Duckies and Drakes

Our older bunch of two ducks are actually drakes as I suspected.  One is a fantastic Silver Appleyard and he is huge. Much bigger than his parents. The other is a Dark Campbell, but unfortunately he ate something which didnt agree with him and he died suddenly.  My other two duckies are younger and are definitely ducks (female). Drakes are very active in the romance department and are finding these two young duckies irresistable much to their disgust. They quack very loudly when the drake threatens to do the business. I have had to separate them by a low fence to keep them from being abused too much and so they feel safe until they are old enough to cope with the attention. The good thing about ducks such as Silver Appleyards or Dark Campbells is they dont fly so a low knee-high fence or temporary plastic fencing is enough to contain them into a particular area. As the weather this year has been so awful I have had to keep them off the muddier parts so they dont mess up their coop as much and it is healthier for them.



I have come to the conclusion that ducks are indeed stupid, but they are funny creatures though and just as watchable as chickens. They are apt to avoid human contact though unlike chickens, but herding them shepherd style is such fun as they all move like a little army all together all quacking loudly as they go.

Crazy Chicks

Our little Poland and Appenzeller chicks are now 2 weeks old and are growing fast. They are living in a coop on our patio at home. It is completely fascinating to watch India the mother hen teaching the chicks what to eat and what to drink. When she spies a seagull or other large bird in the sky she issues a short, sharp cry which results in the scattered chicks immediately running for cover under my planters. Once she gives the all-clear the chicks come out again looking for goodies in my flower beds. The term "mother hen" is really appropriate. They are mothers in the highest degree and they have never been taught, they just know instinctively what to do.

Today I had a real giggle. India had found them a worm, a huge one, at least twice the size of the chicks and as thick as a pencil. One chick would grab it in the centre, and with the ends dragging on the ground like some weird moustache, it would run off, frantically chased by the others. Another would ambush the first chick, grab the worm and run off in the other direction, again followed by the others. Another time, two chicks would be having a tug of war at each end of the worm. This rapid game of worm tag went on for a full 20 minutes with them all in full cheep mode. It was a real delight to watch. As small as they are, they pick up their adult behaviour very early on.  Once you start keeping chickens you realise just how clever they are. Not bird-brains at all.

Clearing the Patio

After the atrocious weather we have been having in our wonderful summer, we have been getting ourselves together and clearing the patio out. As we were re-arranging our garden so that chickens were more weatherproof, we have been tipping loads of stuff on the patio. Its been a bit like clearing the attic, I dont know how on earth we managed to create so much junk. Little by little we have made a space now and we can actually see our beautiful cedar decking. It just needs a bit of sprucing up with a preserver and it will look as good as new. I am looking forward to having the "sun" umbrella up and drinking a little glass of chilled white wine whilst waiting for the barbecue to heat up. We have put the chicken keeping courses on hold whilst we have been doing our renovations but we will soon be raring to go again.

In the meantime we have just hatched some gorgeous little Poland chickens under our broody whose name is India (because she is an Indian Game) a bit lacking in imagination that one, but she suits it. She reminds me of a pretty little bird. She is a typical female colouration that you get in garden birds, not flamboyant like a cockerel but she is stunning as she is. She is mostly dark but she has lovely markings on her feathers which light up in the sun. She is also such a sweetie and a fantastically dedicated mother. I will put some pictures of the chicks on soon so keep looking.

My Sister and Me

My sister, whom I love very much, has told me off for awful spelling. She cannot seem to grasp that technology runs, kicking and screaming, away from me as soon as I come near.  She is the one who has created these web pages. I have just learned to text. Not very well I might add. It takes me hours to do what comes naturally to her. Please stop giving me difficult tasks to do. Dumb it down. I'm not a typist. Or a good speller. Be gentle with me.
All my love
Your thoroughly exasperated sister
Jane

Courses for Horses

We have been getting into the swing of doing our Chicken Keeping courses for this year and we have to say that we have thoroughly enjoyed doing them. We have been very lucky to have picked some good weather for our dates and we have been very fortunate to have met some great people at the same time. Its a great feeling to know that we have passed on some of our enthusiasm for chicken keeping onto others. Keith is our main presenter as he is highly skilled from his years of holding seminars for the NHS. He delivers with a great mix of humour and attention to detail and I am very proud of him. I act as his sort of Debbie Magee and provider of the most delicious oven fresh scones for our Cream Teas. I have to confess that since we visited Cornwall I am also now addicted to clotted cream, so I can indulge myself whilst baking, and if I am lucky enough, there may be one left over at the end of the day so I can scoff with a guilty but very happy smile.

Duckies Now Appear to be Drakes!

Our 15 week old ducks that I had high hopes would be female are not quacking, they still sound like males. I cant say I am not disappointed.  One of them is a beautiful light colouration so he/she will be particularly good as a breeder.  The other is more like a Dark Campbell. They are fantastic layers it has to be said. My original 2 Silver Appleyard ducks started laying just after new year and have rarely missed a day. That is a fantastic record and duck eggs are marvelously tasty.

I have two more ducklings at 7 weeks old and they are quacking so at least I have females there I think.

Queen's Diamond Jubilee

Just watching the Queen's diamond jubilee concert and I am thoroughly enjoying it.  Robbie Williams rocks!