Katiebob

I'm so very sorry I hope you and Milly can have more good times together before her time comes. I can't imagine how you're feeling right now but it must be awful. I hope you can come to terms with all this once you have got over the initial shock so that you can enjoy the time she has left and have many happy memories

Jury's out here but could be a hen. This is my Gold Wyandotte hen (Spangles) for comparison. Sorry for the quality of the picture but it's the only one I've got stored and she's gone to bed!

That's good news Long may it continue. My solitary chick is still a solitary chick with nothing hatching so today I went to my chook supplier and bought 6 new chicks to keep him/her company. Ungrateful little sod has decided they're good to peck at and bully. MY chick is 3 days old, the new ones are a week old and looking at them all, I'm now not so sure he or she is a Gold laced wyandotte bantam but maybe a splash Orpington chick Mine is definitely larger than the others and I only got 4 bantam chicks - the rest are L/F and include a Brahma!! Can't remember what they all are to be honest, but I know one is a Rhode Island Red bantam, a couple of Pekin bantams etc. I'll also get some pics of them for here and then you can all have fun trying to identify them (Runs off to charge camera batteries which is the reason I haven't posted promised pics )

I'm impressed Cheryl, but I'm not that organised. I also found that some of my chooks didn't like layers pellets so I switched to layers mash and I add a tiny amount of mixed grain to it. The birds love it and it's much more economical. I still buy layers pellets ( don't laugh because Forrest ADORES them :lol:) but I don't buy it exclusively like I used to. I buy layers pellets, layers mash and mixed corn and vaguely mix them in the feeders. Chick (now called Billy for obviously reasons) has been moved to the brooder. I have just re-checked the rest of the eggs and in theory there are 3 which should hatch. If not, I'll have to go buy some chicks Sorry about the lack of pics. We had peeps over for dinner last night so was manic and today I've been to a dog trainer/behaviourist lecture all day. I promise I'll sort it tomorrow.

Poor (naughty) Cacky

I have a single gold laced Wyandotte bantam chick in my incy I hope more hatch soon cos this little one looks very lonely although it is very bright and chirpy considering it only hatched this afternoon Bet it's a boy cos it's feet look enormous

I've got varifocal lenses (and have now had them for 18 months). I HATED them for the first three months at least. My eyes used to water all the time and the lenses used to collect protein deposits so that my vision was cloudy as a result. My optician told me to use the protein tablets on the lenses and, to be honest, after a few more weeks using the protein tablets too, things improved substantially. I now wear them all the time I then managed to lose one and as neither the Optician or I were sure which one I'd lost, my latest prescription is the 'old' prescription so the reading bit isn't that great presently but I'm sure if I went back and got my prescription changed, I'd be able to read perfectly well. It's true that they are a sort of hybrid solution to the problem and will never be efficient as distance lenses and glasses for reading, but I prefer them 99% of the time. NB - you don't have to look through the top or anywhere in particular for them to work,

Chaz has realised Forrest is another cockerel It's ok though, Forrest can outrun Chaz (by miles) and he can also fly onto the fences so Chaz has no chance of getting him It's actually a good combination and much better than the Dave/Chaz one where Dave had the upper hand and Chaz couldn't escape. Forrest still has his own fan club although I did see him trying to sit on our Pekin bantam and she protested quite loudly as she's much smaller than he is. He is growing up into a very handsome boy so I'll try to get some pics tomorrow for you. I've taken some pics of my chicks so that you can try to identify their sexes but the pics aren't good - they seem to think that a camera is something evil and they must hide when they see it! I'll try to get some better ones tomorrow to post. My incy eggs should hatch soon but so far, no sign of anything. I've candled them and they look promising but I don't like this new incy - despite it's claims I'm having to spray the eggs with water all the time to get the humidity high enough. We'll see.

Sorry Jazz, didn't see this until now but in all honesty, I couldn't have gone to Norfolk yesterday anyway.

I'm so sorry for your loss Sleep tight Spike

Congratulations Cheryl on your first anniversary I just had a minor heart attack. Marti - YOUR handrear foster kitten (Cheryl - he's only mine when he's perfect ) just brought in a huge (dead) bird. I thought it was one of the Orp x chicks which I'd either missed when getting them all in (unlikely cos they cheep like mad if they're away from their 'mother', Whoopi) or that it was one of our Poland bantams. So Sue and I have literally just got back from checking the chicken coop and we haven't got anything missing. Re-checked dead bird and it looks like he has caught a moorhen. Poor little moorhen. Marti has been chastised but I know he'll do it again because he's that age, little horror. I really find it difficult to be fond of cats at his age because of their destructive natures He will get better, I know!

I know we're on clay so it does go bone dry quickly but the only place in our paddocks which has any give is where I inadvertently left the hose running for 2 hours I think it's because we're so far south east but although we have had a bit of rain (not much by SW standards ) it hasn't penetrated the ground. It's raining here tonight (started about an hour ago) but it isn't raining hard. We seem to have a sub-climate in this area so when the weather men say it will be dull, it's bright sunshine and when they say it will be chilly, we have deep snow

I'm so very pleased for you and Kane, Jacky. Well done on your successes and every more congratulations for overcoming your fears and getting on with enjoying Kane I hope you have a fantastic time at your next competition and also on the sponsored ride. Kane looks really well now, a credit to you

As you will have no winter grazing at your present yard, I'd say that the extra £20 a week will be about the same as you'll have to pay if you stay where you are. I'm paying £3 a bale for hay off the field - good quality hay, I'll admit - and my horse eats 20 lbs a night. Our grazing at home is gone now as we, like a lot of places, haven't had enough rain to get the grass growing so I also have to feed a day net in the field! I'm told that hay will be at a premium price this year due to the lack of rain (here) although in some areas the hay crop may have been swamped by too much rain - who knows? In your situation, I would almost definitely move and benefit from the good fencing, well managed land etc. I would also definitely find the money somehow to pay for morning turnout. Good luck - I hope it works out for you

Olive looks so much like my Poland bantams - hard to believe she's L/F - I'll wait to see her grow with interest I'm told that apart from the difference in sharp/rounded feathers and comb, the other difference is that boys have much bigger feet? Not sure with that one but my poultry breeder says it's true. I cant decide with my own chicks on their sexes, let alone yours!! I think I've got a different variation every day, made even more impossible because they're cross- breeds

Sadly apparently the law says I'm not allowed to shoot him although I'd love to. Our horses were in the same paddock where he shot the magpie. Our horses HATE going into that paddock and I can totally understand why. The paddock where the chicken got shot is immediately adjacent to the one where the magpie was found and well within his sights (and I found a gunshot wound on it, anyway) . I've shouted lots of times about how he cannot shoot over our paddocks but the little horror doesn't give a s**t. Cos I can't prove it was him I'm a bit stuck but we will be mentioning it to his mum (who buys eggs from us) and his dad who has done work here too I can understand about parents being defensive about their children but his behaviour just isn't on! The air rifle was confiscated for a while when he was trying to shoot next door's roof slates off but seems to have been returned. I HATE school holidays around here. Forrest's crow was pretty good - it will be on a par with Dave when he's had a bit of practice - and actually better than Chaz's when he first started Chaz has improved loads but I think it's the competition! The boys definitely keep apart but there's no animosity at all and fingers crossed that's how it will continue Must post pics of Forrest's harem but it does include our Splash Orpington bantam, a Buff Sussex bantam, one of the Silver Laced Wyandottes, a Black Rock, one of the Whte Stars, the Amber Star, the Blue Cochin, and a few others, although they are all pretty fickle and the harem does change from day to day

Forrest crowed for the first time today Lucky for him he's here now, Cheryl although Mr Hazel might not agree

Hmmmmmmm, found one of my brown hens dead of a gunshot wound in our paddock today (there was also a magpie which had died by the same means). I know who did it although I can't prove it. Nasty horrible neighbour's children Too young to have an air rifle (especially one with laser sights) but parents think he's a lovely child. One day I hope he does some damage to himself with the wretched gun. I could get police involved because it's an offence to shoot across other people's land - and he's underage anyway - but I can just imagine the kind of reprisals it would cause. I'll think on it for a while before I decide any action Don't worry, Mrs Bejo, Forrest isn't brave enough to venture that far.

I'm so very pleased to hear that Flissy is back home with you and on the road to recovery.

All those chicks are just soooooo gorgeous. We named our red/black Pekin 'Bissell' cos with her feathered legs when she walks around she looks just like a little carpet sweeper

Just candled my incy eggs. Quite a few fertile and live ones, a few I'm not sure about too I'll give them a little while longer and check again before i remove any. Need to increase the humidity in the incy now that I've worked out how it works! This incy is challenging me although mostly because the instructions are in quasi English-Korean

Beautiful girl Wishing all good thoughts for her.

Sorry - duplicate post

A sad day today because my Light Sussex hen died She was lovely but hadn't been looking well for the last 3 days and despite me getting ab's from the vet, I couldn't save her. Forrest had decided she was the love of his life and has been guarding her for the last 3 days so it was especially sad althoug he does have his own fan club, which is totally separate to Chaz's fan club so I think he'll be ok If my incy eggs hatch I may have to swop one or a pair for a Light Sussex hen just for Forrest

Maybe I'm soft too? Whoopi today let the chicks not only out of the run but decided to take them round the paddocks and yard to search for interesting food. She talked to them all the time and they kept close by her side (which was good because I thought the horses might gallop around the paddock and take them all out at any time Anyway, all worked out ok in the end. I've left them so that they can come and go as they please now because it seems stupid to confine them again. Wish the rain would stop though cos it's making the chicken run disgusting