When we moved here (a whole three weeks ago now) we had 45 assorted poultry to move as well: seven turkeys, three ducks and 35 chickens; 18 of which were chicks and two of which were just a few days old. We brought them over the day before we actually moved in (logistically it had to work that way) and we were very anxious leaving them here as we drove home back to Minions for one last night. Despite the stress of the move and the fact it was a crushingly hot few days (over 30 degrees C at one point), all survived and within just a couple of days, normal laying routines were re-established.
Unsurprisingly in the case of the ducks, their laying led to serious broodiness (helped by the fact we did not take their eggs away) and so it is that Pear (pictured) is now sitting on 13 eggs and Banana on 11. We are hoping for a warm September when, with any luck, we shall have several Muscovy ducklings racing around. Back on our smallholding in Cornwall, we had to keep the ducklings inside for three weeks as otherwise the corvids would swoop down and take them. Corvids are common round here (as everywhere) but we see very few anywhere near the poultry paddock, so fingers crossed mum and ducklings can all go out together when just a few days old.
Picture number two is of our 3-year old Indian Game (IG): she looks to us to be a very good example of her breed. Most of our chickens are hybrids or crosses but as one of our cockerels is an IG and we have two older IG hens, we do get some pure chicks: there are another two from this year looking good as well. They are very thick set, muscular birds which can produce a fabulous meat carcass (they have very large chests as this one is showing). We love them for their colouring and broodiness: they make great mums.