Let it snow! let it snow!

Yesterday morning we awoke to about 3 inches of snow here in South Lincs!!!! out I went to a garden full of very quizzical faces? apart from my big laying girls the others little guys had never seen snow, Bokky's remaining 3 chicks refused to venture out of their little house and when I let the ducks out..........Well see for yourself?????

I hate this weather!

This weekend i decided to make the duck pond bigger! The weather had other ideas though. (Hubby poorly so i wouldnt let him help)

dug the pond out twice as big as it was! ducks all around me waiting for worms to be thrown! emptied out the old plastic liner with really stinky water in onto the veg patch! cue all ducks having a mud diving competition, whilst their pond was empty i filled a kiddies paddling pool for them to have a play in! so................................. just how many muscovies can you get in there?????

Then the liner went in on Sunday!.......cue more heavy rain! pond was filled.........more rain

I roll up my jeans take off wellies and wade in rather than risking sliding into the pond from the edge whilst setting the stones around the edge!

By this point i was muddy anyway so i rolled my sleeves up and started slapping mud around between the stones etc.

Hubby nearly died when he saw the state of me coming through the conservatory. had to jump straight into the shower.

Rushed back to see what they thought of their new pond and this is what i found...........................?

ungrateful little toads!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

anyway it still needs the turf and gravel around the but got home from work today and this was the scene

Im happy now!!

Really excited as me and my little girl are off to the National poultry show in stoneleigh on Sunday. and the 2 muscovy girls are going to live with a dear freind in Bristol too

Hubby had banned me from buying anything else feathered or furred???? Will just have to hatch me some more next year!

November

Its mud, mud, mud here! we have just got back from eurodisney with the kiddies and it seems it has done nothing but rain, rain, rain! Our neighbour did a fantastic job whilst we were away. I was dreading leaving them all, worried something would happen, but all is well.

Been getting used to our new camera, hence the date being wrong? (as i dropped the last one!) so got a few pics of the guys that actually enjoy all this mud and rain.

Little Gracie.

My lovely boy Victor! showing off his little tail curl

Little Dib and Dab the khakis! Dib is the one with the white chest and is a little boy! He is off to live with a lovely couple from yorkshire soon, where he has two wives waiting for him! He is a lovely boy (although not a khaki!) but i just have too many drakes.

Gracie (front) and Lily!

and not forgetting Pato, Gracie and Lily's husband

look how they've grown! the 3 little runners are not so little now!


Pinot! my beautiful silver dorking girl! hoping for white eggies any day now.

Tiny our only girlie quail we hatched who this week has also started laying lovely little eggs.

Dotty strutting her stuff

Cynthia knows she is beautiful!!!!!

October

Fantastic news!!!! we had our 1st blue egg laid by one of our araucana girls on Tuesday (and a 2nd yesterday)!! it is perfect and we are fighting over who gets to eat it, of course i am going to eat it as im the one trudging up the garden in my dressing gown and pink wellies every morning!



We are also down to our last 6 girls that are looking for new homes. 2 beautiful little brahma bantams 2 light sussex, a very pretty double laced barnevelder bantam and our last big girl the buff orpington, who is now POL, Bokky is still looking after her chicks even though they are 10 weeks old now, she hasnt had enough yet. My pretty little laced wyandottes cynthia and Dotty as well as my LF welsummer 'Summer', pheasant fowl 'Dixie' and my little banty salmon faverolle 'Foxy' are all POL too now so fingers crossed we will be getting lots more eggs before Christmas.

Some other news is Violet is actually a Victor!!?? so we have 2 very handsome cayuga boys wandering around the garden (Vic and Bob) will try and get them a girlie each next year perhaps?

September

It has been wonderful this year hearing from happy new hen owners who have bought my babies! one lovely couple came all the way from Yorkshire for, originally, 4 mixed wyandottes and light sussex and left with 6! have heard they are all settling in well. and a lady who came for 2 araucanas over a month ago is back tomorrow for 2 more.
My 3 little runner duckling are now nearly 4 weeks old and they follow bob and Violet, the cayugas, around the garden untill they have had enough and they let themselves into the conservatory (as i found out today when i heard the slap of duckling feet on the dining room floor!)
Still have a buff orpington hen who is currently 12 wks old and 2 gold laced, 2 buff laced and a blue laced wyandotte bantam available! aswell as 1 barnevelder bantam. the brahma bantams are gorgeous! it looks like we have 3 different colour variations but still not sure on their gender?

Where is the time going?

This month aswell as the welsummer bantams and the brahma bantams that have hatched, we had 3 little runner ducklings hatch! and my blackrock, Bokky went broody on the 14th August! (she is a hybrid who is not supposed to go broody!) she is now sitting on 5 khaki campbell duck eggs which which are renowned for being the best duck egg layers you can get! 18 days to go, but we have to turf her off the nest twice a day to eat and poop! but she is not happy about it and grumbles the whole time (and will attack if you get too close!) untill she is back on her eggs.

Bob and Violet the cayugas are growing well, they moved outside the other week as they sprayed dirty water all up my lounge curtains, so i knew they were ready.

here are lots of photos of all the lovely babies! Enjoy

The muscovies enjoying the pond in the sun!

The 3 new little runners having their 1st swim.

Some light sussex bantams.

Spot the duck?

The finished duck house with Ruby checking it out.

Bob and Violet off for a stroll! and to hunt down some mealy worms.

some very sweet bantam brahmas, plye and blue partridge


lots of little fluffies



A lovely buff orpington pullet



a little silver laced wyandotte bantam pullet

August

Its been very busy here lately. The new duck pond is finished and im half way through finishing the new duck house for my muscovies and cayuga babies! Lots of people have been phoning and emailing to reserve their babies for when they come off heat, but still have plenty left! lots of little cream and gold laced wyandottes, lovely little friendly chickens that actually lay quite a decent sized egg! Hatching today are some wonderful blue partridge and pyle Brahma bantams, and a couple of cream legbars too. and on Saturday my Welsummer bantams are due to hatch, these are special eggs as i bought them from Stuart Kay at the Heckington show last month!
Have just joined the East of England Poultry Club too so am hoping to enter some shows soon, very excited but nervous too.
My laying flock of 6 girlies are laying about 5 or 6 eggs a day at the moment, but i have so many customers now that im really hoping my dorkings and araucanas start laying soon to help boost egg numbers, as we arent actually getting to eat any eggs ourself at the moment! and it will be a few more months till my ducks start laying (if they are girls which it looks like they are)
Also have some runner duck eggs in the incubator (various colours) so if its ducks your after i may be able to help in a couple of weeks
Will update again once these eggs hatch! off to check on their progress

Its a girl.....and a boy!!!

Very quick update, I have managed to sex my 2 little cayugas! and we have a boy and a girl!
Now named.....Bob and Violet!!!

Is it really, nearly the end of July?? opppps! now work is finished for the school holidays i should be able to keep my blog updated!? We had our biggest hatch yet last week, 8 cream laced wyandottes, 8 gold laced wyandottes, 4 blue laced, 3 lavender pekins and 3 barnevelders! all bantams again.

Yesterday was a very special day as we hatched our 1st 2 ducklings!!

2 little cayuga babies, no names yet untill we are sure on the gender. and I have some chocolate and white muscovy ducks which we bought at about 5 days old, a lovely quite breed that will follow you around wagging their tails like a dog. hopfully we can hatch some of our own muscovies next year!

anyway back to chicks! there are plenty now un sexed and over the next few weeks should have some more coming off heat and be able to determine gender. I do have a couple of breeds such as the aruacanas and light sussex bantams that i have used 2 different breeders for eggs so could put together pairs or may have the odd trio!

Best to call to see whats ready! havent managed to get any to POL yet as people want them young, which is great as you end up with wonderfully tame birds (although I only hatch placid tame breeds anyway as i have 2 children who like to get involved! )

Bye for now!

Wow its been busy! loads of babies have gone off to their new homes! am now only left with 2 welsummer hens and a surprise pheasant fowl hen after all the aruacanas, buff orps and welsummer cockeral went! loads more coming through now though! lemon cuckoo pekins! black araucanas and due tomorrow are some more lavender araucanas, silver laced wyandotte bantams and light sussex and new hampshire red bantams! excitimg stuff! have 4 bantam salmon faverolle boys available 4 wks old! and possibly a blue laced wyandotte bantam boy too! will update in a few days when the next little ones hatch.

lots more babies!

my most recent batch was quite a small one (16th/17th June), only ended up with 9 hatching and 3 of those are off as day olds to their new home tomorrow! have a couple of buff orpingtons and pekins and 1 cream legbar which i am keeping! left in this batch!
The first batch are growing well! they are 3 and a half weeks old now! the 3 lavender araucanas are off to their new home at the end of June (which is when they will all be off heat) out of 4 welsummers we have 3 girls and 1 boy! I am keeping 1 girl so the others are available (lovely chocolate brown eggs) as are the 3 buff orpingtons (gender unknown)
Still waiting on the 2nd batch to show some signs of gender! unfortunatly wyandotte bantams are very hard to sex early, but the faverolles bantams should be showing signs soon! these little guys are 2 weeks old tomorrow!
next lot due 27th june little bantams and araucanas!
The new run is taking shape and hubby has just a week and a half to sort the shed ready for the first little ones to go in! when they move from the brooder!

Opppps!

Been so busy I have neglected my blog! a quick update though! we had our 2nd batch hatch on thursday 4th June, these were 3 blue/buff laced wyandotte bantams, 4 silver laced wyandotte bantams and 5 salmon faverolle bantams! all doing well and not much bigger than bumble bees! the dotties will probably be sexable at about 6-8 wks but the favs only about 2 wks! I am keeping at least 2 of the favs as the eggs were given to me by a friend, but i cant keep them all so will have a few spare! The 1st batch are growing well and 3 araucana chicks are off to their new home in just a few weeks time! looks like I have 3 girl welsummers and 1 boy! but give it a couple more weeks to be sure!
Due on 16th june are 5 lavender araucanas (4 sold) 2 orpingtons, 3 millifluer pekin bantams and 4 cream legbars (lovely big blue eggs) and just gone into the incubator are some more araucanas (black and lavenders) as they are proving so popular! and loads of dutch bantams and lemon cuckoo pekin bantams and belgium d'anvers! phewwww!!!! off to check on the babies now.

Debbie

More chick pics!

just a few more cute chickie pics!!

12 bouncing babies

Well out of the 15 eggs in the incubator we had a total of 12 hatch! some already have new homes to go to in a few weeks.
The next batch will be bantams
the 3rd batch went in yesterday we have:
4 cream legbars (blue egg layers)
8 x lavender araucanas (blue egg layers) 4 already sold!!!
6 millefluer pekin bantams (lovely feathering and very adorable pets)
and a few more orpingtons (buff and gold laced)
Forgive me for not updating loads, its just very busy at the moment!!!!!

Debbie

9 down 6 to go

well as of this morning we have, 3 welsummer chicks, 4 lavender araucana, 1 buff orpington, and 1 gold laced orpington. 3 more have pipped and 3 have done nothing so far! will be setting some more araucana eggs aswell as cream legbar and millefluer pekin bantams before the end of the week! here are a few pics of the new arrivals

Hatching!!!!

well last night the 1st egg pipped and we now have 4 chicks 1 welsummer, 2 lavender araucana and a gold laced orpington 6 other eggs are pipped but not doing much at the moment! will have to wait and see what the morning brings.

2 days to go!

First chicks are due to hatch on Sunday! have seen a couple wobbling about a bit, Will get some pics of them asap! In this first batch there will be welsummers l/f, lavender araucanas and a couple of orpingtons and/or dark brahma. I have the brooder all set up ready just need the little guys to hatch. the welsummers are sexable on hatch but the others could take up to 6-12 weeks till we know whether they are gonna crow or lay an egg.

Hello!!!

Well!.... this is my first post of many! Hopefully
We are busy at the mo renovating an old shed to house our new chicks which are due to hatch Sunday 24th May 2009! with the next lot due on June 4th We have a lovely mixture of eggs in the incubators, such as Welsummers, Araucanas, Orpingtons, Oh and my favourites some bantam salmon faverolles (sorry the Favs are mine but may have a few spare cockerals) and Wyandottes (blue, buff and silver laced) its very exciting and will pop a video clip of the last time I candled one of the eggs!

Will post again soon with more news and maybe some pics of the new arrivals

Debbie