Blog Archives - Bellecross Hens

With Autumns arrival we prepare for Winter

24/9/2017

Autumn has arrived, misty mornings, spider webs decorated with dew drops, fallen leaves, a nip in the air, poultry houses full of feathers and bedraggled looking hens everywhere as they moult, replacing their old feathers for new so they are in good condition to cope with the colder, winter months ahead
We too are preparing for winter, as the young birds grow or are sold on and the smaller houses and arks become empty, we clean, repair and wood preserve them ready for next years busy breeding season.
We merge the hens from the breeding groups into larger flocks freeing up more houses to treat and allowing the grass pens to rest in rotation.
Once the birds have finished moulting we will feed them a handful of corn as a scratch feed late afternoon, to help keep them warm and full over the longer nights.
With the real possibility of the birds having to be in lockdown again this winter to help prevent the spread of Avian Flu, we are buying in straw, extra ground sanitiser and DEFRA approved disinfectant. and looking how and where to house the birds to meet the requirements stated,yet still giving them space and relative freedom.
So, although the busy time of incubators,broody hens and chicks everywhere is over,there is still much to be done but at a slower less demanding pace.
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The Morning Routine

19/9/2017

The morning routine, although varying slightly with the season remains much the same.This time of year with the mornings darker and the breeding season over it has altered a little. In the breeding season my first job of the day is to check on the newly hatched chicks in the brooders and any overnight developments in the incubators.As all the young birds are now outdoors and it is still dark when I get up, my first job (after putting the kettle on) is to make up the day's egg orders from eggs collected the night before and fill the basket of eggs for selling at the gate.
Once light I let out all the growers in the nursery pen, give them fresh food and water and move the small arks onto fresh ground and rake over the grass where the arks stood.I find this helps the grass to remain in good condition throughout the year.
If I have birds penned in the shed for collection that day they too are fed, watered,checked etc.and usually given a treat of corn, apples and/or greens to keep them happy as they are never very impressed with being cooped up when they are used to free ranging.
Once done I sit with a coffee and check any emails and messages I may have received.By now it's usually just after 7 a.m and time to 'go to the yard'.
We keep all our adult birds on land in the neighbouring village a couple of miles away.The birds are housed into breed groups each within a large grass pen, at the moment we have two large sheds, a stable and four smaller poultry houses occupied.
As we only have an hour before work, we split the chores, my husband washes out all the drinkers and give the birds fresh water, whilst I let them out, top up the feeders, turn over the sawdust in the larger houses, collect any eggs and freshen up the nest boxes, all the time we are watching the birds to make sure they are all well.
Throughout the day the birds are checked on, eggs are collected, drinkers topped up if required etc. In the evenings the final eggs of the day are collected and once dark the birds are shut in for the night and we catch up any of the birds who need moving to a different house or to be penned for collection.
The houses are cleaned and the more time consuming jobs are done at the weekends.

Moving On

15/9/2017

Our first job on the top of the 'to do' list each weekend is to clean out all the poultry houses, once done we work through the never ending list of chores.As new more pressing jobs come along other less essential things get move down the list.This weekend we need to move all the birds 'along one'
Several growers in the nursery pen are now old enough to be moved to the yard, making room in the nursery pen for the bantam and her guinea fowl keets, who are desperate to free range. I was hoping to cut the grass in the pen before moving them in but today is wetter than I was expecting, so I'm not sure that will get done.

On Sunday several Exchequer Leghorns from this years breeding pen are being collected so we will bring those birds home from the yard on Saturday night and pen them ready for collection.
On Monday four of the older growers are off to a new home in South Wales so they too need to be penned ready.

The breeding group of quail have already gone and the young ones reserved to be collected next weekend.With the quail going a house and run has been freed up, this will now be used as a quarantine quarter for a trio of French Black Copper Maran pullets we are collecting on Saturday.

Sometimes moving the birds around is rather like a puzzle we had as a child where you had to move all the squares to the correct place to complete a picture.

Autumn Stock take - Birds for Sale

13/9/2017

Now I have broken up the breeding pens it's time to take stock.Sell any surplus young stock from this season, assess the birds I have in mind as replacements for the breeding pens next year and sell on some of the older birds from this seasons pens.
I really prefer to take the birds through the winter and assess them in early Spring but with the possibility of having to house the birds again this Winter I'm aware I need to keep my numbers down.

I have sold some of my Exchequer Leghorn hens and have a nice looking group ready to replace them.My next job is to sort through my Welsummer flock to make room for their replacements. Although in moult I'm happy to sell the Leghorns as I know they will come back into lay before too long.I'm more hesitant selling the Welsummer as once they've stopped laying that tends to be it until the following year. I'll see.
I may also sell on the 12+ month old layers earlier than usual as the new pullets have already started to lay and between them and my pure breed pullets I may have enough eggs to meet orders throughout the Winter months.

If you are interested in buying either this years young stock or some of my older birds who still have plenty of laying life ahead of them, please contact me.

Weekend Chores and Family History

11/9/2017

Sorry no blog entries over the weekend, the time just went. Weekends are generally taken up with cleaning out all the poultry houses, stocking up with feed and supplies for the week or so ahead plus all the other jobs that we never seem to complete. This weekend, top of the to do list was cutting the grass and hedge growth back from the electric fencing and sorting out and cleaning the feed store in readiness to commandeer for extra poultry housing over winter should lockdown be implemented again.

As some of you may know, my birds are split between two areas of land. All my chicks, growers, broody hens etc I keep at home where I can check on them regularly and give all the attention they need. The older growers, breeding groups and my laying flock are kept on an acre of land in the neighbouring village, which means just popping out for an hour or so to get the odd job done isn't so easy.

The land backs onto the house which was my husband's family home and where my eldest son now lives.You will often hear me refer to the land as either the platt or the yard. It has been in the family for over 100 years.The 'yard' is the buildings etc for the family's building business, the platt the paddock which was originally used for the work horses, at a time when the work vehicle was a pony and trap.
Over the years and generations, livestock of all description - poultry, sheep, pigs, donkeys, ponies have been kept and the land and housing adapted accordingly but at the same time staying much the same.

Be prepared

8/9/2017

Today it is wet, windy and thoroughly miserable out - dark too.Frustratingly the forecast for the weekend is more of the same.Frustrating because we had planned to (and probably will still do so) clear out the feed store, which is part of an open fronted shed attached to the stable.
With the very likelihood of lockdown being imposed on the poultry again this winter, in an attempt to reduce the risk of avian flu, we are looking ahead for suitable housing for the poultry.If we empty the feed store, white wash the walls, creosote the woodwork and make a few adaptations we will have extra spacious and airy housing if needed.
We have also purchased another 6mx 3m polytunnel as last year the polytunnel proved to be ideal housing for the Exchequer Leghorn flock.
Already DEFRA are reminding us of the biosecurity measures we should have in place. They have also recommended everyone signs up to receive 'alerts' / news of the current situation.

Day 1 of Blog challenge - Guinea Fowl and Broody Hens

7/9/2017

Two weeks ago the quail eggs in the small incubator hatched.It was supposed to be my last hatch of the year and in a way it was as the incubators have been switched off and the breeding pens have been broken up for the winter.However since then two hens have gone broody, the frizzle Pekin and the Goldtop, Both have raised a brood already this year but I know from experience even if I manage to 'break' them this time, in a couple of weeks they will be broody again.So last night I set the Pekin on eleven Guinea Fowl eggs To be honest I'm not expecting great results, the eggs are from the lad next door, his birds are quite young and I haven't seen the male Guinea Fowl treading the hens but we have nothing to loose.

Guinea Fowl are new to me, I've not kept them before but earlier this year I was given some fertile eggs. They were from a mix flock of Guineas or Gleanies as they are referred to locally who were free to range on a small holding.
I split the eggs between the incubator and a broody hen, fertility was low but hatch rate was 100% and I ended up with thirteen keets. I managed to foster all the keets onto the hen and she has done an amazing job rearing them.
I love them, completely taken with them.They are so different to chicks, they move en masse, always together as a group, what one does they all do and they grow so fast, almost as quick as quail.
For now they are in an ark and run with the hen but this weekend I plan to let them free range the nursery pen. We intend to keep some of the keets as a future breeding flock.
What to do with the broody Goldtop, I haven't yet decided.

I have posted several short video clips of the Guinea Fowl keets on my youtube channel

Challenges

6/9/2017

A few years ago, when blogging was all the rage I posted on a blog almost daily recording the day to day activities of our 'small holding / self sufficient' life but with the increasing popularity of Facebook and the ease of posting on there I'm afraid I lapsed somewhat. Recently I have been reading over a few of the entries and it has been good to look back, so yet once more I have challenged myself to write a short post daily.
With the strong probability of having to keep the poultry under DEFRA restrictions again this winter due to the threat of Avian Flu it will be interesting to record and share our experience.

So here it is my personal challenge.

If you would like to look back at my old blogs the links are below
A Year in the Life of Annie
Bellecross Hens