Sorry!!

Wow it's May already! so sorry i've not updated since January, its just been manic at work recently and we have been busy sorting the mess that was our back garden, but it has all come together now!!!!
Anyway, to update you all..... Ruby and Jemmima my 2 chocolate and white muscovy girls have been sat tight for 3 and nearly 4 weeks on some of our own fertile duck eggs! (will try to get some pics at the weekend) I had to remove their own eggs as even if they hatched the babies would be sterile as I have no muscovy drake but 2 very amarous cayuga boys!! so the eggs they are sitting on are Lily and Gracie's, the runner girls and Dabble the Khaki campbell girl. Now these could be a mix of runner duck, khaki campbell and cayuga duck!!! so will be very interesting to see what colours we get?
Also my little salmon faverolle girl Foxy had been persistantly broody for about 2 weeks despite me taking the eggs away each time she had hoarded enough so I gave her 3 duck eggs to start with which are now the ones under Jemmima Duck and have given her a clutch of mixed bantam eggs (a mix of pure breeds such as silkie seramas, pekins, japenese etc) today is only day 2 so will candle them in a few days to see how many are growing!Will start my main hatches this year about mid June, will be using any broody hens i get but will also use the incubators. on my list are
Wyandottes
Pekins
Dutch
Sablepoots
Cream legbars
Araucanas

Ruby's babies are due any day now so will update again then :O)

New year!

All the babies hatched last year are now starting to lay!!!! im finding eggs everywhere! still have a few to go to new homes and am planning what to start hatching for this year! definately on the hatching list are, araucanas, cream crested legbars, assorted laced wyandotte bantams, welsummers LF, and Dorkings. have also had some requests for RIR bantams and buff orpingtons LF, but may be another month or so till im sure what is available!
All the ducks are now getting frisky!!!! in the pond so may well have some hatching eggs available soon, and im planning on seperating the runner duck trio so will hatch some runner ducklings (as soon as the ducks start laying!)
Watch this space............!

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?