A few photos to enjoy.
Already this year I am on my 4th incubator hatch, hatching chicks to meet orders placed at the end of last year / early this year. Today however we had the first chicks of the year hatch under a broody hen, Such a lovely sight and very much my preferred way to raise the next generation of birds. All 8 eggs hatched - 7 Welsummer chicks and 1 little Maran X ( due to a mix up in egg identity ).
A few photos to enjoy.
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April has arrived and with it slightly warmer and occasionally drier days. Chicks are filling every available space as I hatch to meet orders placed for POL hens. I have been concentrating on Light Sussex and Exchequer Leghorns but must now turn my attention to the Welsummer.
At last I have a broody hen - my preferred way of hatching and rearing young chicks, even though it does mean smaller numbers at any one time,- she is my faithful Indian Game, a very experienced and extremely reliable hen , 'mother' to many chicks and turkey poults over the years. The drier days have enabled us to catch up on a few of the long overdue jobs. We have finally cut the border hedges and burnt the brash, saving the larger wood for next winter's fuel. the 'lawn' at home has had it's first cut and the garden is filling with colour as the spring flowers come into bloom.. A few more weeks and the chicks / growers will be able to go outside and grow strong with the fresh air and sunshine (hopefully) on their backs. Now fertility etc has been thoroughly tested on the Light Sussex and Exchequer Leghorn I can offer hatching eggs for sale and hopefully soon chicks and growers. I already have young cockerels of both breeds available. For me this is the best, if busiest time of year. I never tire at the excitement and apprehension of hatching eggs.and rearing chicks March already, so much for me writing at least one post a month. February seems to have come and gone unnoticed whilst all focus was on the daily struggle created by the endless storms. However we are now entering the second week of March, the winds have died down and the forecast is for a few dry days. Today the sun is out, it is even quite warm, the daffodils, crocuses and primroses have made an appearance, the snowdrops have been and gone, nature is on course. The first chicks of the season are now 5 weeks old, they are fully feathered and ready to be moved out of the brooder to a larger area - the stable. At 2 weeks of age the second hatch are thriving and before we know it they too will be ready to move on. As I type the incubator is heating up ready for the next set of eggs to go in on Sunday.Soon hopefully it will be replaced by broody hens.
Already we are coming to the end of the first week of the New Year - 2014. A week of storms - gale force winds, torrential rain, hail, thunder and lightening and worst of all floods.The bad weather began just before Christmas and so far there appears to be no let up. Unlike many we have been very fortunate and suffered little damage. The road to the village where we keep most of our birds has flooded at the time of the high tides adding 10 miles to our journey each morning, a few branches have come down, other than that just the inconvenience of wet clothes, mud and not being able to 'get on' with the usual winter jobs of hedging , treating empty houses etc. My heart goes out to all those who have suffered so much more.
Despite the dreadful weather the birds are on track, most are now laying and the cockerels are treading the hens. At the weekend I am hoping to add a few Exchequer Leghorn eggs to the incubator as a test hatch. All the pullets are now at the yard and the spare young cockerels culled, so the growers pen at home is empty. It will be rested and the arks ( when they have eventually dried out) will be treated ready for this years youngsters.It is very strange not having any birds at home. Over the next few weeks i am hoping to add a few trees to some of the grass pens giving the birds extra shelter, shade, sense of security and in the Autumn fallen fruit to enjoy. For now though we will sit and ride out the storm hoping for better weather soon. Happy New Year . December is upon us already. Most of the hens have gone through the moult and are gradually coming back into lay. Only one Light Sussex is still leaving a trail of white feathers in her wake. All the hybrids are now laying and this year's pure breed pullets are just starting, so eggs are bountiful once more and selling well at the garden gate.
I am especially pleased with the eggs from the Cream Legbar pullets, a nice clear blue. I am still waiting to discover the egg colour of my new Bellecross Belles, hopefully they will be a crisp green to olive not a muddy brown ( a colour familar to all who have painted with young children who love to mix all available colours together.) The pens are holding up well, with plenty of grass cover and little to no mud, thanks to the free draining ground. As the numbers of growers decline through sales, the pens are rested and the empty houses scrubbed and creosoted ready for next year. This year is the first for many we haven't raised turkeys for Christmas.It is strange not having them parading about the place but time wise it was a good call ,maybe will do them again another year. Oh yes and guess who's broody........my faithful Indian Game. Each morning she dashes from the house, shovels down a beakful of food, a gulp of water and then settles for the day on the straw in the feed store. Each night she is returned to house and placed on the perch to roost, only for it all to be repeated the following day.......and for those of you who know me - yes I am very tempted ;-) Just over a week ago we took the biggest loss to our birds in all the years we have kept them. A stray dog somehow managed to get into one of the paddocks where two of the flocks free range. The sight we were greeted with was one of complete devastation - dead birds and feathers everywhere. At first there didn't appear to be one bird alive of the 50+ we had fed and checked on just a couple of hours earlier. The silience was deafening. After the grim task of collecting the bodies, we counted 17 dead, another 3 had to be culled they were so badly injured, all the remaining birds were missing. Remarkably over the following few days all but one of the missing birds gradually emerged from their hiding places. Despite looking rather shell shocked and very nervous they had survived, amongst them a couple of my favourite, old faithfuls. A week on and they are starting to look more relaxed but the paddock seems very empty. The task of rebuilding the numbers, (rather than replacing the birds) has already started thanks to the great kindess of a friend, who has set me up with a breeding quartet of Light Sussex. His birds are of amazing quailty, large birds, beautifully marked and excellent layers. Sadly the Light Sussex hens I had hatched from his birds previously were amongst the dead. I now however have a lovely small flock of my own to breed from. Photo: Light Sussex breeding group. The hens are 2 years old and at present in moult, by Spring 2014 they will be in perfect condition for breeding Photo: As a late 2013 hatch the young cockerel is already a stunner by Spring to 2014 he will be even more striking
It seems appropriate that my first post on this, my new website should be about a new venture. A venture into the world of hybrids. In the past I have always championed the traditional breeds of poultry, believing it important to maintain the various gene pools, to keep to breed standards yet preserve their purpose - be it egg laying or meat production.
This weekend, however I became the proud owner of a small flock of brown hybrid layers. I had considered long and hard before making the decision to buy in pol hens, as for the past few years I have maintained a closed flock. Not only were they to be brought in but they were also vaccinated, but with my list of regular customers for fresh eggs growing and my own birds going off lay during their moult it made commerical / financial sense. Before ordering the birds, I researched into different breeders, bought a lovely new shed and fenced an area of the paddock, away from my established flock. On Saturday they arrived bright eyed, healthy, alert and in super feather condition. They had been litter reared but will now free range. On arrival we left them in the shed with food and water. After a couple of hours we opened the pop hole and one by one over the afternoon they ventured out but stayed close to the shelter / safety of the hedge. At first they were reluctant to step onto the grass, it wasn't long however before they started to peck at it and decided it was good to eat. They were nervous of anything flying overhead and on each occassion darted back to the safety of their house. At dusk natural instinct kicked in and many of the birds flew into the trees to roost, as impressed as I am on how strong natural instinct is, getting birds down from trees in the dark and wet is losing it's appeal. However by the end of the week they will, hopefully see the shed as their home and roost there at night instead and possibly within the next few weeks start to lay. I do have a few of these birds for sale - see my 'Sale' page for further details A warm welcome to all my new readers. To any who have followed me from the old blog - Thank You and I hope you like my new site.
I will try to post on a regular basis keeping you up to date on all the comings and goings at Bellecross Hens. For anyone who may be interested - links to my old blogs Bellecross Hens A Year in the Life of Annie |