This week, we’ve seen the birth of many farm friends of all shapes and sizes, feathers and fluff, two legs and four legs.. its been a whirlwind adventure and I’m here to carry you on a magic carpet over those thermal winds!
The incubator had a 90% success rate with 18 out of 20 eggs hatching. N.B. 1 chick had a dodgy foot so its chances are limited. As manager, I would normally receive many letters and flowers through the post (properly sprayed before opening – no offense!) but in a moment of confession, I can’t take any congratulations regarding Chicken Corner’s mega fertility rate this season as these eggs weren’t produced by the orchard community. No, instead they were an external purchase and I’m not entirely sure of the breed types, only the chicks had the fluff of white, partridge, black, brown varieties. They’re a very charismatic group, confident and dumpy, in contrast to their older counterparts: 7 white chicks that hatched 6 weeks earlier (also external). They are a flighty bunch! Having previously sexed them as 6 cockerels and 1 hen, I now think there are 3 cockerels and 4 hens. It’s all in the way the comb and wattles develop... they haven’t magically trans-gendered..
Part of the clever ‘Lost and Found’ title theme.. and easing readers’ anxiety over April’s edition, I have finally found both broody hens around the farm! The Light Sussex in the barn by the granny mobile and the Pekin X Araucana under a bush, where we had been clearing lots. How we missed her I do not know. The pekin hatched 6 chicks (4 black, 2 partridge), unfortunately, due to a rather stressful catch and re-release mission, (maybe more a by-product as I didn’t want to move them sooner), both partridge pekin chicks have disappeared.. there are a few culprits I’ve got my eyes on. Suspect A. Mr Rat living under the duck house. Suspect B. Mr Magpie hanging around a lot. Suspect C. Any random crow.
I’ve moved her and her remaining cohort into the shed – she’s still rather frazzled and very aggressive. This is good against predators but not when I’m trying to give her food, which if she didn’t have, her chicks would die anyway. Something for her to work on: Prioritisation. It’s a crucial skill as a career woman and even more necessary for career women who are also (single) mothers! Think of all that balancing!... massive tangent there, yet a very important social issue that should not be merely applicable to human societies, but Chicken Corner as well.
Right, so that family took top bunk and the light sussex and her 2 chicks (least she’ll get government support for both I guess), are in the cage underneath. Both her chicks have fluffy feet, that shows Big Brahma was doing his job.
Further up the yard, its been touch and go (mostly ‘go’ thankfully) as I watched from the carrel side-lines (and occasionally actively helped) a four-legged buddle of fluff take her first steps into the world. Ruby is newest arrival to Izzi’s Bates Moor Farm cattle circle, and she exemplifies it very well being in fact a Highland X Lincoln Red (the two native beef breeds here on the farm).
If you don’t have the honour of @HeyThereFarmGirl’s quotidian updates, then I’ll quickly give you a run down on the story so far. Ruby was born with disfigurement to the nose and mouth. From a portrait photograph it is easier to observe how the left nostril (her perspective) has failed to join and so the jaw juts upwards at an angle. To our relief, she does have a top mouth palette so she will, can and IS eating A LOT. The hungry, Lincoln Red side of her comes out at feeding time, this currently being twice-daily with Izzi’s helpful assistance.
Only a week-old, Ruby is slowly gaining control of her tongue as a muscle and definitely knows milk comes from her mum, Annag’s, udders, but its just the getting-it-in-the-mouth that’s she’s currently struggling to grasp (pardon the pun). As a result, she’s started to associate long ginger hair with feeding time (this is Izzi, and as I look the same, she thinks I’m also Izzi). With that physical characteristic in mind, if you happen to be strolling passed their pen, I guarantee you’ll hear a mighty, little ‘moo!’.. maybe more like a lamb’s ‘baa!’.. but anyway, its Ruby announcing its milkshake time!
Hope everyone is staying safe!
Until next time Chicks x
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