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.
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 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.
Thanks for reading
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