A busy bank holiday with Chickens

Eight months ago I lost all of my breeding stock.  Not a four legged predator but two legged opportunists.  It has taken all that time to regroup, find more land and set up an enclosure.  But I am finally there.  Today I all but finished a basic enclosure having transported the security fencing from the old plot to the new one on Bank Holiday Monday.  I could not have done it without Rachel.

As I type, I have just moved the three, 6 week old booted bantams onto some grass for the first time, I have three Ixworth chicks at 4 days old under a broody and in the incubator, I have two fertile silver lace Wyandotte eggs (bantam) one pipping.  Things are finally looking up on the poultry front so my fingers are firmly crossed.
For once I am firmly in control and this will be the end of my hatching for 2014.  Unless of course I get tempted by hatching my own quail eggs.

I only hope I have one male and one female In the Ixworth group, so that I can breed for my own purposes, and that both Wyandotte eggs hatch, with at least one male to go with my existing hen.

The ducks, whilst great fun are going.  We don't really eat enough duck eggs, and whilst I love the breed, they are not an animal I can keep whilst focusing on my chickens.  Fingers crossed I find a good home soon.

Sucessful Ixworth hatch

I left for work the morning, knowing that one of the Ixworth eggs under the broody hen had pipped.  But at no point did I believe when I returned this evening I would find four health fluffy chicks sat under mum.

The Wyandotte is a first time broody, so I had concerns about her sitting and turning the eggs.  But, Fear not, she has done a perfect job.  Ok I admit, the eggs were in the incubator until day 17/18 of incubation, but she has taken to looking after them like she has been sat on the same eggs for 21 days, amazing really. How do they know it's day 17/18 and that they should stop turning?
It's an amazing sight, and I never get bored of seeing white fluffy chicks underneath her, and whilst she still has to prove she is capable of teaching the chicks to eat and drink, she is my preferred broody over the reliable Treacle (a speckeldey).  Why when Treacle has proved her self again and again hatching but chicks and ducklings?  Well Treacle can only be describe as hormonal. She is so aggressive and causes so much damage to my hands even when charging water and food, it start to become unpleasant.  My newest recruit into the broody ranks is calm and placid.  Will let me stroke and touch her, she would even let my pick up the in hatched eggs and today reach in and get the chicks to check they are ok.  Not even a peck or a murmur.

This will make managing the cleaning, feeding, checking the chicks nice and easy and importantly, mean I can handle them to make sure they are used to humans.

Ixworth hatching eggs

It's day seven for the Ixworth eggs I have in my incubator and when candled, they were throwing up some rather strange shapes in the egg.  I'm sad to say I was not organised enough to take photographs (I was a little preoccupied by the boys wanting to see the chicks forming in the eggs). Only one is not fertile, two are well established but the others seem to be lagging behind somewhat.  I have left them in the incubator for now to see if they keep developing. Fearing the worst, they may have started to developed and died at 3-4 days old.  But only time will tell.
It's my first time hatching Ixworth eggs, and the plan is to keep a pair for hatching my own eggs to rear as table birds.  Something I have wanted to do for a long time but space and the theft at my allotment plot has put me off.

I guess I could buy in Ross Cobb or other hybrid bread table birds but I still see these birds as frankestine chickens.  From tiny chick to table weight in 6-8 weeks really does not sit right with me.  Yes it's cheaper as you feed less and you don't have the potential problems of cock birds fighting but I am convinced, it will be worth waiting 20-25 weeks for the Ixworth and we will be rewarded with great tasting meat.
Having said that, whether I will be joined eating the home reared meat my wife and kids, we will have to wait and see.  I guess the best was is not to tell them and find some spare supermarket stickers to slap on the birds.

I chose the Ixworth because it is a Brisith rare breed, in need of help and to me seems a perfect chicken for the smallholder.  I still don't class myself as a smallholder, yes I grow vegetables, I keep chickens, ducks and quail, but for me (and it's different for everyone) a smallholder provides meat as well as vegetables and eggs.    So I hope this is my first step toward the smallholding life, on a small scale, but one that will bring satisfaction from producing a roast dinner to be proud of from very local produce.

In the mean time, I'm preparing the Wyandotte hen and two ducks for the Spring show at the Royal Welsh show ground.  As she has aged, I think her lacing has become a bit tatty.  Having said that, maybe I'm just being critical and looking for perfection.

Broody or Incubator?

Until very recently, I would always turn to the incubator rather than encourage one of my hens to go broody.  Even though my first ever hatch of chicks took place under a broody, I still liked (and at the same time feared) the control I had over the incubator.  I could set it when I wanted and didn't need to separate hens. I also felt the eating eggs were precious and worth much more.  I could check on the eggs as often as I liked through the clear top of the incubator and not have to risking being savaged by a broody hen.  So all in all it made total sense .............that was until I decided, very recently to check how much it costs to run my incubator and brooder/electric hen.  Now I see why breeders keep hens as broodies.

Here is the calculation and explanation:

In 2013 the average UK price for electricity was 17.2pence per Kwh (Kilowatt per hour)

A Kw is 1000 watts.

So with my incubator being 130w

130/1000 then multiplied by 17.2pence = 2.236 pence per hour.

Cheap right?  Well my incubator tends to run for 28 days, the set up, incubation of 21 days and then the drying off before transferring.

2.236 x 24 hours = 53.6 pence per day x 28 days = £15 per hatch.

Ouch.  I only set six eggs and just 3 hatched.

The six eggs cost me £15, so for 3 day old chicks it has cost me £30.  Most are sold for £5 that I see advertised and the cost above is before feed and running the brooder/electric hen.

Of course if I had filled the 25 egg capacity incubator the price per chick would be lower, but it does drive home how much it costs to hatch your own on a small scale. Andy Crawthay (@chickenstreet) has written about this a few times I believe.  But it was my calculations for raising some Ixworth birds as "table" birds that shone a great deal of light on the subject for me.

To make it worth while I would need to hatch at least 16 chicks.  Assuming less that 100% hatch rate, that's quite a few eggs.  If i were to buy them that would prove very expensive, so then you are into the realms of keeping a pair or trio for eggs to hatch.

Not wanting to bore anyone, I worked out with feed and other costs for the pair I would need to hatch 18 at a time to make it worth while running the incubator.

So with a couple of two year old gold lace wyandottes, one of which going broody, I will be trying to take advantage of their urge to have little chicks as often as I can.

Thanks for reading.

Day four after hatching

Day four after hatching is going well.  The sablepoot chicks seem strong an healthy.........for now.  They say sheep have a habit of just dropping dead when they feel like it.  The same could be said for chicks.
I have done all I can for them since their arrival, with chick crumb and water available and newspaper being changed daily to prevent the spread if any disease.

I had set six eggs from South Yeo Farm in Devon in the incubator.  Five were fertile at day seven.  The the candeling photo below.  Sadly, just because they are fertile does not mean they will hatch successfully, and after three of the poots had arrived into the big wide world, I candled the other two and it was clear that once had stopped developing around day ten or twelve and the other day fifteen or sixteen.  These are guesstimates, based on the size of the air sack in the egg and the development of the embryo.
Still, three is better than none and I am already making a note and trying to guess how many male and female I have.

New land - deal done!

Today I signed my tenancy agreement that starts 1st May allowing me to keep chickens, ducks and turkeys.  I was starting to think I would never ever type the words.   It's been a long time coming but with a little compromise I finally managed to find some.
Sheer good luck and timing has resulted in me being able to buy an old chicken ark from a couple moving house down in Barry.  Twenty pounds was the agreed price. An absolute bargain and perfect for a breeding trio of bantams.

I admit thereis work to do to the ark but structurally it is sound.  I will be thoroughly cleaning the coop to make sure there are no red mite and other little critters, I may even paint the inside if the coop for good measure. Ideally I need a good enclosure to keep the foxes out. I'm thinking of using the herace fencing I have from the allotment, but transporting it is a big problem being 3 meters long and 2 meters tall. The other option is to buy a new enclosure like the one gardenlife.biz sell.  A significant cost which I want to avoid if I can.

It's not just Mr Fox that I am planning to keep out, but the two legged predator as well.  Back in September 2013 I have 13 pure breed hens stolen from my allotment in a neighbouring village. This time I am determined to make it more difficult.

The field is no close to a main road and has a well used path running through it, used regularly by dog walkers, so I am hoping activity and passers by will deter any thieves along with the secluded nature of the plot.  I'm going to use a padlock on the chicken ark initially with a built in alarm.  Any movement on the lock and the alarm will go off.

Yes, this is a risk, there is always a risk, but the alternative is to stop keeping chickens and breeding.  Something that would be particularly difficult for m to accept.  Especially since I have been going to poultry shows and had great fun and success at the Welsh national in January with my Wyandotte bantams.

Better planning needed for hatching

It's not quite a disaster, but I have had to give it a great deal of thought. When I ordered my Sablepoot eggs from South Yeo Farm in Devon I thought I had planned the timing perfectly. The eggs would hatch a week before Easter and mean that a friend could easily look after them for the couple of days that I am away.  That was on the basis that Good Friday was on the 25 April. I've no idea why I thought Easter was that late, and I only discovered my error when in work and the subject of holidays arose.

Normally it would not really matter and rightly or wrongly I have left eggs in an incubator whilst away before, just for a few days. But that was well before lock down and hatching. Timing could not be worse this time. The hatching date of the sablepoots is Friday 18th. The planned date I am leaving.

What to do? Hope they hatch early? Leave them for a friend to look after?  Well there is only one thing to do. Take the incubator with me. 

I have bought a cheap inverter for the car. It plugs into the 12v supply and converts to 220v with a socket for the mains plug. 

Sounds crazy, but the incubator will be in the boot whilst I drive and I can set up the incubator and brooder in the caravan when we get there.  Mad? Maybe but it will be fun to see what happens. And it won't be the first time I have taken the brooder away in the caravan. I did the same last year with a hatch of quail. They all turned out fine.  Although they were a week old before we took them away.

I will let you know how the journey goes and how the eggs fair especially as they are at the pipping stage whilst traveling.  I will need to make sure the eggs are stable in the incubator so they don't roll around and crack.  I may have to leave the dividers in for traveling or, maybe use some egg boxes to set the eggs in, just while we travel.

First hatching 2014

My first hatching eggs of the year arrived a week ago today. Silverlace Wyandottes are on order but it is the Sablepoot Lemon Milliefluer that have turned my head this time.  A little unexpected in a way, but I did find I was being drawn to them at the poultry shows.
One of the main reasons I have chosen them is their size.  I don't have a great deal of space so large rare breeds like an Ixworth are out of the question for now.  I also tend to find the eggs from bantams have a lot more flavour.  They are perfect little hard boiled snack or for use in a creamy omelet.
Of course the looks of the breed have a great deal to do with it as well.  They are not a large breed, a true bantam, and so a dual purpose bird they are not.  My breeding efforts are still targeted at the wyandottes, so I guess this is more of a nice to have.
I'm off to candle the eggs tonight so fingers crossed I have a few viable eggs.

Mission accomplished?

I was starting to believe it was impossible, never going to happen. Then, just one more try, that stubborn streak took over. If I couldn't find half an acre or acre in the local area, why not forget about "livestock" and try for a small piece of land for more poultry.
When I say more poultry, really it is just a place to keep one, maybe two breeding trios.  Somewhere a cockerel would not cause a nuisance, but could serve his ladies happily and provide me with my own hatching eggs.
I was fortunate that in the village the local community council had a piece of land. They would not consider livestock, but chickens were a more realistic option.  I wrote to the Clerk and as it happened he was willing to support the idea.
I explained about my passion for poultry, my enjoyment going to poultry shows and my limited success at the Welsh National and the Royal Welsh Winter Fair.  I sent photos and details of the proposed coop and enclosure.
As if it was destined to happen, I had confirmation by email, the councillors were willing to rent a small space to me, enough for 10 birds. A great result but not after a lot of hard work and constant searching, questioning and badgering.  Sorry if you were one of those people.

It means that I can actually start to keep a cockerel with two of my silver lace Wyandotte bantams that I had earmarked as good breeding stock.  First of all I need a cockerel. Having some difficulty locating one at present I have decided to hatch my own.  So the incubator will be on again soon one the eggs have arrived.
It means I will struggle to hatch my own eggs this year, as I will have to wait for the cockerel to mature, and no doubt when he is ready the hens will go into moult. But I'm willing to wait to get the right trio to hatch the best quality birds I can.
In the mean time, I can concentrate on hatching new colours of quail and maybe some Welsh Harlequin ducks.

Randy Daffy the Duck

Just when you think everything is settled.  The chickens and ducks are living happily together in their new run area and house, Daffy the duck has taken a shine to Treacle the hen.
Poor treacle is being chased around the run, Benny Hill style.  I half expected to see a policeman with truncheon join in the chase.
Sadly, it seems he will not give up without "completing his mission".  Treacle is getting so fed up she is making her way up onto the top of the house and launching her self over the omlet netting into the open garden.  This isn't a major problem, other than she doesn't have access to food and water,and there is a better chance of me and the kids stepping in a freshly laid piece of poo!
So the only solution for now is for Treacle to live with the Silver Lace Wyandottes.  Not ideal but they all seem to have accepted the new living arrangements for now.

Treacle has always been a bit of a loner, never really settling in the larger group of hens.  One of dads army is always having a pop at her for standing in the wrong place.  Perhaps that is why she is a good broody, as she seems happy on her own with her own company.
I'm hoping a week out of the group may help Daffy forget his lust for her.  But that in itself could lead to problems when I reintroduce her with bullying from the other hens.

It's never straight forward with poultry, and it's a bit like looking after squabbling children sometimes, but at least there are not dirty nappies or bums to wipe!

A couple of hours on the plot

Having completely rebuilt and refurbished the chicken run in the back garden it was about time I visited the allotment plot.  I took the opportunity today and made some headway.
I have decided to try the no-dig method of growing potatoes.  Lazy I know, but got to be worth a try.

Having cleared the plot of weeds, I spread a layer of chicken manure and home made compost on top, then covered with thick black pond liner.  I pegged the pond liner down and then cut slits in the liner, used a trowel to loosen the soil and planted the potato, that had been sitting on my window sill for the past 4 weeks, just underneath the soil.
There is no need to plant any deeper as the liner on top will protect the potatoes that grow from going green.  It also means I don't need to weed between the rows. Like I said earlier - lazy gardening.  Let's hope it works.
There is also no need to earth up as the liner will do this for you.  If it all works, there will be even less work to dig the potatoes up.  I will just need to lift a section of the liner, and put up the potatoes, maybe using a small hand fork, but significantly less effort that I usually put in.  Like I say, I have fingers crossed.
I do have a couple of concerns, and that is ensuring the plants get enough moisture and making sure the top growth gets through the little holes I have made.
Not one to put all my eggs I one basket (chickens get in everywhere with me), I am only trying this method with the first early potatoes.  Casablanca is the variety and is supposed to have good disease resistance.
My second early potatoes, Charlotte, will be planted using my usual method, digging a trench, scattering a few chicken manure pellets or grow more fertiliser, covering and then earthing up when needed.

Whilst there today I also weeded the asparagus bed and covered it with a layer of compost and manure.  This is the second year that have been in the ground, so I am looking forward to taking a slightly bigger crop this year.  The few spears we tried last year were outstanding.  I might just try dipping them in a soft boiled or poached egg.

I was please to see the rhubarb was growing, although in comparison to my neighbours plants they doo look quite pathetic.  Hopefully the topping of compost and manure will help them thrive.

Homebrew banana beer

For some time I have wanted to try and make my own banana beer after sampling the Banana bread beer you can buy by the bottle.  Quite a few recipes meant trying to make the beer from scratch, mashing your own malt.
Finally I have found and road tested a recipe that I am pleased with.
It uses a basic beer kit, where you add the cooked bananas to the malt extract while heating on the hob.  Nice and easy, but there are a few tips to make things go smoother.

Here is the recipe.

Banana Beer 40 pints---This one uses overipe bananas and ferments on the bananas to give a really bananery taste! 1 normal 5 gal Beer kit with yeast - I used John Bull traditional English ale, single can with spray malt 12 over ripe bananas 2 tsp Pectolase 1kg sugar - normal white sugar  •Peel, break up, and gently simmer the banana in a couple of pints of water for about 20 mins, a little more if the fruit is firm. Mash up with potato masher! •add contents of warmed Beer tin to the banana pan and warm through. • add sugar to a couple of gallons of water in fermenter. Dissolve. •mix in slightly cooled banana mix from pan •top up to 4 gal with cold water •add pectolase and top up to 5 gal •pitch yeast. Ferments fully in 5-7 days at room temp in early summer. STRAIN INTO SECONDARY BEFORE BOTTLING. •condition as normal (1tsp per pint or equity), improves greatly after a fortnight's sit in the bottle. • be warned can be very lively to serve, consider cutting priming sugar a little if worried.

A couple of points to take away from the above.

1.  Priming sugar, I reduced the amount I put into the 5 gallon mix.  Traditionally they suggest 30g per 5 gallon, but I used 25g.  The result is an ale that needs pouring from height to produce a head and serving cool, not from the fridge but an outbuilding or garage.
2. The banana makes it very difficulty to use a bottom tap on your fermenter, so I would recommend syphoning into another fermenter before bottling. If you can leave it over night to settle again (with air lock in place) it will prevent any sediment or pieces of beer getting into your bottles.
3. The taste - it is not the same as eating a banana, in fact, you could miss it unless you are looking for it. This may just be the way I have brewed it, but it is a pleasant  aftertaste of banana rather than overpowering.

My next beer will include honey. I'm searching for a recipe, so if you know of any please get in touch.  Thanks for reading.

Its hatching time in the Homer household

Just when you think the bottom has fallen out of the market for Welsh Harlequin ducks......quack!
Three were taken off to a good home last week.  It's always a relief when you meet someone genuinely passionate about poultry and waterfowl.  It makes letting the birds go a lot easier, and boy did I need the space.
I have two left, one male, one female and whilst the initial plan was to move all of the ducks on, I can see myself keeping these two now, certainly until they have been through the spring show at the Royal Welsh Showground. Plus, there seems to be a battle brewing over the dinner table between the eldest boys for the soft boiled duck eggs.  I would not be popular with them if the duck egg supply stopped.

So for now they are staying.  It does mean they need names.  All other named birds have been food based, Rhubard, Crumble (no longer with us), custard, apple, blackberry, pudding and not forgetting Treacle.
So where do I go from here?  Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

With a whole pig, jointed in the fridge, I will be busy curing bacon and ham over the next day or so.  However, with March just round the corner my mind has turned to hatching again.  I will be hatching my own quail eggs this year using some lighter coloured japanese quail.  Apart from that, I do need, or should I say want, a male Silverlace Wyandotte to run with my 1st place winning hen from the Royal Welsh winter fair and the Welsh National Poultry Show.
I'm having difficulty sourcing one locally, so next option is hatching one.  This way I will hopefully have a choice of males and it gives me a little more time to find the best place to keep them.

As it happens I have just this second ordered some hatching eggs from Cheshire Poultry. They have some great looking birds.  Poultry genetics, Fancy Fowl editor, and genuine nice guy, Grant Brereton recommended I contact Steve Dace. I can't wait.
Hopefully by the wyandottes have hatched, the quail will have started laying and I can put my pair/trios together ready for hatching, in a month or so.

Thanks for reading.

Muddy run - chickens and ducks

I have been spending quite a lot of time recently in coffee shops. Whilst I would love to use independents, the choice is very limited for me, so I tend to avoid those that don't pay the correct tax and plump for coffee that is apparently "the best this side of Milan".

I find it relaxing and I seem to be able to waffle on and compose my entries for my blog despite the hustle and bustle, banging of coffee baskets, grinding of beans and occasional chink of china in the back ground.

I find it is one of only a few activities that truly relaxes the mind and body, giving you that moment to your self and opportunity to listen and observe others.
I get the same satisfaction out of the allotment and looking after the animals.  The daily morning dash outside in this recent torrential rain and, this morning, hail, has been made in lounge wear (pyjamas to you and me) and in full wet weather gear.  Not because of the rain, but just due to the sheer volume of mud in my garden at present.
My wellies are permenantly caked in mud, as are the waterproof trousers, jacket and the poor chickens and ducks.

So I have a plan.  Over the years I have used sand as a base in my run area with a good layer of wood chip on top.  It's works well for 3-4 hens.   Now the collection is bigger and includes a couple of ducks, I need a system that means the wood chip does not dissapear into the sand and mud, as the hens start to dig like Steve McQueen in the great escape.

This is the plan.
Level the ground, easier typed than done, but isnt it the same with everything.
Using a few slabs I will cover part of the run area, leaving a gap for some plastic guttering to run the length of the run.
Disinfect with stalosan f, then peg down a layer of plastic mesh that is manufactured and designed to stabilise grass.
Surround with raised beds or wooden boards (this will stop the wood chip being flicked all over the grass, when it grows back).
Top with wood chip.

Simple, but I'm sure it will be effective.
The plan with the guttering and slabs, is so that I can hose down the wood chip (or even better the rain will help) and wash any mess and poo into the gutter.
I have a sloping garden, so this may not work for everyone.  The gutter will run into a border with bushes, so they will benefit from the water and manure, and any excess can be shovelled out.

I concocted this plan whilst in a coffee shop, scribbling on a note pad, so who knows how it will go.  I will post photos of progress and the finished job.

Thanks for reading.

A busy month so far...

Give us a cwtch

February has been busy for me so far.  Lots of change and decisions to make.  The first being to move jobs for the first time in 13 years.  Secondly and in my opinion much more importantly, I realised that I can not keep the ducks in the environment they deserve in my back garden.  I love their characters and the early morning quacking as that charge out of the house like the start of the wacky races.
Their eggs are a lot smaller than I expected, but then that could just be age and I genuinely love their markings, on both the ducks and the drakes.  
Sadly they must go. I had planned to keep them on my plot, but the theft of all my chickens, put paid to that.  On the other hand, I will be hatching quail and hopefully Silverlace wyandottes going forward.

On top of all the decisions, I have been busy writing and reviewing contributions for some fantastic magazines, Country Smallholding, Home Farmer and Practical goats, sheep and alpacas.

I'm hoping to get some links to the articles on line soon and will post them on the blog.

On top of that, I am brewing banana beer and orange wine.  Both smell amazing and I will post the recipes on the blog soon, although if you buy the Feb edition of Home Farmer you will fine the Pineapple wine recipe I will be starting towards the end of this month.

I'm also looking forward to receiving some pork soon from Hillside Freerange to make some of my own sausages and cure some more of my own bacon and ham.  I have never made my own sausage, but want to give it a go with some basic equipment before taking the plunge and signing up to a day course.

All in all, I guess I sound like an alcoholic writing foodie.  
Happy days.

The ducks start to lay!

It took a few weeks longer than expected, and I was starting to get impatient and wonder if I had a set of duff ducks.  Thankfully on Wednesday this week one of the ducks started to lay.  My first ever home reared duck egg from ducks I had hatched.
I've said it before, but you can't beat that feeling, seeing the egg (not so white unfortunately as it had been layed in a pile of poo) and knowing the birds are doing what they do best and are comfortable and happy to start laying.
I've been toying with the idea of selling all the ducks, simply due to space now that I am no longer keeping birds on my plot.  The problem is, now they have started laying I'm even more reluctant.  I'm still going to sell one male and at least one female, so that I have a trio left.  But the whole bunch going is now highly unlikely.
I'm sure it's the time of year but I have not had many enquiries for the ducks or the silver lace Wyandotte I am trying to sell. So I have a plan, connected to the Spring fair at The Royal Welsh Show Ground in May. I will be entering the show with a couple of the ducks and my silver lace  on the Saturday, and there is usually a sale section. Lest hope there are lots of buyers.

This time last year I had the incubator fired up, but I'm delaying this year.  Firstly because of the poor weather and secondly because of space.  The plan is however, to hatch some more silver lace wyandottes to produce a male to go with my existing group. Then I will start hatching my own eggs.  I'm learning patience.  I'm also planning on hatching some quail when they start laying.  I have some nice colours, silver and white, so I'm hoping to create some interesting colours.