Penny has gone to a new home to keep another hen company. I have gone mad and made an online bid for a pair from NSW - from Greg Milligan who is pretty famous for his buffs. So now I think the 2 young spare cockerels better find new homes. The good looking young boy we have has been named John. All this season's new chooks have J names!
John - a good strong name for a good strong rooster. Jacqueline - after Jackie Kennedy cause she is pretty classy Johanna and Jennifer - I quite like a Jennifer every now and then and Johanna will never know I named a chook after her - bwahahaha. I can't tell these 2 apart but maybe I will as they mature into full size. Update: On Summer holidays I went crazy and bid on an online auction for a pair from Greg Milligan in NSW. They are amazing. Even as youngsters they have fabulous shape and huge tails. Although they are a very similar colour to my hens they are fawn rather than golden, I'm sure they will breed in very well. John will go to a new family when he gets bigger as there is no way I can keep both these brilliant boys.
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I'm not really sure where the year has gone but I know I have been neglecting my site. It has been a quiet year since Sebastian and Christian died. No roosters, no chicks. Everyone has been very helpful. I got some eggs from Queensland but had a poor hatch rate and then of the 3 that hatched, one fell victim to a visiting dog and the other was a rooster who has gone to a new home already, so that leaves 1 hen - who is looking quite good, a bit lighter than my lines but a very even colouring and wonderful shape. On the whole she is probably better than my lines in a show sense - we've called her Jacqueline after Jackie Kennedy since she is so stylish.
Luckily the couple that took Colin have been very kind and gave us some eggs from his current harem! Some from him and some from his daughters who are with an unrelated rooster. I tried to keep them separate but of course it has proven impossible and I have no idea which are which. There is a rooster who looks very promising and 3 hens - of which one looks very classy, but I'm hedging my bets after last year and keeping 3 roosters until next Spring. So we currently have 8 hens and 3 pullets and 3 cockerels. We are eating a lot of infertile eggs. I have been away for 3 weeks and the chooks have MITES, agh. I thought we got rid of them but they are back again. The pigeons keep a steady supply for us. So we are spraying and powdering and spotting all over again.
No one is laying but I dont blame them, imagine having to sit still in the mites. My sweet little hen died but that did not surprise me as although she was full of character her body was very undersized - still sad. The growing pullets and cockerels are looking nice and there are a couple that I am no longer sure about. Cockerels can be collected free if you would like one. Colin has gone to a new family of hens and we have 2 young roosters - Sebastian and Christian. They are not very good at keeping the hens organised and a couple of the older ladies give them a chase off but they cuddle up together in the evening and are always together - they'll settle into their duties next Spring. Hopeless offort on my part keeping the blog up to date - sorry.
We have had an upand down season but the requests for eggs, hens and cockerels have been much saner then normal. The no waiting list system is much less stressful for me for sure. We have 6 little pullets and 7 cockerels growing at the moment, just waiting to see how they grow up. Julia has taken them all on even though they were hatched under 3 hens. I kept 1 hen from the first big hatching we had and for the first time sold a trio to be sent interstate - but that is a whold story on its own - they finally made it after 3 attempts and are going to be very happy I'l sure. Looking forward to photos when they are fully grown. I also kept a funny little undersized hen that thinks she is the boss of everything. she flies over all the fences and doesn't care about anything or anyone - eats the dog food and hops on anyone's plate if they think they might like to sit on the verandah to eat lunch. She is such a personality that I have to keep her - I have t think of a name... We started off really early and got into the swing of hatching very well - 5 for Holly, 7 for Eartha, then only 4 for Bridie (2 didnt survive hatching which is always sad) and now a crow has targetted us and and got 2 chicks in 3 days. 10 eggs under Georgia didn't hatch at all - I'm not sure what to say - that has NEVER happened before. No one clucky now but we are getting good eggs again and hopefully the grandmas will go clucky together - they can hatch 2 dozen between them and they love a shared hatching. Hang the crow.
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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
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