We Have Chicks

But we cheated, yep the 1st batch of eggs that were in the borrowed incubator didnt hatch, and the kids were sooooo dissapointed. I took them with me to "merrydales" in Enderberry, (a lovely, friendly place which you can visit here.... http://www.merrydalepoultry.co.uk/ ) to get some grit, oh boy what a mistake to take them with me, as Merrydales had day old chicks for sale! well my daughter Paige and my son Connor just fell in love with them and literary begged me to get some!!! so we ended up with the minimum that you can buy which was 4. I really shouldnt have but what do you do when you see your kids sooooo happy...lol... ok ok yep It didnt take much persuading..hahaha.

One of the chicks is a beautiful yellow,, just like you see them on the TV, he/she is a lemon cuckoo pekin, and Paige has namned it "Buttercup", the other we yet have to name, and to be honest forgot what they are...oopps! All we have to wish for now is that they arent Cockerals!!!! just my look for them all to be..hahaha. Below are some pics of them in our brooder set up, which is by the way a hamster cage.

Another incubator...lol... am i addicted???

I visted a poultry place near me and they said that eggs had to be at a temperature 0f 37c well the borrowed incubator was set at 35.6 so ooooops was tlold they might not hatch but to leave them longer and see. Soooooo i went on ebay and brought a "Forced air incubator" which is really cheap (just £21 +P&P) and people have said it works, ive pinched the picture of it for now till i get my camera out.here it is

You can find them on ebay here....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Forced-Air-Incubator-hatching-eggs_W0QQitemZ270364592629QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Pet_Supplies_Poultry?hash=item270364592629&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1686%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

I have put 2 "Blue lace pekins" and 2 "Lemon Pekins" in there and have made sure its 37C...lol so watch this space and see if i have any success ;)

I thought I had a BROODY hen!

I thought I had a broody hen as she seem to just be on the nest all the time, so I thought hmmmm i will get her some eggs to sit on, so I ordered some fertile eggs they are"Pekin Batams" from ebay, anyway I jumped the gun far tooooo quick because apparently she wasnt broody :( so I was left with fertile eggs and no broody hen! Well my friend shaun came to the rescue with his friends incubator, The eggs went in to the incubator last thursday being the 19th, so hopefuully they will hatch by the 8th of April. Below is a pic of the eggs in the incubator.

2 New Hens

On Friday the 13th I brought 2 new hens, we called them "Macey & Lacey". Macey is the brown one and Lacey is the Grey one. Im not sure what breed they are, I think Lacey is a "Maran" and Macey is a "Welsummer" here are a couple of pics of them....

The coldest February for a decade

Well This February has been the coldest in 10yrs!, we have had quite a bit of snow too. the ponds have been frozen over for most of the month and I think the chickens are fed up with the snow too. The bird feeders have been emptying pretty fast, and have had daily visits from the Long tail tits amongst the regulars. Yesterday being the 18th Feb I took a look around the garden as all the snow had gone :) and i noticed the snowdrops are just starting to flower, which is quite later than the last few years. I have set some seeds in the plastic octangle greenhouse, they are tomatoes,raddish, global artichokes,coz lettuce, broadbeans and peas.Hopfully not sown them too early, but couldntn wait.Im fed up of eating shop brought dalad and veg, this year i hope to grow enough to last the winter too ;)

SAD DAY TODAY

Today we lost "Dolly" the Hen, remember the one that had all her tail feathers pecked out, well she managed to grow more but was never a really healthy hen even though i tried everything i could. 2 days ago i noticed she was very fluffed up and wasnt sure if it was the very cold weather we were having, anyway yesterday she was just standing on the coup floor all on her owwn fluffed up and didnt even flinch when i picked her up, she just kept shutting her eyes, so i put her in the dog crate i have with some hay and food and brought her in home, hoping the warm would help her, but sadley it didnt and today she died :(

Happy New Year

Well the start to the new year has been very cold... as cold as -12 in some places of the UK, Not sure if the chickens are happy about it as 2 of them are almost oven ready with their moult, What a silly time of year to moult!! Mind you Molly is being a real pain by keep pecking what feathers they have out! So im having the run extended the other side so I can seperate her until she gets out of the habbit. Im still getting atleast 3 eggs a day though so thats really good. The Rabbit is enjoying hiself with them too only i think hes feed up with them pinching his food..lol. Not much happening in the greenhouse, I have got some seeds ready to sow but waiing till it warms up a bit. My garden seems to be looking a bit tatty this winter not sure if its cause the chickens ran riot around it in the Autumn. Looks like a couple ofr magpies have started their nest building in next door but ones garden. The usually birds are flocking in too for their daily meals.