not sit and if need be move her to her own little drafty cool coop/nest box for a few days. Something that has no bedding and lots of ventilation so that it cools her a little.


The other option is dunking her in a cold bucket of water (up to the neck I might add) but that does seem a little harsh as we are still getting some cool mornings.

Would be interesting to hear if anyone has any other ways of bringing a hen out of the broody cycle.

Thanks for reading.

The Chickens Move In!

Chicks now down the allotment

After all that work and effort I have finally moved the first of the chickens down to the allotment.  It was exciting but nerve racking at the same time.  It has taken months of planning, hard work and along the way there have been plenty of questions; can I do this, will it work?

Well in the end I took the "oh bugger it" approach.  By that I mean, you can keep planning and deliberating but until you take that first step, or leap in my case, you just don't know how it will work out.  So I did, and I have jumped a little like a skydiver. 

My allotment April 2013

I say skydiver because there has been some planning, but there has also been a element of excitement and free fall.

It has dawned on me that in five days there are potentially 12 new lives entering the world via my incubator set up in the spare room.  Twelve on top of the 4 chicks that were hatched and purchased 3 weeks ago and the 6 chicks that hatched approximately 7 weeks ago.

That's 22, oh not forgetting the 5 hens I have in the back garden!  Eeek!  That's 27!

I only had 3 hybrids in the back garden back in September 2012.  So if you are looking for proof that chicken keeping is addictive, look no further!

I know it is unlikely that all 12 will hatch, in fact my hatch rate has been quite poor at less than 50%, so I can easily see that only 6-8 will hatch. 

The plan is to keep some and sell others on.  I'm not looking for profits, just really making sure that when the chickens leave, they are going to someone who cares and will look after them.  I always feel that if you offer them for free it suggests they are not worth anything, not in a monetary sense but as a living thing, and this I do not feel comfortable with.  I am prepared for the worse case and not being able to rehome, so the only option then is the pot!  Lets hope it does not get that far.

Why keep chickens?

Well obsession, interest, business, pleasure!?  Perhaps all of the above and more.

When we took on the allotment back in 2006 it was an over grown dump.  The chairman of the association offered us the plot measuring approximately 30 metres by 15 metres as a whole.  It is a corner plot and at the bottom corner of the allotments furthest from the entrance and the water.  It was surrounded by trees, brambles, and housed the remains of a chicken coop, derelict shed, sheets of glass, razor wire and not to mention japanese knotweed and weeds at 4 foot high!

800 grams of Purple Sprouting picked April 2013

We took the plot on as a long term family project, encouraged greatly by Rachel my wife.  We knew there was a section that would never be workable for growing produce and so did the chairman, that is why I think he was pleased we took the whole lot.  It saved him the annual headache of trying to gather enough volunteers to cut back the overgrowth and try and clear any dumped rubbish.

The unproductive area is now where we are keeping chickens, and in the future hopefully a couple of ducks and the odd turkey for Christmas.

F1 Kale Picked April 2013

So I guess chickens on the allotment was the plan form day one, perhaps not so many chickens but I'm sure it will work out, even if there is a little Arthur daily action required in the future to restore the balance.

Thanks for reading and don't forget if you fancy Wyandottes, silver or gold lace let me know by email andrew_homer@rocketmail.com and I will keep you updated with progress as and when they become available.

Hatching AGAIN for breeding!

We're off again! The incubator is running and the first 6 eggs were set on Thursday 4th April. Lavender Araucana eggs in great condition and of great shape kindly provided by Mark at Norfolk Bantams.  I love the look of these birds and they lay blue eggs so I'm excited at hatching and hopefully keeping some hens and maybe cockerels.


On Friday 6 more eggs were added (allowing for a 24 hours settling period after being tossed thought he post by royal mail) this time it was the turn of the silver lace Wyandottes. I am not holding out much hope for these as the eggs that have been sold to me are not of regular shape. 4 out of 6 appear to be elongated. This to me suggests there is limited chance of hatching.

My Wyandotte Silver Lace Bantam 5 weeks old

I'm very disappointed with them and will certainly not be using this supplier again.

Saturday at 11 am 6 further eggs were added, this time goldlace wyandottes. Very good size and condition, so fingers crossed these will hatch a good cockerel to go with the two hens that I hatched under my broody last year.


Ideally I wanted to set all the eggs at the same time but the postal system prevented this and I thought it best to get them in the incubator after 24 hours rest.  The longer I left them, the closer they got to 7 days old, and it is suggested the hatch rate reduces after this period.

So the main hurdle to overcome with this hatch is stopping the auto turning on the incubator.  This should generally be stopped at day 18 for chicken eggs.  As I set my eggs in three batches with around 24 hours between each batch, I'm faced with day 18 being spread over three days.  Not ideal really but the plan is to stop the auto turning on day 18 for the first batch of Araucana's, then manually turn the silver lace and gold lace Wyandotte eggs for the remaining day to two days.  With that sorted I also have to turn attention to the hatching dates, again spread over three days.  I don't have a spare incubator so I will be allowing the chicks to hatch and moving them out the incubator to the brooder as soon as possible (recommended minimum period is 24 hours) to try and prevent any damage or contamination to unhatched eggs.  All fingers and toes are crossed for a good hatch rate so that I can start breeding! 

I will of course let you know how it works out and I'm sure there will be some hens and cockerels available in 10 weeks time if anyone is interested.

Thanks for reading, more updates to follow.

The Chicken Run

Almost finished chicken run

Finally I have managed to get down to my allotment for a reasonable length of time to continue what I has started approximately four weeks ago.
Of the three hour stint, about an hour was spent scratching my head and drinking a cup of tea trying to work out how to construct a door opening that would not fall apart (my usual standard of DIY) and one that was fox proof.
I got there in the end and I managed to cable tie the fencing to the wooden posts and build a door from scrap left on the plot from the previous tenant.

The area prior to the chicken run

A bit of a result for me. Now all I have to do is lay slabs around the perimeter of the fence to deter foxes from digging under the wire/security fencing and secure heavy duty plastic mesh to the roof.  The mesh for the roof is the same material I have used to cover the top half of the door.

It is very strong and there was a huge amount of the material again left behind by the previous tenant.
So far the total cost is only £25 for the whole enclosure and it provides 150 square feet of space.  I admit I have only bought cable ties fence posts and hinges, but I guess it shows what you can do by recycling and being inventive.

Last years onions growing

With all this effort going into the chicken run I have neglected the vegetable growing side of the allotment a little.  I had plans to prepare several beds with manure and dig my runner bean trench to fill with kitchen veg waste.  Neither of these things have happened, and the potato beds are currently covered in weeds and last years cabbage crop.
In future years I am planning on using the chickens to help keep beds clear by using netting around the beds keeping the chickens in (whilst i am on the allotment) and leaving them to free range to scratch to their hearts content.  Not only will the y clear, but hopefully they will fertilise as they go.  That's the theory anyway!

Back at home sowing is in full swing and most window cills are full with leeks, peas, potatoes, lettuce, purple sprouting and Brussels sprouts.  The broad beans sown in February have grown well and are now hardened off and outside ready to be planted, if I can clear the bed that is!

Thanks for reading.  Chick update coming soon.

Chicks Chicks and More Chicks

Sadly the Vorwerk chick did not make it.  He was still struggling to stand even with legs taped together to stop them spreading apart and my efforts to try and hand feed were causing him some distress.
After several hours and a deterioration in his condition I decided it was best to do the right thing.  It's not easy and the second time in as may hatches that I have had to do it.  That's part and parcel of hatching and raising chickens I guess.

On a brighter note, I have just returned form a local poultry breeder who had a few day old's he was selling.  I bought 3 to keep Nugget as I have decided to call her, company.  

One Cream Legbar (female), one Orpington and one French Wheaton Maran.  

Nugget

The Silver lace Wyandottes are doing very well outside, even in this chilly spell of weather.  They are 5 weeks old and whilst it is difficult to tell at this stage, I'm really hoping for one or two good examples for breeding.

The master plan in all of this is to create at least 2 breeding pairs of Wyandottes.  
I have more hatching eggs arriving in the next few days, 6 gold lace and 6 silver lace Wyandotte hatching eggs.

So I will mixing from the different hatched to hopefully create a couple of good breeding trios.  Lots of  fingers crossed and plenty of things that could and no doubt will go wrong, but it is an adventure.

What then? Well, the pan is to work on improving the breeding pen so I have some good quality Wyandottes.  Along the way I have no doubt there will be a few hens and cockerels sold and hopefully hatching eggs.

Photo from www.araucana.org.uk

I'm trying to concentrate on Wyandottes as I find they are a lovely docile breed and they enjoy being picked up (once you have managed to catch them that is) but I can't help but be drawn to trying new breeds.  This time I have gone for some lavender Araucana.  Blue egg layers and an interesting bird originating from Chile. 

Check out the breeding club website at www.araucana.org.uk

After this? Well ducks are on the agenda, in particular Welsh Harlequin and if possible some buff Orpington or silver appleyard.  That may however be some way down the line!

Thanks for reading.