Mother Nature can be cruel

What a bad choice of day to hatch :(
This morning whilst breaking the Ice on the Pond I noticed the Ducks were watching something in the reeds so were the Chickens.

It was the Hen Morhen trying to lead four newly hatched chicks to the East end of the pond and they were struggling terribly over the frosted ground it was bitterly cold - really not a day to hatch anything.

I think in all probability my movements triggered the evacuation of the nest which for some odd reason the Hen made at the 'busy' end of the Pond.

Not a clever move and nothing we could have done to prevent the inevitable.

It had just four eggs in it for a while but she was rarely sitting on it and I thought due to the cold she had long since abandoned it but clearly not. so this is how events unfolded. and these were taken from the other side of the pond whilst shivering so not the best!

This is what the Ducks were fascinated by.

But so were the Chickens, Morehen to the Rescue but perhaps too late one had already had a peck I think

 She was quite able to face off Snowdrop or whatever we have called her.

 The Chicks followed her calls

 

 The Ducks actually provided an escort

 
 Others came to watch

 

But they just didn't have much of a fighting chance these two I later found dying in a hollow after lasting about an hour in the freezing conditions. Sadly the Hen Morhen didn't try and brood them out in the open which may have saved them.

  

 

 I checked the nest was empty just in case as the Ducks were very interested in it.

 They tested it for size but it collapsed later

 
 Even Duck Norris had a go!

So there might still be two little Morhen Chicks out there but I doubt it, we had three broods of Morhens last year so plenty of time for them to have another go.

Broody Duck

I found Jemima, the one on the header above, in the nest box of the chicken coop we put in the corner of the barn to give the chickens (especially the Marans whose home it first was) another place to lay. Jemima is a large duck and the only way she fitted, and it was a squeeze, was to get rid of all the straw. I retrieved the egg later, we really don't need any more ducks right now. I thought the Marans, Sooty and Dusty, might start laying in their old home but no, instead two of the ex-batts, Gladys and Gen. Lee, tried to avoid detection and sleep in there tonight while Pecky was hiding in the nest on the straw bales.

Here's Sooty enjoying a bit of sunshine today. It has been really cold and all the chickens have spent a lot of time up in the barn. Snowy was seen sunning herself under a berberis bush by the pond sheltered from the wind.
If you are wondering, it's a feeder on the end of the chain with a couple of bits of celery to peck at, not that they do, it's not a very popular vegetable. Apples are good, occasionally carrots but not much that's green.

At the weekend the greenhouse moved into the garden proper, underneath what is now a pom-pom Lleylandi. It reminds me of those parasol shades you see on tropical beaches. There were several trunks that had to be cut down, one is a corner post for the greenhouse and two more are going to be used to put a seat on.
I already have my strawberry plants in the greenhouse along with my Lily bulbs and the Pineapple lily bulbs that had self seeded into the slabs of the last base.
Found a couple of ponies eating the lawn at lunchtime today. Somehow they had managed to escape through the door by the shelter. Lawn is nicely mown now, that's their purpose after all!

The Splash Orpington

The eggs in the Incubator (the model is an an Rcom Suro) are from a breed called 'Splash Orpington'

We bought them from a local hobby breeder who has a web site here
Keri Aiken - Missys Poultry Shropshire

When Alden and I went to collect the eggs Keri showed us her White Orpingtons and around the foaling station where she lives.

We saw several new born Foals a couple, only days old, Alden really enjoyed it.

And I have just stumbled across this Orpington breeders web site which is absolutely nothing to do with me!

Keiths Orpington Poultry

So maybe if we make a success of this first attempt in 21 days we will have some like these eventually.

c

Eating eggs and hatching eggs

Firstly, last weeks egg count -
Ex-batts - 2
Barnvelders - 1
Marans - 0
Hybrids - 2
And finally the ducks - 18 WOW!!

Most of the chicken eggs have been found in the straw bales in the 'Barn', Snowdrop especially laid her two there. The ducks have been amazing this week, today we had four eggs and a collapsed paper thin shelled one (which isn't included in the count). One of the ducks is going broody, she is hiding her eggs in the Barn.

Keith bought an egg incubator last week, and today he and Alden went and collected ten eggs which should hatch into Speckled Orpingtons. Of course, there's no guarantee how many hens or how many cockerels there will be. I wiped them over with disinfectant to remove any bacteria, and kept them pointed end down. Keith and Alden readied the incubator so that the temperature and humidity were right. Alden is keeping a calender so he knows when to check them and turn things off. We candled them with a torch and a peice of cardboard with a hole in it, one of them did not look quite right, so that one hasn't gone in. If one is cracked it will go rotten and that spreads bacteria to the other eggs because their shells are so porous, and they will die too. So being novices it was decided not to risk it. Hatching day is Easter Saturday, so real Easter chicks! Thats always assuming nothing goes wrong.
One day of rain on Thursday and the field has returned to a quagmire. One thing about all the rain, it drove the chickens into their shed early and now they are all in before the automatic door shuts - the same cannot be said for the ducks who occasionally need rescuing.

A First!

Wednesday 06/03/2013 has been a first!

On checking the shed this morning after letting them out we had 5 eggs!
That is the first time all five of the female Ducks each laid an egg. 

Now I wonder how long will it be before we get 11 Chicken eggs in one day...

Moving Day, except for the Eeeeeeeeeep.

We moved the chickens from the veg plot on Sunday. Alden helped me take the coops out, clean them and hide them by the garage. The chickens were quite slow to leave the safety of the veg plot on Saturday but braver on Sunday, venturing into the run and some going down to the pond. It was 'interesting' getting them all in the run at bedtime, the ducks are scared of them and the chickens were confused except the original

ones,who were not happy at their home being invaded.

 Last night I had to evict one of the Marans from the ducks shed, she had settled down comfortably in one corner and the ducks were all huddled in the other, keeping as far away from her as possible. With claws, beaks, wings and feathers flying, I managed to catch her by the legs which resulted in her hanging upside down for a few seconds. She was very calm after that, and securely tucked under my arm, she was relocated to the hen house.

This is the ponies new shelter. When we moved in it was an outside bar complete with optics and pumps and a few beer barrels. Then we used it as a wood store but it seemed obvious that it would make an ideal shelter for Bouncer and Pixie. So theres Bouncer eating from the hay rack in the corner, and there is a water supply in the chalet next to it.
The weekend was spent incorporating it into the fields fencing and cleaning it up.

Theres Keiths two Marans, pecking around on the platform where the greenhouse used to be, keeping a wary eye on Gladys who doesn't stand any nonsense from any of the new girls.

We have only had two chicken eggs so far this week, both ex-batt. The ducks are doing well, eight! Jemima may be getting broody, she's eating a lot and keeping away from the others. The Moorhens have a nest with four eggs in it but don't seem to be guarding or sitting on it, wonder if it has been abandoned.

We are taking down this rather large conifer that has started to sprawl and fall apart. It was a lovely tree but now far too big, there's a whole rabbit warren under there. The main trunk will be left as an end for the washing line and the space is where the greenhouse will be.

We wormed the sheep yesterday, (Monday) by mixing it in their sugar beet breakfast. They look happy today so cannot have done anything too wrong. They are growing fast.

Total eggs this week

Since last Saturday this is the eggs our birdies have given us -
Ex-batts -5
Barnvelders - 9 Well done girls
Marans - 2
Hybrids - 0 Must do better
Ducks - 6
Total = 22 eggs!
Yesterday the ducks provided three eggs, so there must be three ducks out of five laying. One of the eggs had a blue tinge, the others were white, or they were once they were cleaned up. So apart from the omelet's, a delicious boiled duck egg sandwich and fried eggs with the sausage and chips for dinner the other night, I've made David a VERY chocolaty birthday cake with three duck eggs and there's still enough for the weekends scrambled egg on toast. Mmmm, Heaven.
Alden put the chickens to bed tonight, he managed to pick up Snowdrop on the third attempt after a face full of wing feathers. They know about meal worms now and are waiting at the gate for the afternoon feed of mixed grain.
The automatic doors on the sheds are working well. I was out a bit early this morning, in time to see them opening. There were three beaks poking out underneath the door of the chicken shed but the ducks door was a bit ahead so they had breakfast first.
Gave the duck shed a good scrubbing today and put down wood shavings instead of straw to see if that keeps them a bit cleaner and less smelly. It works for the chickens.