First broody hatch of 2013

The Indian Game hen has hatched 8 of the 9 eggs placed under her 21 days ago.The 9th chick sadly failed to hatch despite having pipped all around the shell.

The hen is one, if not the best of my broody flock. 

At the end of November last year, she hatched and raised 17 chicks from 19 eggs, despite the dreadful winter and she is the first and so far only bird to have gone broody this season.

I have four of her November pullets for sale, but as she is now 'getting on' in years I think I may keep a couple, hoping they will be as good a broody as their mother.

However for now a photo of 2013's first chicks to be hatched naturally - for me the best way. There is nothing like a mother hen and her chicks.

Photo: Indian Game hen and 3 of 8 Gold Duckwing Welsummer chicks

 

Surprise late hatch in photos - for Dad

Latest chicks  - from an Indian Game hen X Gold Duckwing Welsummer cock.  17/19 hatched

 Day 1:

 Day 2-3 :

Day 4 :

Quick catch up

Photo: Young Gold Duckwing Welsummer pullets

With so much else happening just lately, posts have been few and far between. Life and routine, in the poultry world, however continues.

Most of the laying hens are now in moult and eggs are at a minimum. The cockerels have lost their grandeur and the hens resemble prickly pin cushions. The Welsummer flock have synchronized their moult, simultaneously dropping the majority of their feathers and all completely off lay. Hopefully it will be a short, sharp moult - the sign of a good layer.

All the 'spare' cockerels are now in the freezer, leaving us with just a couple of young Exchequer Leghorns. These will probably be carried through the winter and assessed early in the New Year, when they have matured a little.

All the growers are now running together in a large grass pen at home. The Gold Duckwing Welsummers, at 13 and 18 weeks old are looking good and are ready to find new homes. I would expect the older ones, at least to come into lay this year.


Photo: Gold Duckwing Welsummer Pullet


A couple of the Indian Game have recently been broody but this has been discouraged as I feel it is too late in the year to rear chicks.

Fianlly - the turkeys. They are growing very quickly and never fail to keep everyone entertained. A bird I thoroughly enjoy keeping and hope to breed one day, rather than just rearing for Christmas.

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.

FOR SALE - Broody Indian Game + Hatching eggs

SOLD:



She may not be of show quality - her legs aren't that yellow and her lacing not well defined but as a broody hen and mother she is star quality.

Although a young bird - from a 2010 hatch, she has already this season successfully raised one brood. 10 Exchequer Leghorn eggs were set under her, all 10 hatched and all 10 chicks survived.

She proved to be an excellent mum, protective of her chicks yet accepting of human interference.

Just before the chicks were 6 weeks old she came back into lay and has been laying regularly since.

She is now broody again and I have no reason to doubt she will once again sit tight and successfully raise a brood.

With care, she should move without becoming unsettled.

She is available to buy along with a clutch of 10 hatching eggs of choice....

Gold Duckwing Welsummer
Exchequer Leghorn
A lucky dip mix of breeds running with a Gold Duckwing Welsummer cockerel
or a combination of all three.

Price £20 collection only - please email me for further information

Also available an untried Indian Game cross broody with eggs (as above) - £15 SOLD

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.

Candling Eggs

The weekend saw the 10 day mark for the Exchequer Leghorn eggs under the Indian Game broody. As an untried broody she is behaving remarkably well but so far she has had little to no disturbance. I wasn't sure how she would react to me removing the eggs from under her, albeit very gently and for a minimum of time to enable me to candle them, but she took it in her stride with just a token peck of my hand in protest and then snuggled the eggs back under once they were returned.

All 10 eggs are fertile - 100% - I couldn't ask for more. 100% hatch rate is another matter, there is a while to go yet.

As the eggs are white every detail inside the egg can be seen when they are candled, so unlike the Welsummers, their dark shells making it almost impossible to see anything more than shadow and light.

This morning I also candled the eggs in the incubator. Once again all the Exchequer Leghorn eggs are fertile. It is hard to tell with the Welsummer eggs, a few look as if they may have died in the first few days. I have marked them, returned them to the incubator and will candle again on Day 18.

I had the same problem with the Barnevelder eggs, as they are also dark. These eggs came through the post and despite being very well packed several have ruputured air sacs. Normally I candle posted eggs before incubating but failed to do so this time. I have returned the eggs with the 'dodgey' air sacs back into the incubator, sometimes if they aren't too bad they have a chance of hatching, we'll see. One of the eggs was clear and has been discarded, a few more I am unsure about and will again candle them on day 18.

All of the Indian Game eggs were clear. I know the cockerel is fertile and think the problem arises from having him free ranging with a number of birds. In the next few days I will reorganise the runs and place him into a smaller grass run with just 3 or 4 hens. An excuse to set more eggs in a couple of weeks time.

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.

Planning for the breeding season

Despite many weeks of freezing temperatures, ice and snow at the end of 2010 and the New Year starting dull and wet, the cockerels are in fine form and raring to go. Most of last year's pullets are now in lay and the older birds have finished their moult and are looking neat and tidy.

We still have an excess of cockerels. We never managed to deal with all the table birds before Christmas and kept several of the young breeding cockerels back, waiting until they had matured more before making a decision on which to keep.

One of the Exchequer Leghorn cockerels stood out from the rest, making our choice easy. His colouring is good, he matured earlier than the others, is treading the hens frequently and is quite spell bounding, strutting around with an air of confidence and arrogance

Photo: Exchequer Leghorn cockerel 2010 hatch.

The Gold Duckwing Welsummers are proving to be everything I could wish for. The pullets are laying large dark eggs on an almost daily basis. The birds themselves are quiet and friendly, crouching as I enter the pen and happy to be handled. The cockerel I kept from last year's hatch is stunning and despite not using him as this year's breeding cock I am reluctant to part with him and am considering developing a second line.

Photo: Gold Duckwing Welsummer cockerel 2010 hatch with an Indian Game pullet and a crossbred pullet.



I will use the same Indian game cockerel as last year. He is still very young and produced many good birds. We are keeping two of his pullets, the young cockerel will either be advertised for sale along with other birds or put into the freezer.

Photo: Indian Game cockerel in full cry. 2010 hatch.