 We've been planting a garden on our 5 acre paddock block. We've planted over 2000 trees and shrubs this year but mostly you can see tree guards! I've also had a couple of days feeling sorry for myself so bought 180 gladdies in 6 shades of pink, 30 dahlias and 30 lilliums. Summer is going to be beautiful if it ever stops raining. Our fire pit looks like a duck pond currently but the soft soil makes planting easy.  On the chook front, we have 14 hens and 3 roosters - the young bloke has got to go. He is driving everyone crazy and just about plucked all the feathers off Nisha's head. We have lots of fertile eggs for sale and I've just set the first lot of chicks - a bit late due to all the rain. We should have chicks in December. The Jester is in his new separate breeding coop with Chrissie, Debbie and Kim. I'm hoping for some show quality outcomes...
0 Comments
We've moved to the country, to Staughton Vale, just north of Geelong and will be able to breed and sell chooks again.
I will have some pullets for sale soon. Our neighbours have complained about our rooster so we are closed. Looking for an urgent home for beautiful Liam - best rooster I have had for years.
I'm just a bit teary. I love my chooks. I'll keep all the hens I have now but no more chicks or breeding program. thanks everyone, With only 5 hens we are little short this season but Liam our rooster is very young.
Lots of chicks are hatching: 7 chicks to Naula (Oct 2018) 6 chicks to Siobhan (Oct 2018), 8 chicks to Mairin (Nov 2018) and 10 eggs yet to hatch with Naeve.... Julia has just started laying so if we are lucky some from her as well. We have done very well with the chick hatching but things have not gone so well this week: Of Nuala's 7 chicks only 2 are pullets and now Nuala has died so unexpecedly so we are all very sad. Siobhans has 6 chicks but only 2 pullets as well. Mairin's chicks are only 2 weeks old so I cant tell what gender they are yet. Her chicks are from Liam so hopefully we do better than the eggs from Habib (Nuala and Siobhan) We currently only have 4 hens so I'll need to keep some pullets myself as we usually have 8 here in the garden. We need to sell some chooks - there are too many and the little rooster I was keeping as a breeding pair needs a new home too. The roosters are are having crowing competitions. I can't believe the neighbors have not complained - I'm complaining myself!
We have pullets that are nearly grown but not laying yet and a couple of my hens that need new homes. They do all look lovely in the garden but there are too many for us so hens and pullets available as pets for your garden right now. :) All those mites are gone and all the chooks are looking fat, sleek and beautiful. We have 7 one week old chicks and their mother, Holly, is a nutter - scratching about like a mad thing in the moist dirt.
We have 4 little roosters ready for new homes and 4 pullets - they are all born in September so 8-12 weeks old. I will have to pass on a couple of my lovely hens in the new year as we just have too many for our little block. All the hatchings this year are amazing - I really should be showing in the next round of shows because they are beautiful - all boxes ticked: yellow feet, straight combs, great shape, bigger tails, red faces, even, strong buff colour. What a great year for us. :) 5 days over 30 in a row and mites have hatched everywhere! They are driving us all crazy. It's been a big weekend of spraying, powdering and changing the bedding and sugar cane mulch. It's hot work. I hope it rains hard soon.
Johanna has abandoned her chicks at 3 weeks to flirt with Gregory! They are sweet little things and cuddle me every day.
We have the first lot of baby roosters going to new homes this weekend. With 40 chooks - of various sizes in our garden we really need to offload a few. so along with the baby roosters, Harriet and Jacqueline are also available for sale. They are nice hens but if I'm being strict about breeding for showing they are not as "showable" as some of the others and Gregory is giving Harriet too much attention - she needs a break! Johanna hatched only 6 chicks from her 10 eggs but they are all lovely yellow fluffy balls.
Milly has finally started laying. She is laying a lovely round egg in the mulch pile. There are too many feisty, clucky chooks near the nest boxes so I don't blame her for finding somewhere more peaceful. I'm collecting her eggs even if it will be a late hatching - pure Greg Milligan descendants. This last year we have had John go to a new home, Gregory arrive from Greg Milligan in NSW and he is a stunner. We also lost a couple of hens to a mystery illness. We are breeding wildly so we'll have some pullets for Christmas:
Georgina has 7 chicks born 3 weeks ago Harriet has 6 chicks born 2 weeks ago Isabelle has 6 chicks born 2 weeks ago Johanna is sitting on 10 eggs due this weekend Maryanne is sitting on 10 eggs due a couple of days later. it is chick crazy with everyone coming into the kitchen on cold nights. |
AuthorHi, I am Rosemerry and I breed buff Pekin Bantams. I live with my husband at Staughton Vale. We moved to the country in 2021 and left our 3 adult children behind in the city. By day I am a Business Systems Analyst but after hours I am a Chook Fancier Archives
November 2022
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
