Weekends hatch

 A detailed update to follow but for now my photo (or 2) of the week - todays hatch 11 out of 11. Hatched under a broody Maran this weekend.

Gold Duckwing Welsummer - successful hatch

I can't help but be pleased with the performance of the Gold Duckwing Welsummers this year. The hens have laid extremely well, they have exceeded the Leghorns both in egg number and size and the shell colour has been good. Fertility has been high - often 100%. The latest setting of 13 eggs under a broody resulted in 12 strong, lively chicks. Earlier hatches have grown and feathered quickly.

Photos:

The latest hatch. Day olds - 'called to order'


'feed time'


'one missing'




The previous hatch of Gold Duckwing Welsummers are now 5-6 weeks old. All six chicks turned out to be pullets, a pleasant change from earlier hatches.Only one has the partridge colouring.

At 6 weeks the mother hen is ready to leave them and return to the flock, The young are fully feathered and at the not quite chick nor adult stage.

7 Weeks Old

Photo: 7 week old Welsummers and Sussex mix.

Photo: 7 Week old Partridge Welsummer cockerels


The Partridge Welsummers and Sussex mix chicks are now 7 weeks old and today was their first day in an open pen. They have grown well and I hope are now big enough not to attract the attention of the neighbourhood Buzzards and resident Sparrowhawk.

They have spent most of their time close to the pen perimeter, feeling safer and less exposed than in the open. They have chased bugs, scratch around and dust bathed, they have also sampled potato leaves.. not such a good idea.

Tonight the fun will begin when they go to roost/or not in their new house.

Poultry catch up

Photo: (click on image to enlarge) Young Gold Duckwing Welsummer cockerel - next year's second line.
( his legs are yellow !! )

The last couple of weeks have seen quite a few changes amongst the poultry.

Despite trying various different tactics the Indian Game cockerel remained infertile or at least disinterested. He was young and fit and would chase the girls around the paddock for as long as they would run but as soon as they stopped he walked away. So he is no longer with us.

Next year in his place as head of the table bird flock we will have a Barnevelder cockerel. I have the pick of 5 from this year's hatch but have already marked out the one I think the best.

I am also going to replace the mix of heavy breed layers but am keeping the Marans, Speckled Sussex and Indian Game as they have been star broodies this year. The other layers have already been sold and have gone to a very good home. I will make the numbers up with half a dozen Barnevelder pullets.

All of this year's Exchequer Leghorn pullets have sold and I am still getting enquires for them. Today I set another clutch of eggs under a broody Speckled Sussex. This will probably be my last hatch of the year.

The Gold Duckwing Welsummers have been amazing, they have been laying daily and the egg size and colour is very good. In the past week or so two have gone broody but it is not a breed I would use to sit, especially as this year I have been overwhelmed with broody hens.

The cockerel I kept back from last year is looking good and I have two nice looking pullets amongst the Partridge Welsummer eggs I hatched, so hopefully the makings of a quality second line.


All the rest of the chicks are thriving and as each batch grow and more hatch they are moved along the line of different size runs.

The turkey eggs hatched last Friday 12 out of 13 being shared amongst two hens ..but more about that later along with photos.

The old gander, thankfully, has settled down and seems reasonably happy pottering about with the sheep and hens. He is in full moult and looks a little dishevelled but otherwise none the worse for his ordeal.

More eggs set

Yesterday I spent the day moving the young chicks into their new runs to free space in the poultry shed for another broody.

The cockerel to pullet ratio of chicks so far this year has certainly favoured cockerels, hence more hatching.

The Sussex chicks and the Partridge Welsummer chicks are now 4 1/2 weeks old and have been completely off heat since the weekend. Yesterday they were moved from the small 'A' frame ark in the garden to a larger house and run, within the pen the growers free range. They look so small in comparison to the 14 week old Barnevelders.

I believe all the Sussex chicks might be cockerels and only 2 of the 8 Welsummers are pullets. The Welsummers were to be the start of my new bloodline, so a little disappointing.

The Indian Game hen with her 6 Gold Duckwing Welsummer chicks, now 2 weeks old, have been moved into the ark in the garden and despite the frequent heavy showers are enjoying being outdoors. It is a little early for me to be confident of the sex of these chicks but I am hoping there will be a few females amongst them.

In the shed I now have a broody Maran sitting on 13 Gold Duckwing Welsummer eggs. She is a young hen and so far untried as a mother but she appears committed.

At the yard I have two broodies sitting on a mix of eggs from hens running with the Indian Game cockerel, these are purely for testing the fertility of the cockerel.

In the stable two more broodies are incubating turkey eggs. These eggs take a month rather than three weeks to hatch and both hens are doing an absolutely amazing job. Only a few more days to go.

If possible I would like to be able to fit in one more Exchequer Leghorn hatch before I call an end to this years breeding season.

Fertility and hatch rate has been very good, a few more pullets would have been nice.

Gold Duckwing Welsummer chicks

The latest additions to the flock - 6 Gold Duckwing Welsummer chicks.

The chicks hatched during the day Saturday and overnight into Sunday.

A little early to tell but they should be 50% / 50% Gold or Partridge in colouring. The one looking straight at the camera I have a feeling maybe a Gold pullet...I do hope so.

Yet again the hen is proving to be a great mum. Having already raised 4 broods she is now quite experienced.

(Click on images to enlarge)

The breeding season continues...

...at a pace. The first chicks to hatch are now 8+ weeks old and free ranging a large area. I am always nervous when first letting them out, wondering if it will be the last I see of them as they take flight over the fence into the neighbouring countryside or failing that a sparrowhawk will spot an easy lunch.

As always though they slowly make their way out of the confines of their run, at first staying close to the fence perimeter for safety but soon exploring their new world with increasing excitement and confidence. These even found their own way back to their house to roost for the night.

The older hens continue to go broody, two more over the weekend. As things stand at present I have the three broody hens whose eggs are due to hatch in the next few days, a broody who has been installed into the poultry shed and who will receive a clutch of Welsummer eggs tonight, another hen threatening grievous bodily harm to anyone human or otherwise who dares to approach her and a Welsummer hen who hasn't quite yet decided.

Typically the two hens I am hoping/willing to go broody have so far ignored my pleadings. Maybe it is the mention of turkey eggs.

The poor goose who had her eggs stolen and who went off lay for a while after, has now decided to sit on just two eggs. I do hope they hatch.

Chicks become growers

I'm not sure at what age a chick is defined as a grower but as the first hatch are now over 7 weeks old, fully feathered, off heat and independent I guess they are now growers. A few of the cockerels have even attempted crowing, impressive at such a young age despite sounding more like a squeaky wheel than king of the roost.

I am very tempted to allow them more freedom, their pen is becoming a little small, but with a sparrowhawk sitting on the fence posts just waiting for an opportunity to swoop I am reluctant to do so quite yet.

Photo: Growers at 7+ weeks
(click on image to enlarge)

Two broodies together

I'm sure I will rue the day but I have two broodies sitting together in the same house.

The broody who was originally sitting in the shed on the Welsummer eggs, decided after two days enough was enough. By the time I discovered her change of mind the eggs were only slightly warm. Not ideal so early on in the incubation period, the further on they are the greater chance they have.

However I did have two hens sitting tight on fresh air in the layers house, so with nothing to loose I divided the abandoned clutch between the two hens. They instantly snuggled down on the eggs, you could almost see the smile of satisfaction on their face.

With all the other laying hens now at the yard, the two broodies have the house to themselves, one sitting each end of the nest box.

My plan was to candle the eggs at 10 days and then combine the viable eggs under one hen but they seem to thrive on each other's company, both leaving the house together at the same time, feeding together, dust bathing together and then returning together to the house, each to their allotted space and clutch of eggs, with no attempt to steal from each other.

For now I am tempted to leave it just so. Will I regret it once the chicks ( if there are any) start to hatch...most probably ! Time will tell.

In the meantime the orignal mother- to- be of the eggs is back with the flock, showing no signs of regret. However I have made a mental note of her lack of dedication.

Broody Hens

Photo: Indian Game cross broody hen on Sussex eggs

Mix a traditional heavy breed hen with an Indian Game cockerel, add a little warm weather and you have the perfect recipe for a broody hen and I have plenty.
No sooner do I remove one from the nestbox - to allow those who are still in lay to do so in peace rather than being harranged on entering the pop hole, then another takes up position in the still warm nest of straw in the hope of rearing a brood of her own.

Some I have managed to 'break' by placing them in a small run with fresh water and a little corn, still in view of the other hens but with nowhere to settle comfortably. Others have spent a few days wandering around clucking but have then decided motherhood may not be for them after all. A couple I have allowed to sit, they have successfully raised a brood and have now rejoined the flock.

Yesterday and today I set two more. Both Indian Game cross hens, very determined that motherhood is their role in life. One has been settled in the small ark and run with a clutch of a dozen Sussex eggs, the other in the poultry shed sitting tight on eleven Partridge Welsummer hens, hopefully the beginnings of a new future breeding line of Gold Duckwing Welsummers.

With still more broodies taking up residence in various nestboxes, I need to spend this weekend re arranging the pens. Moving more hens in with the young cockerel and freeing up the pen at home for the young chicks who are fast becoming 'growers'.

Sadly the slim chance of the goose raisng any goslings of her own has been taken away from her. This morning found her nest empty, all five of her carefully hidden eggs missing. The nest was undisturbed and although I can't be sure I do think the guilt rests on the shoulders of a boxer dog from a few houses away who is allowed to roam free, much to the fustration of a neighbouring sheep farmer.

Poultry catch up

So much has happened over the last few weeks ... not all good.

Today I candled the eggs under the broody Indian Game, nine eggs from heavy breed hens using the Indian Game cockerel.


After all the eggs from the first setting were infertile, in the hope of improving fertility I penned the cockerel and four hens in the stable for two weeks before setting this clutch. Today candling showed only one of the nine viable.

I made the very hard decision of calling a halt to the sitting. I have removed all the eggs and shut the broody hen out into the run part of the ark... she is not, understandably, very happy.

Another hard desicion will be 'what next?' re. the cockerel.

I also have another rather angry broody maran, who for the life of her can't understand why I will not let her spend all day in the nestbox terrorizing any hen that dares to enter the house, but see fit to place her in a small run with nowhere comfy to snuggle down.

Talking of broodies I have two more but I am offering these for sale. They are crossbred, very freindly birds who will make excellent sitters and mothers. When not broody they lay almost/if not daily.

The chicks are growing fast and are now 4 1/2 weeks old. Many of the Welsummers are cockerels, the Leghorns appeared to be more evenly divided.

All the hens are laying well, the Welsummers especially and their fertility is high.

It is a good time of year for all the poultry.

The goose has finally come into lay. I will leave her eggs in her nest in the hope she decides to sit, although due to their age goslings are not likely.

3 week old chicks

The 1st chicks of the year to hatch are now three weeks old. They are developing well and feathering up nicely. It is interesting to note that the chicks reared artificially are bigger and a little further ahead than those reared by the broody.

The Exchequer Leghorn chicks with the broody hen have been moved into a larger run, freeing the ark for yet another hatch. They seem happy with the extra space and it gives the mother hen room to 'get away' from them and enjoy her dust bath in peace...well for a few moments at least.


The chicks hatched in the incubator are still in the poultry shed. From the start the door has been open during the day and closed at night. With the warm weather of past few days and the fact that they are feathering up nicely I have been turning their heat lamp off during the day. In addition to chick crumbs they enjoy a twice daily feed of dandelion leaves, goose grass and the occasional apple.

Re testing the fertility of the Indian Game cockerel

As I now have a broody ( several in fact) I thought I would take the opportunity to re test the fertility of the Indn Game cockerel. It has been a couple of weeks since he was penned with just four birds. (Actually they have been free ranging again since the weekend as I needed to prepare the stable for the imminent arrival of lambs.)


I chose the Light Laced Indian Game broody as she successfully reared a couple of broods last year.

Yesterday I placed her in the A frame ark in the garden away from the layers.

Last night I gave her a dozen eggs - a mix of Australorp, Speckled Sussex and Ixworth. Each one I gave her she quickly tucked under her, but this morning I realised 12 were just too many for her, so removed three. She is a small bird and the eggs are large, she sits much more comfortably on just 9.

In 10 days time I will candle the eggs and hopefully this time they will be fertile.

10 day old chicks enjoying goose grass - video

Gold Duckwing Welsummer chicks 3 days old

The Gold Duckwing Welsummer (along with the other chicks from the incubator) are now 3 days old. They have settled into life in the brooder pen well, spending their days eating, drinking and sleeping. The brooder appears to be at optimum temperature as the chicks can often be found sleeping in the classic text book circle under the warmth of the lamp. For now they have the lamp on day and night. After a week I will change to a dull emitter bulb, it is cooler but more importantly it allows the chicks to develop a day/night routine.

Already the young chicks are developing wing and tail feathers.

The photos below show the two distinct colours of the Welsummer chicks. I am assuming the paler chicks will have the colouring of Gold Duckwing and the darker ones will be Partridge, although they will be split for Gold Duckwing (i.e. carry the Gold Duckwing gene). I plan to ring all the Partridge hens I keep to distinguish them from true Partridge Welsummer hens.



Photo below: Barnevelder chicks from the same setting

21 Days

From this..... to this..... ..... in just 21 days.

(previous to me intruding with the camera they were all sleeping in the classic text book circle underneath the warmth of the lamp)

The chicks in the incubator have hatched and are now happily snuggled down in the brooder pen in the poultry shed.

It never ceases to amaze me that a instinct for survival and natural behaviour is there from the beginning; but no matter how much I enjoy watching the eggs hatch and caring for the chicks it still saddens me a little when I compare their lives to the chicks with the mother hen in a run just a few metres away.

First broody setting of 2011

The Indian Game broody has been sitting tight since Sunday, so today I gave her a clutch of 10 Exchequer Leghorn eggs to brood. She accepted them with no more than a growl at me for interferring. Checking an hour later she was covering the eggs well and could possibly have managed a couple more. As an untried broody we still have a long way to go but so far she is doing as expected.

On Saturday I will set the incubator running with Gold Duckwing Welsummer eggs and also a few Speckled Sussex / Indian Game eggs.

All being well they should hatch mid March.