The Cutest Hatchlings
Right on cue six little ducklings appeared under our Partridge Silkie today.We put nine eggs under her exactly 35 days ago, not sure if she would manage such a difficult brood.
For chicken eggs only take 18 to 21 days to hatch. It takes a dedicated broody to stay put for an extra two weeks.
But Partridge Silkie only appeared outside her house once a day to do her ablutions. Other than that she stayed stubbornly tight on the eggs. Today is her reward. She won't mind that they have funny beaks and like to go paddling. A broody hen's maternal instinct is quite enchanting.
The other three eggs were left in the nest. I removed them and any empty shell so they don't attract flies or predators. Unfortunately they all contained fully grown ducklings which did not make it out of the shell. This is sad but nature has a way of weeding out the weakest.
I spent quite a while rearranging the pen for the new ducklings. They needed a tray for their food, a special duck crumb, and enough water to drink and paddle in without drowning. For this I use a strong plastic tray. I just needed to make sure they would be able to jump back out once they were in. This of course necessitated just sitting and watching them for an hour or so.
They might eventually be bound for the table but they are still very cute right now.
Happy that they were safe, I moved onto the sheep. The grass is growing well this year, though I have fears that we are in a mini-drought situation having had virtually no rain for almost a month now. I wanted to put the adult sheep into the lushest section of pasture a couple of weeks ago but realised this may not help the ewes to dry up, for I had just separated them from their lambs. Instead they had to eke it out on short grass for a while until their udders subsided.
I have been giving them treats too, throwing the branches from pruning the stone fruits, as well as some willow and hawthorn from trimming overhanging hedges. They devour unbelievable amounts of leaves and strip the bark too. For a Shetland sheep this is all much more preferable to lush grass.
But today they finally were allowed onto the other side of the fence where they quickly set about tidying the paddock up for me.
I want them to grow quickly now as last year's ram lambs need to go off in late July before their testosterone starts to rise too much.
Wednesday 13th June 2018
Ducknapped!
One extra Muscovy duckling today. One of our hens moved up into the stables over a year ago and she has lived there ever since. She has been joined by Priscilla, Elvis's daughter and the Cream Legbar hens often make their way up from the chicken pen to the stables for the day, but they return to roost with the rest of the flock.
Anyway, our stable hen decided to construct a nest behind the goose stable door so we gave her two of the Muscovy eggs to sit on. Today I entered the stables to find a tiny little duckling wandering around under the close stewardship of... Priscilla! Yes. Prescilla has avoided all the hassle of sitting for 35 days and just somehow misappropriated the duckling when it has hatched. It is firmly imprinted on her so we have moved the pair to their own accommodation in the chicken pen. The other egg was another failed hatch so poor stable hen has done all the work and ended up with nothing.
Meanwhile I have started letting the meat chickens out of their pen during the day They don't wander too far but appreciate the opportunity to peck at greenery and to stretch their legs a little more. They have already been put in their place by one of the guinea fowl as evidenced by a smattering of white feathers all over the place!
