Thinking aloud

....or at least, putting thoughts in writing. I need to do some animal shuffling and am trying to work out the best way for it to work in the shortest space of time.

List:

1. Buy in 4 weaners
2. Buy replacement yearling ewe
3. Move Fred to the yard.
4. Shear sheep

Written down it sounds quite simple but that is before taking into account movement restrictions and other peoples and/or animal availability.

If I can get the weaners this weekend I will be on a 7 day standstill before I can move any other animal onto the land (20 days if it is more pigs).

The following weekend I can buy the replacement ewe.Fred can then be moved to the yard. As home is within 5 miles of the yard it comes under the same holding number so I can move without a licence as long as I enter the movement into my book.

I can then get the sheep sheared.

The reason for the above order....
1.We are unable to get the ewe this weekend.
2.The grass area we have fenced off for the pigs is growing fast, if we don't get them this weekend we will have to put Annie and her lamb onto it...no problem there really.
3.We need the second ewe, ideally before we get Annie sheared, rather than getting the shearer in twice for one sheep at a time. Also before the weather warms up and the flies start to get about.
4.Fred needs to be moved as he needs company of his own kind and we think he would be accepted better in the other ewe is there first, rather than him trying to latch onto Annie and her lamb.
5.The hens have gone from 5 - 6 eggs a day to 2 and I think Fred's antics have much to do with it. If not we then need to make a decision on which of the older hens to cull.

If we can't buy the weaners this weekend, we will have to wait until next weekend to hopefully get the ewe and then wait a week before getting the weaners.

On Monday evening I re homed two of my geese and so am now down to 2 in the orchard and 3 in the paddock, ideally I am hoping to end up with just the Orchard pair.

Just because....

......I can't get over how quick they grow !






















Photo:Young chicks 1+ week old. Foreground centre: Possible Welsummer Cross with a more upright stance. Left: Noticeably smaller chick, didn't think it would survive but now fine other than size.Right: Speckled Sussex.

All showing wing feathers, the two possible cocks are showing back feathers.(one behind small chick.)

Speckled Sussex: possibly a pair.

Garden update

It has been nearly three weeks since I have updated my garden diary. To be honest I have lost track slightly of what's what.

The greenhouse:

Tomatoes:

This weekend I planted 6 Shirley and 4 Ildli tomato plants into grow bags in the greenhouse. The remaining plants I hardened off outside. When I say hardened off - in truth I put them outside at the weekend, with every intention of bringing them in over night for a few days and completely forgot them !
The other type of tomato plants are still at the potting on stage.

Radishes and Lettuce:

We are still pulling radishes. I seem to have managed to achieve a continuous succession. Similar with the salad leaves.

Sprouts:

The sprout plants are almost ready to harden off and plant out.

Cucumber, Marrow, Courgette and Squash:
All of these are through with their second leaves developing. All apart from the Squash, I think maybe it would have been better to treat the squash similar to melon and sow much later.

Peppers:

Although growing slowly are now ready to pot on to bigger pots.

The Veg Patch:

Not really my department once the plants leave the greenhouse they are the full responsibility of my husband!

Despite the rain we seem to have avoided (fingers crossed) any slug damage or in fact any other pest destruction. Although we do have a mole!

Potatoes:

All are growing well and have been banked.

Onions and Shallots:
After an iffy start are growing well.

Lettuce:

Have been pricked out and young plants shared amongst friends.

Radish:

We have started to pull a few.They were a trial pack of yellow radish and ones we will certainly grow again.

Broad beans:
The greenhouse plants are starting to flower and the ones sown directly into the ground a few weeks later are through ( I did notice a couple of these have turned yellow ?) They have been strung and will need another string soon.

Everything else is ...well just growing....an achievement in itself I suppose.

The guessing game

For the past week we have been playing the guessing game.Trying to guess and it can only be a guess because none of us really know, how many of the chicks are cocks and how many are hens.

With light breeds i.e Welsummers, the cocks are said to develop more pronounced tail feathers by two weeks of age. The hens are supposed to be darker chicks with more defined markings. However there are exceptions to the rules - they aren't hard and fast.

With heavy breeds i.e. Speckled Sussex, it is the hens who have the tail feathers by two weeks, the cocks have none.

So what do we have .....I have no idea !!! The two Speckled Sussex do have different markings and are developing at different rates....maybe one of each ?

The Welsummer ? well there are two I'm sure must be cocks.They are bigger than the others, braver, more self assured and do have similar markings to each other... slightly more ginger/tan.They also are feathering up quicker.As for the rest, one is very dark, another very pale, some with quite noticeable feathers, some not, some brave, some timid. Who knows ? I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Making a start.

Photo: Whilst in the yard we couldn't help but notice how much Alfie has grown.

Running adjacent to the Fowl's run is an area of land of similar size.Until last year it was used by my husband's Uncle as a vegetable plot. Now in his 82nd year he has decided it is a little too much for him so we have ear marked it for the growers pens. The fence dividing the two strips of land at present is a mixture of rusty galvanised sheeting and old chicken wire tied together here and there with baler twine....lovely ! The plan is to remove the fencing and replace it further back with stock fencing and chicken netting.This will give the sheep slightly more grazing and will definitely improve the overall appearance.
The 'new' area will then be divided into two with the hen house in the center with a pop hole opening on either side.This will mean we can run the growers on one piece of land and then the next batch on the second whilst the first rests.

As we will need the pens fairly soon the first batch of growers will have to make do with the ground as it is now. The second pen we will be able to rotivate and reseed in time for the following group.While that side is in use we will reseed the first.

Today we made a start by renovating an old chicken house. It is probably going to be a haven for red mite but we have it and have all the spare materials we need to renovate it, so it will cost us nothing more than a few screws and nails.The outside will be painted with bitumen as it has years of tar painted on it and nothing else will 'take' now.The inside I will lime wash.

Progress so far.....

We have removed the old sheeting and roofing felt and taken out the rotting nest boxes.Unfortunately this revealed that all the back needed replacing. We have used cedar feather boarding which was left over from a job.Hopefully this will weather to a silvery grey .The roof, sadly a little industrial but again free and also practical, is plastic coated iron sheets. The rest of the house only needs minor repairs, so we should be able to keep the character of the house with just the back looking different.

Photos: Bottom - hopefully the cedar will soften to a silvery grey and look less harsh.The rest of the out side will be painted in black bitumen and the inside lime washed.

No goslings

Today we took the young broody goose off her nest, as expected there were no goslings. They were due to hatch last weekend, we gave her a few extra days 'just in case' but we were fairly sure she hadn't hatched any. After hatching they do tend to stay in the nest for a few days but you can usually tell by the way the goose is sitting if there are any young under her.

She didn't seem too concerned about leaving the nest.We put her into the Fowls run while we cleaned out the house and left it empty so she wasn't tempted to sit again when she returned.

I have been really pleased with the way she has sat tight for the whole time, she has certainly earned her place in the flock and hopefully next year when she is more mature she will have a successful hatch.
I don't think I will try hatching any goose eggs in the incubator this year or let the other two go broody, but I will see how it goes.


Photos: Freddie's ( that's the lamb) new friends.

Livestock update....youngsters

The chicks are growing at an amazing rate of knots. Their wing feathers are developing and their true feather colouring is beginning to show on them. They are also growing fluffy tail feathers. They are spending a lot less time sleeping and more time scratching around and wing flapping.They are fascinating to watch and I spend far too much time doing so. They react differently to different noises - a sudden loud noise and they immediately drop to the ground, wherever they are. If a car passes they stand tall and alert, looking around. If they are unsure of a sound they huddle together under the lamp.

Today I replaced their feeder and drinker with new ones. Initially they were very suspicious and huddled together. Slowly one by one they crept closer until all were cheeping in excitement over their new 'find'.

I think we have an impostor amongst them. The last chick to hatch on Tuesday is different, only slightly. I think he may be a Welsummer cross, looking at his stand possibly a Brahma.I do hope so !! He has slightly feathered feet and stands tall and straight with very strong legs.

( unfortunately he is a little wary of the camera so I have been unable to get a good photo of him yet.)



Freddie... the bottle lamb is doing great.We are all becoming far too attached to him. He has grown so much and is very playful. He skips and bounces around the hen run and his favourite game is to creep up behind the hens and startled them, but as they squawk and flap he jumps more than they do. We are trying to reduce his number of feeds and increase the amount, so he can soon join the others. At present he is still on four feeds a day but is taking a greater volume each time and he is going longer between feeds. Still has the 11.30 pm and 6.00 am feeds though !! It will be nice when they become a little earlier and later respectively.


He is hard to photograph as he comes so close to the camera it is difficult to take any descent shots.

This is what happens.....

......when you don't make dandelion jam !! and the photos only show a tiny section.

Incubation - what went wrong ?

Today I took the decision to turn the incubator off. Although a very strong healthy chick hatched yesterday I decided that we would cut our losses with any remaining.
I did candle and listen to the unhatched ones first, also floated them in warm water - no reaction. On breaking them open one Welsummer was starting to go bad, the other two did have almost, if not fully grown chicks in them. Don't think they were alive, but even if they were and hatched in a couple of days, they would be a week behind the others. The Sussex I didn't even bother breaking.


So conclusion.....The Speckled Sussex I think more than likely were a poor set of eggs. Either poor parent stock or poor storage of eggs before incubating.


The only other possibility and one I am going to check out before the next setting is temperature variation. It is a fan assisted incubator so there shouldn't be.

In the incubator I have the mercury thermometer, that came with the incubator, it is set in the center and should be level with the center of the eggs and read 100F. I also have a digital hygro thermometer.
These two never read the same. My husband recommended trusting the mercury one, so we went with that.

The digital thermometer I placed in the corner of the incubator away from the rolling floor, here it always read lower than the other.When I candled the eggs I moved the digital one close to the mercury one and the reading did go up.


So now the incubator is empty and cleaned I am going to run it for a few days with the digital thermometer in various places to see if there is any variation in temperature.


Hot and cold spots would explain the uneven hatching times.The first pipped on Friday, hatched Saturday.The majority hatched over the weekend (21 days).We also had one chick on Monday and one yesterday, with two more that may have possibily hatched in a day or two.



I can't remember where the eggs that hatched first were palced in the incubator, also when I candled them I know I moved them around, so I knew which I had candled and which I hadn't. As well as testing the temperature of the incubator empty, next time I shall take note of where the eggs were and when they hatched.

Chicks

Waiting to come out ....a late arrival, hatched this afternoon. The rest are growing by the minute!

Spring Flowers

Today is the most perfect of spring days, warm with a slight breeze. The air is full of the scent of spring flowers. In the orchard a pair of robins are building a nest, not sure if it is a second nest for the ones in the garden or a different pair. The young blackbirds have fledged. I was hoping to get another photo of them in the nest before they left, but too late.This morning as I stood filling the goose' pond one of the fledglings was sitting in the plum tree next to me getting rather impatient that he was being kept waiting for his breakfast. It is still early in the year so hopefully the parent birds will have another brood.

New arrivals

This weekend we added to our livestock number....nowhere near as many chicks as I hoped for though.

Firstly Saturday morning we acquired a bottle lamb. He was 48 hours old. He was born to a ewe who was believed not to be in lamb, she was recovering from liver fluke and was in poor body condition. The lamb had been born with weak joints in his front legs and was unable to stand to feed and the ewe was reluctant to allow him. My friend fed him milk from his mother for the first 48 hours but she neither had the time nor inclination to continue. So we have him. At present we have him at home rather than the yard. During the day he plays in the hen run and in the evening sleeps in a large dog crate in the shed.We are feeding him 5 times a day and encouraging him to be on his feet as much as possible to strengthen his joints. He is doing really well and I am sure has a future....well for a few months at least...something I doubted to begin with, but he is almost 'normal ' on his legs now. As soon as he is stronger and on three feeds a day he will join the others.

Chicks.... a disaster, well not good.


The Speckled Sussexs were an almost complete failure. I don't know if it was genetic or poor eggs. Of the 12 - 1 was clear, 6 died at early development, 2 so far have failed to hatch ( pretty sure they won't now) of the 3 that did hatch 2 look OK now but were slow to hatch and slow to dry and be up on their feet.The third to hatch is in the incubator but seems unable to stand so tonight will most likely be put out of it's misery.So from 12 eggs we have 2, so far live chicks.

The Welsummer ; Of the 12 eggs - 2 were clear, 5 have hatched into very lively, healthy chicks.1 has just hatched in the incubator, too early to tell if it's going to survive. The others were quick to hatch and be up and running, this one is much slower. There are 4 unhatched, I will give them a few more days but I am not hopeful. So 5 possibly 6 Welsummers. Lovely healthy chicks but not many.

Think I will stick to eggs from a known source and a broody next time !!

I'm on my way ....

.....to making my first million !! Yesterday I sold 1/2 a dozen eggs for £1 with more on order ! How cool is that ? I have never sold eggs before, always just given them away to family and friends and as a peace offering when the hens escaped into neighbouring gardens when we lived in the old house.

I am also hoping to start breeding and selling poultry but at a later date, when I have established a good quality breeding group.

My first attempt at hatching eggs seems doomed, but in fairness it was meant as a trial run.
Today I stopped the automatic turner on the incubator, candled and removed the non goers and finally added extra water.

Of the Speckled Sussex only 4 out of the 12 are still in the incubator !! 1 was clear on the first candling at 7 days. The rest seemed to stop developing around the 8 - 10 day stage. (I removed them today )

As far as I can see of the Welsummer eggs 2 were clear at the first candling and the rest touch wood!!! seem OK. Still 3-4 days to go though.

So now the maximum I can expect is 14 the minimum 0 !!

The eggs were bought from a poultry auction, so in every way bought blind, not knowing the breeder, quality of stock, storage, transport etc. In which case, along side my inexperience I guess anything over 50% is OK....not the case with the Sussex though !

I will just have to wait and see and learn.

As they say..." no good counting your chickens before they hatch"

Hail and Thunder

After a weekend of glorious spring like weather, today we have hail, thunder and lightning. I have to admit to turning the heating on.....just for a while ! We thought we had finished with the wood burner for the year, so all the firewood is at the yard 2 miles away!

The poor chickens aren't at all impressed, they have called a truce and are all huddled together under the hen house.The cats came flying through the cat flap with the first clap of thunder and the dog is trying to be brave. I am hoping Annie has the sense to take Alfie into the stable, not that they are spoilt sheep - oh no !

The geese are perfectly happy in this weather, it only seems to be windy weather that upsets them. I am trying to recall reading how thundery weather affects hatching eggs. I think it is in a positive way due to the increase in humidity... which would make sense.A little too early for mine.

Tomorrow I will stop turning them, will candle them, remove any non developers ( most I think !) and then add water to the tray to raise the humidity. I don't think many of the Speckled Sussexs have developed, the Welsummer are too dark to see. In a way I am hoping the Welsummer do well, then I will know the Sussex eggs themselves were at fault, if all fail I have messed up big time !

All in together.

On Sunday I decided it was time for all the hens to roost in the same house. Well it seemed silly not to, the Dorkings were already going into the house during the day to lay and I might actually need the broody ark soon (although the Speckled Sussex eggs don't look very promising !)

So after they had all gone to roost Sunday evening I placed the young four in with the others. There was a bit of grumbling and feather fluffing but nothing more. I was so convinced, however that they would wake up in the morning and attack each other that I let them out extra early. Normally I open their door about 6.30 - 6.45 just before I go to the yard.On Monday it was 5.45..the poor hens I think they were more confused by being disturbed an hour early, than they were by waking up in strange surroundings !

In the evening they all eventually put themselves to bed. There was a bit of bullying by Mona, of course, who chased them out every time they tried to enter the house but they persisted and she gave in.

This morning , much to their relief I let them out at 6.30am. All seemed reasonably peaceful. The two young Legbars had spent the night in the nest box, and there was a broken egg on the floor of the house, so not ideal. I will give them a few days to settle and then each evening place them on the perch until they get the idea.



The Orchard geese.....well interfering the other day didn't work ! The young broody goose has moved her nest from just inside the doorway and tucked it tight into the corner at the back. If it was because we disturbed her, if she was too hot or if she thinks it is a safer place for the goslings to hatch we will never know. It hasn't however stopped the other goose laying in the nest. She was on it this morning, while the young one took a break. The poor broody does look a sorry sight. Even though she gets off the nest each day for a quick bite to eat and freshen up, she has lost a lot of weight and looks quite bedraggled.
Putting the older goose' eggs into the new shelter obviously didn't work, yesterday I found them unceremoniously kicked out and lying side by side on the grass.

I think I will definitely just leave them to it now.There is only a few more days to go and I am sure they know more than I do.

The Orchard

Yet another frosty morning with, today, the addition of a mist rolling down along the valley from Soar. I am concerned that the frosts have caught the blossom on the plum trees in the orchard. The orchard is loosely named as it can now only boast an old bramley and two rather neglected Dittisham plum trees.The season was poor for plums last year and we were hoping for better this year but the frosts may have put an end to that. The bramley has yet to open fully so maybe OK, the wild cherry in the yard is also only just beginning to blossom.

The orchard borders on one side the churchyard, on another my late mother in laws garden. This has been very much abandoned for the past two years. So the orchard is a haven for wildlife and I spend far longer than necessary, early in the morning seeing to the geese. As I stand quietly, filling their pool life carries on around me as if though I wasn't there. Well almost...there are a pair of robins that I know have a nest in the garden and must have young as they both frequently return with grubs in their beaks.No matter how quietly and still I stand they will flit all around the garden but won't enter the nest until I look away.Unlike the pair of blackbirds who are straight in and out.Today the cock pheasant as ever was waiting for his free meal. I'm sure he is getting bolder by the day.Sparrows were busily collecting goose feathers for their nest and the starlings any odd bit of straw lying around. Far best today however was spotting the bank vole, or was it him who spotted me ! As I stood by the pool I heard a rustling in the hedge, looking up there was a small vole munching on a sycamore leaf staring right back at me!

Typically I didn't have my camera with me, but I shall tomorrow ....just in case.

Another frosty morning.

Today we woke to yet another white, frosty morning. It has been several years since we have had so many successive frosts at this time of year. However it wasn't long before it turned into another glorious day.

Today I have been slightly more productive than the past couple of days, but have come to an early stop.

The poultry shed has been tidied in readiness for the chicks, although I am beginning to have a sinking feeling that there won't be that many.My husband has made a brooder from a circular piece of hard board and wing nuts so the size can be adjusted.The plan was to use the cage in the shed but the electrics have yet to be fixed, so the brooder is for the garage just in case the shed isn't ready.



Photo: Poultry shed. The cage under the shelf is the brooder it has a removable floor and the doors and front plinth come away for easy cleaning.
The wide shelf above the brooder is for the incubator (next time)

I spent the rest of the day moving pots and plants. The back garden is pretty much finished now. Hard work wise at least. It all looks very new and lacks character and personality (the garden could belong to anyone) but that will change over time. So we are now starting to sort out the front. Since moving here many plants I wanted to keep have been potted up and moved from pillar to post, as different parts of the garden were being 'done'. Today I moved them again, hopefully for the last time before they are planted where they will stay.

My husband has continued to build the stone retaining wall. We have also strung the broad beans. The post are far sturdier than necessary, but the sycamore 'thinnings' we used had grown much more than we realised ! We also hooked the grass on the hedge bank to encourage it to thicken.

Other than that the usual chores. A much easier day than we had planned.... but getting there.

Spring

It is absolutely glorious weather today, as it was yesterday and we had so much planned to do over the long weekend but I seemed to have picked up a sickness bug. I am so annoyed I have been pottering doing a few things but nothing like I had hoped to do.

I have finally re potted the tomatoes and peppers, sown a few more seeds, weeded, divided and replanted some herbs and just generally fiddled.

In the yard this morning I took a few photos. Spring has certainly arrived ,yet we still woke to a white frost again this morning.

Photo: Blackbirds.

1st taken 5th April ( a little blurry as the nest is above my head height, so very much a case of aim and shoot, also I didn't want to disturb the parents.)

2nd photo taken today,5 days on.Both parents are busy feeding their hungry youngsters.








Photos: Cock pheasant, a daily visitor taking advantage of an easy meal.





Photo: Alfie 9 days old.

Eggs !!

Last week my mind was focused mostly on Annie and lambing. This week I am preoccupied with eggs ....both of the eating and hatching kind.

All the hens apart from the cream legbars have come into lay. I find myself making frequent trips to the nest box in an attempt to identify who lays which egg. Think I've sussed it. Now that I have the quantity of eggs I have been wishing for I need to think of different ways of using them all ! Also to start finding a market for them.

Hatching eggs....well the broody goose is down to 5 now with only a week to go. If I had thought she was going to sit for the full term, also if we had really wanted goslings I would have done things differently. As it was I just let her get on with it. This meant that she wasn't separated from the older goose, who has been laying her eggs in the same nest.This has resulted in broken eggs.

Today we gently lifted the broody off her nest to check the eggs.Two that were obviously fresh i.e the older goose', we removed, marked and placed in some straw in a new shelter.Hoping the grey goose may adopt this site and leave the young one to hatch successfully. The other eggs we gently shook, any that 'rattled' we took away.This left only 5.
We then gently placed the young goose on the ground for her to make her own way back onto the nest. You should never replace a bird straight back onto the eggs as she is likely to damage them, always best to let her find her own way back.


The incubator eggs....I am new to hatching hens eggs in an incubator.We have always used a broody before. I think all is going well. Two that were obviously clear after 7 days I removed. Today I candled them again to check the air sac for humidity levels...think I'm on the right track. A few of the eggs look different to the rest, so I am wondering if they have stopped developing. I am not confident or experienced enough to be sure, so have left them in the incubator for the time being. I am fairly sure they won't hatch though. I am a little disappointed as I always unrealistically want perfection.

In approximately 9 days I will know both the outcome of the goose eggs and of the hatching eggs.

Just a quick mention today the swallows arrived. I thought I saw a solitary one about ten days ago but today there were many, swooping and chattering. Always a delight to see.

5 out of 6

Today the second Dorking laid her first egg. We are now averaging 5 eggs a day from 6 hens, which considering they are at opposite ends age wise for egg laying is pretty good going.

This morning the young hen was in and out of the nest box and frantically pacing up and down the perimeter fence getting quite stressed. Eventually I closed her in the ark along with some food and water and the other Dorking. Within the hour she had laid and is now happily in amongst the others again.


I'm not sure if it was the young hen's unsettled behaviour or the wind but it certainly wasn't a happy camp this morning. Recently it has been pretty peaceful but today Peggy who is normally quite sweet relentlessly picked on the younger group resulting in several lost feathers.
Now the wind has dropped, the young hen has laid and peace has resumed.

The two Legbars are still to come into lay. One has looked as if though she will for a while now, her comb getting redder by the day, but they are still young approx. 19 / 20 weeks.It will be interesting to see if their eggs are blue.

It must be Easter soon !!

The cows are back !!.. in the field opposite our house.The photo makes them look a distance away but in fact they are so close that in the evenings you can hear them munching the grass.

We know it's soon Easter when the cows are in the field, the same as we know it's nearly Christmas when they are replaced by soon to lamb sheep.

The neighbouring farmer houses his dairy herd over winter but always aims to get them out by Easter. It is lovely to watch them skip and frolic about on their first time out....sheer joy for life.

A week before Christmas he moves his flock of sheep into the field and the first lambs are nearly always born a day or two before Christmas day.We always feel as if though that is the real start of our Christmas. ( That and the Coke ad on the TV, although that is getting earlier each year! ! )

Another certainty that it's soon to be a long bank holiday weekend, rain is forecast and we had planned to do so much !

Weekly garden update

The week does seem to come around quick, so another update to remind me of what we have sown and how it is progressing. I'm sure I will be thankful in the future to have this to look back on, if only out of interest.

Greenhouse:

Radish:
Third sowing just coming through, second about a week away from picking which is good as most of the first radishes have been eaten, also I need the pot for the next sowing.

Lettuce:
We are picking leaves regularly from the first sowing, the second seem slow although they are a different mix.

Spring onions:
Second sowing just peeping through.

Tomatoes:
The Shirley have been potted on individually, they look so much better for it. I still need pots for the Ildli, but as they are much smaller plants they are OK for now, but do need to be potted on soon.
The rest of the tomatoes are still to germinate but it has only been a week and I have left them in the unheated greenhouse so they may be slow.

Peppers:
Still need potting on....I must get some pots from somewhere!

Beetroot:
Just peeping through today.

Nasturtiums and Sunflowers:
Have been planted out after a short time hardening off. The rest of the flower seeds/plants are growing nicely, just waiting for warmer weather.

Newly sown this weekend: All Marshalls seeds

In modules:

Courgette Zucchini
Squash Hunter
Marrow Long Green Bush
Cucumber Outdoor Burbless Tasty Green

In trays :
Brussel Sprout Clodius

Veg patch:

It's surprising what a little rain can do, although I fear we are in for more than just a little !!

Carrots:

They have been up for almost a week now.

Lettuce, Radish and Turnips:

All are benefiting from the rain and beginning to 'move'

Parsnips and Parsley :

Just beginning to germinate....I think

Shallots:

Are growing .. bit disappointed in them.

Broad beans:

Need stringing .

Newly planted this week:

All the potatoes are in, a few main crop are left over so we will try growing them in a dumpy bag.

The onions have been planted.

Newly sown:

Leek Oarsman - Marshalls seeds

(French Bean Delinel - Marshall seeds not sure if I sowed these in the greenhouse or if my husband planted them directly outside...(check)

I have checked we didn't sow any at all !! too early so scrub French Beans.)

Now you see why I need the weekly update !!

Beetroot These were the remainder of the Sutton Globe

Full house

Today all four of the older hens laid...the first time since I have had them !

So far the pullet hasn't laid today but it was late in the afternoon yesterday before we had an egg from her and it was quite strange, so I would be surprised if she did lay today.The egg was in fact two laid side by side. I'm sure they were joined, as one was soft shelled and the indentation fitted exactly into a slight raised area on the hard shelled egg. As I picked them up they came apart. However my husband is convinced she couldn't have possibly laid two width wise and that they must have rolled together ...I don't know.

It's not unusual to get 'odd' eggs when a pullet first comes into lay but I haven't seen this before.

On the subject of eggs...today I tried candling the Welsummer eggs, their dark shell made it more difficult to make a decision on their progress but one was obviously clear so I removed it along with the clear one from the Speckled Sussex.We are now down to 11 of each, not bad so far.

Just found this great link on embryo development :

http://freshpics.blogspot.com/2007/05/stages-of-chick-embryo-development.html

A not so gentle reminder

Today has been another glorious day, it really does feel as if though we are truly into spring.
The plum blossom is beginning to show and the apple blossom is just breaking bud.There are spring flowers and new shoots everywhere.The birds are either busy collecting material for their nest or searching for food for the first of their young. The bumble bees are about as are a few butterflies. However this morning we woke to yet another frost...quite a hard one, with all the fields white, not just the ones in the valley. A reminder that it is still early in the year and we shouldn't be too hasty with planting the garden.

Having said that we have just spent most of the day gardening, sowing seeds, planting potatoes, onions and few companion flower plants !! The tomatoes have been potted on.

The nettles in the paddock have been strimmed back and I have cut the grass in the hen enclosure.

Alfie has discovered he can 'bounce' and is already making Annie despair of his antics...he does need a friend, if only to give Annie some peace !

I tried candling the eggs today it's a little early and I only 'did' the Speckled Sussex, but if I'm right 11 out of 12 are fertile.... but very early days.

Last night the grey goose was on the nest alongside the young one and this morning the gander was on the nest, so we removed the young one to see what was happening. There were two freshly laid eggs and one broken one. The two new ones I'm sure are the grey goose'. I took them away and broke them open, both were fresh but I think fertile. The broken one was one of the young goose' and was clear. So she is now down to sitting on 9. Very often geese aren't fertile in their first year so it will be interesting to see if she does hatch any.

After such glorious weather over the past few days tomorrow's forecast is for heavy rain and possibly a wet week but hopefully no frosts!!

Save water - share a bath

Having fun in the sun.