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

Smallholders Course at Humble by Nature

Slight detour from hens and eggs today.  Promise I will be back on track next entry.

Kune Kune Pigs (Photo from Wikipedia)

Saturday morning saw me travelling into Monmouthshire to The Humble by Nature farm owned by Kate Humble and Ludo Graham.
Its a fantastic place and very accessible.
They run a variety of courses that cover working with animals, rural skills and food and cookery.  I went to check out the Smallholding course "oink, cluck and baa".
I was not disappointed and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in these areas.  At the same time as learning a great deal and relaxing for the first time in a long time I met up with some brilliant like minded people who owned smallholdings, others that were interested in buying smallholdings and others like me who have chickens and fancy expanding.

Tamworth Pigs (Photo from Wikipedia)

Liz Shankland was running the course and it was a great introduction to smallholding, some of the animals you can keep and some of the regulations and issues to consider before you take the  plunge.

They didn't put me off mind you, however it made me consider some key points, the main one being, if I take on animals do I have a back up plan.  What if I am unable to tend to them due to illness for a period or what if I want to go on holiday?
I can't see a simple answer to this one.
It would be unfair or rely on friends and family constantly.



Cavapoos - Roco & Max

I am aware of a service local to me similar to an animal sitter.  They look after a variety of animals in their own surroundings for people who go on holiday and also provide walking services for dogs.

They will look after hens in your garden and have even offered to look after hens on my allotment in Morganstown
Would they even visit pigs to feed and water?
Even if they would, would it be viable financially?

I suppose if you have a dog you accept that you put them in kennels or take them with you?  Rachel would not want to share our holiday with hens however much I enjoy keeping them or pigs for that matter so I guess, unless you have a friendly farmer or smallholder neighbour, there is very little option but to pay someone.  If you are running a business I guess it's a running cost to factor in when pricing your product.  If they are a hobby or pets then its just like owning a dog!!

If anyone has any other ideas let me know.

Thanks for reading.