Piggy Pix

New Kune Kune Pigs!

Today saw the arrival of our first piggies. A breeding sow and her castrated male pal.
We hope to breed the sow and maybe grow on one of her piglets for the freezer. The rest will be available for sale.

It has been a very hot day for the pigs but they have taken the move very much in their stride and are currently sunbathing with Hermione the nanny goat and her kid. The sow has taken to Hermione and they keep touching noses which is very sweet. The male is pretty indifferent and very easy going.

They really enjoyed a good brush with a coarse scrubbing brush earlier!
Here is a little video:

Auction 25/05

Lousy day at auction - I think everyone was enjoying the sun instead!
The chicks made rubbish money and even had to bring a pair of Golden Partridge Pekins home that went unsold.

Never mind.

I did however bring some nice eggs back including Black Pekin, Fresian Fowl, Guinea Fowl, Light & Speckled Sussex and Russian Orloff!

Hatchery Update

We have had a nice hatch of 4 Barred Plymouth Rock, a Buff Plymouth Rock Bantam, 2 Chocolate Orpington Bantams, 4 Rhode Island Red Bantams and 3 Light Sussex Bantams plus 3 Chinese Painted Quail. There are a bunch of eggs due to hatch over the next day or so. Will report back on those and try to get some nice pics.

In the brooders and growing on nicely are 3 Japanese Quail and a number of Silver & Light Sussex.

The oldest batches are all ready and boxed up for auction tomorrow. There are some Pekin Bantams, 2 Pied Jumbo Quail and a Cotswold Legbar. The incubator is pretty empty as I missed auction last week to meet with an officer from Worcestershire Regulatory Services about the possibility of opening the property to the public. Hopefully I will manage to buy about 15 boxes of hatching eggs tomorrow and get the incubator full again!

Random Photos

Some sunny pics from around the smallholding

Lucian on a tractor at Dudley Zoo



Luna



Fly

Luna

Cokey the Goose sitting on a nest of eggs!

Fingers crossed for Goslings :o)

Papa

Silkie Cockerel

Rabbit & Owl aviaries

Lionhead Rabbit - kits in the nest!

Mum of our first 2012 baby rabbits (still in the nest)

Hugo

Karate Kid

Mustard in the Bunny Barn

This clip is a bit of fun but on a serious note, shows just how fast a herd of rabbits can obliterate farmer's crops!

We endeavour to grow a large variety of edible plant matter for the animals, but you can see how hard it is to keep up with their voracious appetite for fresh food.

Auction

Good day at auction yesterday - I sold all the Buff Orpingtons & Silver Dorkings, plus picked up more Light Sussex & Rhode Island Reds for the incubator.
Also got a bargain - an electric hen for £15 (they retail at £40).

The first lot of Chinese Painted Quail are due to go into the hatcher today so will report back on the hatch early week.

Fox Attack

We have lost Mrs Hen to a fox, along with all of her eggs. Every last one.
Needless to say we are very disappointed as the two free range chickens have survived for a long time by roosting in the stable but we did not know where the hen was laying until it was too late and she was well into incubating her nest. She remained safe under the bridge for 2 weeks before a fox figured out how to get to her.

I just want to say that we don't blame the fox at all. It was probably a vixen with cubs to have returned so many times and take all those eggs. We believe that it is wrong to trap or shoot foxes - it is up to the livestock keeper to protect their animals from predators, which we sadly failed to do on this occassion.

Hatchery Update: May

Today we had a nice hatch of 8 Silver sussex and 6 Light Sussex Bantams

In the incubator we have a lonely Turkey egg, a number of Chinese Painted Quail, more Light Sussex Bantams, Chocolate Orpington Bantam, Lavender Araucana, 30 Cuckoo Pekin, Rhode Island Red Bantams and Plymouth Rocks (Large Fowl & Bantam).

Left in the Brooders are the following:

Buff Orpington & Silver Dorkings all due to go to market on Friday

Various Pekin Bantams plus the 4 Sultans which will stay here. We also plan to add the Lemon Cuckoo Pekins to our pair of hens as one is definitely a cock and we lost our beautiful 'Tik-Tok' last year so hopefully this lad will make a nice replacement for our girls.

Quail

and two Khaki Campbells ducklings

Bouncing Hugo

Hugo's little horns have come through and with them, a devilish personality has appeared.

If I had to describe him in two words they would be 'mischievous' and 'comical'.

He bounces around and butts the poor rabbits. Before Wilbur gets chance to strike back, Hugo has gone! He moves like greased lightening and it is quite funny to watch Wilbur give chase.

I even saw Hugo bounce off at full speed then let out a loud cry for no reason. Hermione looked up and the rabbits tried their best to look innocent. Star the guinea pig is the sensible one. He spends most of his time under the hay enjoying a quiet life.

Pastures New - 2012 Sales Begin

A number of the little chickies have started to be sold now and the silkie pullet, a legbar, maran and 8 light sussex in total have gone off to their new homes.

Plenty of eggs on their way through though so the brooders will not be emptying any time soon!