Friday 28th April 2017
More broody news!
Another manic day on the poultry front as all our recent bought eggs (see 26th) were distributed amongst all our broodies. The one in the photo is an Indian Game cross from last spring and in her wisdom, she has chosen a hay rack in the top 3-acre field shelter to sit. Tonight we gave her ten of the Maran eggs and told her very firmly to look after them and NOT allow them to fall out of the holes. Posh (an Indian Game) has the second set of Indian Game eggs (appropriate we felt) and Queenie has six Exchequer eggs and two of the Marans. Three weeks today we could be VERY busy with chicks.
Meantime in the barn, we have had three ducklings hatch – unfortunately there won’t be any more as the rest of the eggs had ‘gone off’. It’s all a bit of a mystery really. There were 15/16 eggs in this nest originally, last time we had a proper look this was reduced to 12 and today we found the three ducklings and just SIX remaining eggs, all of which were definitely ‘whiffy’!!!
We think that the problems have arisen because this nest has been shared by Banana and our Red Leghorn cross and maybe the eggs have had TOO much warmth and not enough ventilation.
We decided that Banana should raise the ducklings and so we have penned her in a run with them in the stable block. We tried just to put her in the stables with the three ducklings but she left them and came straight back to the nest, obviously aware there were more eggs… and of course having had this location imprinted on her mind for the last five weeks.
We threw the remaining gone off duck eggs and replaced them with the eight eggs Queenie and Posh had been sitting on before we gave them bought-in eggs as described above. Hopefully the Red Leghorn cross will continue to sit on these, they are due to hatch in a week!!
Finally Victoria is now sitting on her eggs, we think there are 14 in total now!! No goose update as no eggs today no sign of our errant broody either!!
And finally, finally Sage's calf is now drinking from THREE of the quarters. We milked out the full one again and hopefully by tomorrow, she will have got the hang of keeping this udder in check!!
We think that the problems have arisen because this nest has been shared by Banana and our Red Leghorn cross and maybe the eggs have had TOO much warmth and not enough ventilation.
We decided that Banana should raise the ducklings and so we have penned her in a run with them in the stable block. We tried just to put her in the stables with the three ducklings but she left them and came straight back to the nest, obviously aware there were more eggs… and of course having had this location imprinted on her mind for the last five weeks.
We threw the remaining gone off duck eggs and replaced them with the eight eggs Queenie and Posh had been sitting on before we gave them bought-in eggs as described above. Hopefully the Red Leghorn cross will continue to sit on these, they are due to hatch in a week!!
Finally Victoria is now sitting on her eggs, we think there are 14 in total now!! No goose update as no eggs today no sign of our errant broody either!!
And finally, finally Sage's calf is now drinking from THREE of the quarters. We milked out the full one again and hopefully by tomorrow, she will have got the hang of keeping this udder in check!!