First Incubation Starts

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2014 First Chicken IncubationFinally it’s the time of year when we can begin our first incubation of hen’s eggs. As our large fowl Light Sussex flock is the thinnest on the ground, with only Daisy and Charles left, it was time to begin with Daisy’s eggs. We’re using the Brinsea Octagon 20 Eco incubator with an auto-turn cradle. This model doesn’t regulate the temperature digitally, nor does it control the humidity. However, we’re going to keep the mercury thermometer in the incubator at around 37.5 Celcius, fill one of the water channels as described in the manual, and close the ventilation hole by one third (so two-thirds open). When we’ve reached day nineteen we’ll candle the eggs – any still clear will be discarded, any solid will, in theory, have a chick developing inside. 2014 First Chicken Incubation

We’ve set eight of Daisy’s eggs – so eight Light Sussex, and to make the numbers up we’ve also placed in eight Derbyshire Redcaps and ten random Bantam eggs from neighbours. The idea is to check the water levels every three days and top up if necessary. Daily we’ll keep an eye on the temperature and alter the little red dial as needed. Fingers crossed!

Barty Update

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Well – two weeks on from his last trip to the vet and Barty shows no sign of improvement, but neither has he worsened. He’s happily wombling around with his flock, wobbling like a goose after one too many, eating, drinking, and (not very successfully) preening. So off we went to the vet again, to see of the antibiotic route would work.

Being nigh on impossible to catch, we had the great idea to pounce first thing, before they had time to leave their house. The dog crate at the ready, we covered their doorway with it already opened, to catch them one at a time as they leapt out of bed. Of course, geese being geese, they had their own agenda, which didn’t quite dovetail with our own plan. Both Harold and Barty, being real ‘men’, launched out of the house in unison first, to check the coast was clear before Lucy and Fliss came out. No time to think, we shut the house door behind them, slammed the cage door shut, and we all spent a few seconds staring at each other – us at two ganders in the crate, them perplexed by this strange forcefield surrounding them. No chance we were risking Harold escaping, they were both going for a road-trip to the vets. Hoisted on to the waiting Barty-mobile, we trundled up the Patch path and wended our merry way to Mike, the tame vet. One look at Barty, a quick check over, and whilst I clamped his wriggling neck, Mike jabbed him and that was that. From the honking and squawking on their return procession to the Patch, you would have thought they’d been gone for weeks, not an hour!

Let’s see how he fairs after this.

Barty Update

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Well – the results have come back from the vets for Barty’s poop samples. Under the microscope no eggs could be seen, so we asked for a separation test to be done, where the poop is separated into its various components, each rising to its own level. It’s more costly and takes more time, but we care about our Barty, even if he can be a bit of a grump at times (can’t we all?!).

The vet gave us the all clear – no eggs or anything untoward found in the poop samples. This leaves us with two options – wait and see if he gets better by himself. If it’s something like an inner ear infection then that may happen. If it’s something affecting his brain, then we’re unsure. The only problem is that most head problems can only be diagnosed using equipment such as an MRI scanner – clearly not going to happen – or once the animal has died – bit early for that, Barty wouldn’t approve of that method. So we’re going to wait for a week or so, and in the meantime we’ll put all four geese back together again, to make him happier in his little flock. He does seem a bit werrity if parted from them, if I’m honest.

If he’s still wobbly after a week or so then we can try the antibiotic route, in case it’s a bacterial infection. Fingers (and wings) crossed.

Wobbly Barty

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For around a week now we’ve noticed Barty has been a bit unsure on his feet. This video shows it off better than I can describe it, which is essentially drunk. He’s not showing signs of tiredness, or lethargy. He’s eating and drinking as usual, but he was getting quite stressed having the two young geese (Harold and Fliss) the other side of the sheep netting. So whilst we’re waiting for the results of poop tests, we’ve put them all together again as he seems happier and eats more that way. We figure that as they’ve only just been split up for the breeding season, to put them together again doesn’t really put them all in danger of catching whatever he has as if it’s contagious then the likelihood is they’ve already been exposed to it.

Barty a Bit Off

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Barty MobileYesterday we noticed Barty was a bit down in the beak – wobbling and not steady on his feet. He’s eating and drinking, but with past experience we decided to get him to the vet quickly. Once there he had a quick once over, and his poop samples handed over for worm egg tests. I’d be surprised if it were worms as the flock only had their panacur five weeks ago, but better safe than sorry. Of course, carrying an angry goose several hundred meters will no doubt end in some decent scars, so roll out the new Barty-mobile. Talk about stylish!

Two New Merrybowerites

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As so often happens here, we don’t so much as choose an animal as it chooses us. I happened to call in on some friends, Pete and Rob, this morning, to chat about incubators and geese as you do, when as I left Rob asked if I’d like to see his new William and LilyRhode Island Red hens he’ll be breeding from this year. Always keen to have a gander I followed him out to the array of pens. Lovely looking things, but it turned out Rob had decided to concentrate on the RIRs and his escapologist flock of Derbyshire Red Caps, so did I know anyone who would like three Andalusian pullets and a Light Sussex bantam? Needless to say, 10 minutes later ‘Freebie’ was acquainted with William and her new flock 🙂

The second newcomer is called Velveteen. Suz’s not so sure, but I think we first met Velveteen last spring, when we noticed a hare or rabbit had been nibbling the orchard tree trunks. Once the allotment had been sown with peas and beans, her diet moved from tree to green shoots. Later it progressed to sunflower seedlings, around 30 of them to be precise, half our sunflower bed! We tried a few things including electric wire (she bounced through it), so resorted to wiring over every new seedling – not a quick task. Every year seemed to throw something new at us – the year previous was slugs, before that white fly, before that rats, before that pigeons. Add to the mix voles, moles, green fly, black fly and saw fly, it was a surprise rabbits hadn’t appeared before! In fact it wasn’t really a surprise – this side of the canal bridge we tend not to get rabbits. They seem to prefer the hill side to the north, not the wet lowlands here. We do get hares, hence the outlay 20140114-131009.jpgon hare guards for the orchard trees, but we’d removed those this year as we’d seen none come through the fencing. However, No.1 cottage has been empty for over a year, and the garden which had previously been patrolled by Pete’s spaniels, Lady and Darling, was now the only open gateway to our patch, unguarded as it was. A few weeks ago we’d noticed the return of Velveteen, hanging around ‘the barn’ (a shed but I have delusions of grandeur) chewing dead asparagus leaves and grass. Two days ago I walked towards her, but she just looked at me, chewing. I moved closer, about 10ft distant, and she plodded a few yards away, to continue munching her mouthful. This continued for five more minutes, each time I managed to get closer. Eventually I was within arm’s reach, holding out my mobile phone, recording proof that I was, indeed, the new Rabbit Whisperer. Kudos was mine that evening when I showed off the video to the family if me chasing a wild rabbit around the allotment. Yesterday she was back, same place, but this time Suz had placed a bowl of carrots down, and Velveteen was happily munching her way through them. I herded her into the bantam enclosure, only for her to escape whilst I grabbed a quick breakfast. This afternoon she was back (more bait was down) and both Suz and I managed to finally capture the wild rabbit of Merrybower. But, as Suz had suspected, and the ability to drink from a bottle drinker confirmed, Velveteen was, in all probability, a stray domestic rabbit. Her coat was beautiful, big brown eyes, and a penchant for being tickled on her cheeks. So here she is now in Penny’s spare dog-crate, awaiting a visit to the vets before deciding if we can keep her (or him), though I suspect there’s no question really. And I’m also glad that the new rabbit explosion this side of the canal has been dealt with, and I can go back to worrying about pigeons, and slugs, and various flies…

 

 

New Fencing

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Wanting to bring the chickens closer to the house over winter, we decided to make some chicken/duck proof paddocks at the back of the cottages, using weldmesh fencing. At the moment we have a partially temporary hard surface running along the paddocks, but we’ll lay a blue brick path to join the two areas that are already bricked, to help cut down on the mud-trunching in the winter!

Come spring we’ll seed the bare patches. The blue brick path will be laid where there are currently temporary yellow slabs, and the top soil we’ll remove from there will be added to one of the paddocks where the five-bar gate is, as the ground has a low spot which holds water in winter time.

 

Paddock Fencing NorthwardsPaddock Fencing North Eastwards Paddock Fencing Southwards Paddock Fencing Northwards Close

Sunrise over Chook Paddock

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A random shot of the sunrise over the large fowl paddock, showing off their posh new coop 🙂Sunrise over Paddock

New Coop!

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We haven’t totally escaped the storms of 2013 – the recent strong winds destroyed our two Doodle Coops. We managed to cobble the pieces left into one workable coop, though it needed a few screws to keep it together. It’s nowhere near large enough for our large birds, but it’ll do as a broody coop or hospital coop.

The answer? Well, I personally like plastic coops – less trouble with red mite, easier to clean, less sticking in winter when wooden coops can swell. The goose houses and field shelters we have from Green Frog Design are excellent – well made, solid and very easy to clean. I also like their chicken arks, but the big problem is they have no run option for their coops. Part of our promise to ourselves is to try and get the odd day off every now and again, and the option to be able to come back after sundown and not worry about the birds would be lovely. To that end we decided to invest in an Eglu Cube, with an extended run. The run will hardly ever be used – it’s merely an option for when we want to be back late. At the moment it’s probably large enough for four birds, using the square yard per bird equation. We could actually do with another two extension pieces, but we’ll see how this goes for now before investing any more in it. I have to say, having built it, it’s nice and solid, and well thought through. It’s not as easy to clean as a Green Frog ark would be, as they use flat plastic sheeting, but it’s certainly a lot easier to move (as you can see) and very self-contained. It’s the only coop on the market, mass-produced, that has the anti-dig mesh skirt around the run. Believe me, we looked at so many options before deciding on this purchase, I’m not one to jump in to buying something. Let’s hope the chickens like it as much!

Update – New Merrybower Plan Drawing

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Acre Field 2013-10As things get a bit busier here, with more animals having arrived, winter setting  in, and a bit more land being given over to the growing of things, it was time to make a new acre field layout. On it there are some indications of future events (bees, raised herb garden, paths), but for me the most important is the movement of the various animals throughout the year. Next year will hopefully see us begin the task of breeding our Pilgrim Geese, large Light Sussex pure breed and bantam Light Sussex pure breed. This means clean ground, and careful rotation of animals. There are also the three call ducks to fit in somewhere!

To this end we are removing some fencing, adding more poultry-proof fencing (note: bantams and ducks laugh in the face of sheep-netting, just before they pop right on through it) and adding some smaller gates to make it easier to move to the acre field when the ground is wet. There is also the plan for a new path to the main patch, though unfortunately this won’t happen until the new year, so one more year of mud is forecast. Then there is the need to bring the animals as close to the cottage as possible, making feeding and watering an easier chore, but also making it easier to keep an eye on them. I think we may have cracked the barebones of a plan, but no doubt there will be tweaking. In theory we will have enough space to breed two pairs of geese, the large and bantam flocks, and keep most of them near in winter. Plus the various pieces of ground will get a break between grazing.

We also keep a record sheet of the trees planted in the orchard, and I’m going to now publish this on the website, to make it easier for me when I’m down the patch and can’t remember which is which! To have a look at both of these documents, visit the new page on the website – you can see the link at the top of the page, or click here!