We have a Call Duckling :)

Well, the broody Pekin, done what incubator 3 couldn't do and successfully hatched a Call Duckling :), just the one so far. We did have another pip but it died :(, we also have another one that is internally pipped, so fingers crossed for better luck with this one. I'm not sure anything is happening with the remaining 4 eggs though. 

We have had our move confirmed today and we'll be moving on May 11, so not long to get things sorted and packed :o...Still, the sooner we move, the sooner things can get back to normal. I shall start saving eggs for the incubators from the weekend, so one can go on as soon as we're in and it's set up. I plan on setting incubator 2 with eggs from our chickens and incubator 1 will be duck eggs, hopefully Miniature Silver Appleyards, some East Indians and a few White Runners.

I have had a lovely evening in the garden tonight, just watching the birds and thinking how much they're like their new houses and runs :). I also put our 6 week old ducklings in with our adult Calls for a few hours this afternoon so they can get used to each other, as I'll be having them all in the same house when we move.

Eggs have been ok today, we've had

2 Call Duck

1 Turkey

2 Black Pekin

2 Lavender Pekin

1 Buff Pekin

Very NEARLY got a Call Duckling :)

We have one Call Duckling zipping around it's shell, so hopefully by the morning, we'll have a new baby. Another two have internally pipped and can hear cheeping from one of them, so fingers crossed, there'll be others to keep the first one company.

Not only did we have our first Millifluer Pekn egg today, we had our second too!, hopefully the other girl will be laying soon too :)

All I have done today is clean out the brooders, so yet another quiet lazy day for me. Not sure what I plan on doing tomorrow yet, hopefully we'll get confirmation on our move and I can start drawing up plans for the runs and houses and hatchery.

Eggs have been quite good today, we've had
2 Call Duck
1 Turkey
1 Friesian Fowl
1 Yokohama Bantam
1 Lavender Pekin
1 Buff Pekin
2 Millifluer Pekin

Still no progress on the Call Duck eggs

The Call Duck eggs have still not pipped, but there is still pushing on the membranes, so we'll see what's happening tomorrow. I am going to be patient this time and let nature take it's course!

We've had a lovely day out today at Gilbert Whites House museum in Shelbourne, then went for dinner on Hayling Island, so not done anything with the chickens today. To be honest, I like I am at a bit of a loose end with so few chickens now compared to 2 months ago and I really don't have enough to do to keep me busy all day. It'll change when we move though with all the new pens and houses to build etc!.

All I have planned for tomorrow is cleaning out the brooders and the duck house.

As for eggs, today we've had
1 Call Duck
1 Turkey
1 Friesian Fowl
2 Black Pekin
2 Buff Pekin
1 Lavender Pekin

Old Engliish Game finally found a new home

Today we said goodbye to our Old English Game Bantams, so now we just have the Black Pekins to go and we're at the level we agreed to take to our new house.  I have cleaned out there house and have now moved our the 7 week olds into it.

Not really done much else today, just cleaned out all the brooders. It's been a day of washing the clothes and playing Pirates lol

No progress with the Call Duck eggs under the broody, still a lot of movement and pushing of the membranes, but no pipping yet. Will just have to be patient.

Eggs have been better today, we have had
1 Call Duck
1 Turkey
1 Friesian Fowl
1 Yokohama Bantam
2 Lavender Pekin
1 Buff Pekin
1 Black Pekin

Things starting to happen under the broody

I have been out and candled the eggs under the broody this evening. it gave me
something to do whilst we had a power cut....more about that in a minute. Once of the eggs under the broody is giving really good, strong pushes on the membranes, so hopefully will soon internally pip and we may actually get to successfully hatch a Call Duckling (well.....the broody might!)

As I just mentioned, we had a power cut tonight, so I was running around like a fool putting a nice thick pillow on the incubator and making an impromptu haybox for the 2 day old chicks.....no sooner as I had put them in there and within 1 second on putting a lid on it, the power came back on!!!!!..It was out for about 45 minutes....Anyway, chicks are back under their heat lamp and happy now. As for the pillow on the incubator....It worked!...the incubator only dropped 2 degree's and was soon back up to 37.6 :)

Not really done much else today, had a bit of a day off, but will have plenty of cleaning out to do tomorrow including all the brooders, Call Ducks, Growers and Turkeys.

As for eggs today, we've had
1 Call Duck
1 Lavender Pekin
1 Black Pekin
1 Buff Pekin

When I say 1 Call Duck egg, what I mean is I could only find 1 egg...chances are there's loads dotted around the garden somewhere lol 

Incubator 2 is now all cleaned out and packed away

We had just one more chick out this morning, a little Buff Pekin. The rest were dead in shell. Maybe it was because I managed to squeeze 60 eggs into a 24 egg incubator?, anyway, with the move coming up and another 2 hatches due in the next week and a half, I'm not too disappointed with 32 chicks.

I candled the eggs in incubator 1 today which is due to hatch in a week on Saturday and took out 1 Yokohama and a few of the White Pekins (as expected as some of the eggs were nearly 3 weeks old when I set them!), but all the others seem to be doing well. I also candled the Call Duck eggs under the broody Pekin as it is now day 25 and hatching could start at any time, so I'll candle them daily from now. The broody is fine with me removing the eggs to candle them and doesn't get stressed at all.

Cleaned out a couple of brooders today had a bit more of a tidy up outside, so now it really is all done, so I can have a day off tomorrow apart from cleaning out the duck brooder!. Hopefully, we'll also have the move date confirmed tomorrow, so things can get moving properly.

Had a few more eggs today, we had
1 Call Duck
1 Turkey
1 Lavender Pekin
1 Black Pekin
2 Buff Pekin
1 Yokohama Bantam

Incubator 2 - Hatch day 2

We've now got a total of 31 chicks out and a couple more pipping, I think that will be it, but we'll see in the morning, today's hatch was mainly Pekns, but we had a few Friesian Fowl hatch too. They are all now in the brooder.

Didn't have much chance to top up my sunburn today, been cloudy all day, but  I have been out and finished the garden, including a big bonfire that's still burning away.

Eggs have been rubbish today with just:
1 Buff Pekin
1 Friesian Fowl
1 Call Duck
1 Turkey

Good job I'm not setting the incubator again until we move, as it would be a bit empty.  have decided that the first hatches I shall do when we move will be Miniature Silver Appleyards, Call Ducks and East Indian Ducks in incubator 1 and whatever our chickens lay in incubator 2 and I'll probably throw in 3 or 4 Turkey eggs too!

Incubator 2 hatch day 1, sunburn and lots of washing up!

We've had 11 chicks out of incubator 2 so far with another 20 pipped. The first 10 have just been moved into the brooder. So far we have had 1 Yokohama bantam, 1 Friesian Fowl, 2 Legbars (both
girls) and the rest are Pekins of all sorts of colours. I also took 3 dead eggs out of the incubator as well as a couple earlier today, so I'll be happy with 30-35 chicks from this batch.

I have been out in the garden all day today and managed to get sun burnt arms, face and neck. I didn't realise the sun was so strong, but it's been a lovely, almost summery day today. I've managed to get loads done. First off, I had to help someone dismantle our 10 x 6 shed which we put on freecycle as it's falling apart, after that, I cleared up all the mess left behind, including a nest of 5 Call Duck eggs that was under the shed.

After that, I cleared up the front garden, then went back to the back garden and washed up all the drinkers and feeders which took about 3 hours as there's around 100 items altogether! (the photo is about 1/4 of them all). I had the Silkies and the Sablepoots roaming the garden with the ducks and Turkeys and was delightful to be working away with nosey birds that keep coming up to see what you are doing!, after that I cleaned out the duck brooder and went to pick up a new bed for my step son. so now, apart from putting the birds to bed, I plan on doing bugger all for the rest of the evening!

On the egg front today, we have had
1 Call Duck
2 Buff Pekin
1 Lavender Pekin (think the other girl may be laying now)
1 Black Pekin
1 Freisian Fowl

Incubator 2 - the first one is out :)

The first chick is out, it's the little Yokohama bantam that pipped yesterday. It seemed to have got a bit stuck, so I just helped it get the last bit of shell off as the membranes were drying out and sticking to the chick. There's plenty more than have pipped either externally or internally and lots of cheeping, so I would expect to see a few chicks in the incubator in the morning including our Friesian Fowls and Legbars :)

I have had a well earned day off today after all the work over the weekend and even had the luxury of an afternoon nap (well I am getting old!!). So all I have really done with the birds today is let them out, check eggs and put them to bed. I did let my 6 week olds out for the day today and they loved it. They'll be out full time in a couple of weeks or so.

I've not really got anything specific planned for tomorrow, but I do have a "to do" list which includes washing all the feeders and drinkers (we have about 30 of each!), so not a quick or easy job, but if it's warm and sunny, I'll fill a bowl up and wash them all in the garden. Of course the duck brooder will need cleaning out again tomorrow (although the ducks are outside all day now, they still make a mess!) and the first batch of new chicks will go in the brooder.

Very quiet on eggs today with just
1 Buff Pekin
1 Black Pekin
1 Call Duck
1 Turkey

Incubator 2 on lock down and pipping already

Incubator 2 went into lock down mode last night and tonight we have cheeping and one of the Yokohama bantams has pipped. Good job the brooder is all set up ready!

Had another busy day today taking runs down, de-nailing and burning wood. I did find time to clean out the brooders though. Just a bit of pottering around the garden tomorrow to tidy it up and it will all be done until the week before we move.

Today we have had
2 Call Duck Eggs
2 Buff Pekin Eggs
1 Lavender Pekin Egg
1 Friesian Fowl Egg

Little duckling didn't make it through the second night :(

 The little duckling was dead in the brooder this morning :(. It wasn't any surprise, as it was very weak when it hatched and wasn't up on it's feet for around 14 hours after hatching. I also gave up on the remaining eggs in the incubator as there was no sign of life there. We still have the eggs under the broody Pekin, so hopefully, she'll do a better job than me and actually hatch one or two!

Not done any work with the chickens today, other than clean out the ducklings brooder as we've been busy clearing the rubbish from the shed and down the end of the garden. We've almost filled the skip in one day and it has been a lot of hard work, but apart from the odd few bits in the garden, it's all done now. It has left us both totally knackered though, so will just be an evening of relaxing in front of the TV. Incubator 2 also goes into lock down tonight with the hatch due on Tuesday, hopefully, we'll get a good hatch from the 48 eggs left in there.

If my body is working tomorrow after all the heavy lifting today, I plan on taking down the runs that the Silkies and Sablepoots were in. Will also clean out the 1-2 week olds brooder and have a sort out in my brooder shed so I can put any junk in the skip.

Quiet on the eggs today, so far we've had
1 Call Duck
1 Friesian Fowl
1 Buff Pekin

But last time I went down the garden, one of the Lavender Pekins and the Turkey were both in their houses laying, so will go and check them in a minute.

Little duckling survived the night :)

Woke up this morning and went downstairs expecting to see our little Call Duckling dead in the incubator, but when I got to the incubator, it was running around like a loony and seems fine :). The duckling is now out in the brooder with a Pekin chick to keep him company because I don't think we're going to get anymore hatch from this set.Still have some under a broody though that are due to hatch a week on Monday, lets hope she has better luck than me!

Took down another 2 runs and a house today, all the wood is de-nailed and ready for burning. I have also cleaned and disinfected the houses to put the Silkies and the Sablepoots in tonight, so their run can come down tomorrow. I have also moved the 5-6 weeks olds from their brooder into a hutch in the shed, cleaned the brooder out, disinfected it and have it ready for the next batch of chicks due this coming Monday.

Eggs we got today were:
1 Call Duck
1 Turkey
1 Lav Pekin
1 Black Pekin
1 Buff Pekin
1 Friesian Fowl

100th post! and 1 Call Duckling out!

Well we've reached 100 posts on our blog...YAY!...or maybe it's a sign I need to get a life? lol

Anyway, one Call Duckling is out, but it was very weak. It's still in the incubator, but getting stronger and moving around a lot more, so hopefully by the morning, it'll be ok...if not, then I might have to put it out of it's misery. I've also helped another one today, but it's still absorbing the yolk, so it'll stay in the egg tonight unless it decides to pop out on it's own.

I've not been able to do much outside today because the wind has been terrible, but I did manage to clean out the Call Ducks and the duck brooder. Our Red Pekins have also gone, so now all we are left with to move on is our Black/Silver Birchin Pekins and our Old English Game bantams. We also have various growers for sale too.

It's going to be a busy week next week as we have a skip coming tomorrow because we need to have a big clear out before the move. We have a 10 x 6 shed in the garden that is just full of junk as well as a pile of junk at the bottom of the garden and various bits and pieces around the house and on top of this, I have 4 pens to take down and 1 house to dismantle.
To make matters more painful, we've also had to buy a new car today, as ours has run out of MOT and would cost more to get it through the MOT than it's worth, so we've listed it on eBay which will help cover the cost of the Astra we've just bought. My wife is picking it up tomorrow. On the plus side though, our Serama growers are coming on well, we have 3 girls and 2 boys, I'm waiting until the boys are around 10-12 weeks before deciding which one to keep :)

Not getting many eggs now that most of the birds have gone, today we've had
1 Lavender Pekin
1 Buff Pekin
1 Silver Birchin Pekin
1 Call Duck

Incbator 1 candling - the results. Duckling ALMOST out

I have candled inculbator 1 today and all seem fertile apart from a couple of the White Pekins and t
here's a couple of Yokohama Bantam that I'm not sure about, so will check them again in a couple of days.

I've also candled incubator 2 which is on day 15 and took out 6 eggs, 2 Friesian Fowl, 2 Buff Pekin, 1 Silver Partridge Pekin and 1 Gold Partridge Pekin. Still left with 48 eggs in there, so should have a good hatch of around 40 :)

Incubator 3 has the Call Duck eggs in and one is almost out (assisted), but hasn't absorbed to yolk yet, so have put the top of the egg back on and will leave it until the morning. 4 more are pushing very strongly against the membranes, so hopefully, there will be more developments tomorrow.

Gave the growers house a good clean out today and disinfected the floor of their run (and house) with Stalosan F. It's great stuff, since I've been using it, I've had no problems at all with our chicks.

The Polands have now gone, so I have 2 pens ready to take down tomorrow or Friday, two of the Black Pekins have also gone, so now got 1 Black, 2 Silver Birchin and 1 Red Pekin still available along with the Old English Game.

Not so good for eggs today, we've had
1 Turkey
1 Call Duck
1 Red Pekin
1 Buff Pekin
1 Lavender Pekin
1 Friesian Fowl
1 Poland

Call Duckling has internally pipped

One of the Call Ducklings in incubator 3 has internally pipped, so fingers crossed this time we'll get at least one out alive.

I've had quite a busy day today, just tidying up my mess in the garden and had a big bonfire again tonight, got to say when the weather is like what it was today, then it's an absolute joy to be out there with the birds, especially with my Mr Turkey following me around.

We have now moved the Silver Birchin Pekin girls in with the Black Pekins and will move to Polands tomorrow, so I can take down another 2 pens. That should be it then until the week before we move when the last of them will come down and have to use temp pens (chicken wire and tree stakes!)

Have just checked the Turkey eggs and as expected, only one is fertile, so I will set another few once we move. I also had a sneak at a few of the other eggs in incubator 1 on day 3 and can see that Lavender Pekin and Poland are developing, but I don't think the White Pekin are though, but the eggs were 2 weeks old, so wasn't expecting much from them.

On the egg front today we have had:
1 Turkey
1 Call Duck
1 Friesian Fowl
1 Yokohama Bantam
1 Silver Birchin Pekin
1 Red Pekin
2 Buff Pekin
2 Lavender Pekin

We have activity in incubator 3 - Call Duck eggs

Have just had a check on a couple of the 12 eggs in incubator 3 and 2 are both pushing very strongly against the membranes, so hopefully, we're very near internal pip and fingers crossed for a successful hatch (although not too many, as the 3 I have make enough mess as it is!)

Been raining on and off most of the day, so have been doing bits and pieces in between
the showers. I've managed to clean out the Black Pekins, White Silkies, Lemon Millfluer Sablepoots and of course the duck brooder (daily job). If anyone has any idea's on how I can stop them absolutely drenching the brooder every day, please let me know!

I've also recovered my lost youth and found the game Sid Meiers Pirates. I used to play this game solidly when I first got it for my Commodore 64 way back in 1987! It's scary how old that makes me feel as I am still enjoying the game as much now as I did 26 years ago. I don't care what people say about all these fancy graphics and stuff these days, nothing beats the game play of the good old 8 and 16 bit games of the 80's and early 90's!

Anyway, back to Poultry, pretty quiet day on the egg front today, we've had
2 Call Duck
1 Lavender Pekin
1 Buff Pekin
1 White Crested Poland
1 Norfolk Black Turkey

Ducklings went for a swim today :)

We had a lovely day out at Uppark House today and went for Dinner in Petersfield, so had a chicken and children free day :) Once we got home though, I did have some work to do cleaning out brooders. So I thought I'd let the ducklings have a little swim whilst I cleaned out there house AGAIN!.   

Incubator 3 is now on lock down, so hopefully soon, we'll see some progress from the Call Duck eggs, but I'm not holding my breath though, I got a feeling that incubator 3 is just not up to the job. Oh well, if none hatch again, I'll just wait until we've moved and set some in incubator 1.            

One of our Silver Birchin Pekin's laid an egg today :), so that's gone in incubator 1 which I set yesterday.

 On the egg front today, we have had:

1 Red Pekin
1 Lavender Pekin
1 Silver Birchin Pekin
1 Yokohama Bantam
1 Poland
1 Call Duck

Incubator 1 set and Turkey egg fertile :)

I have moved the Turkey eggs into incubator 1 and 1 is definitely fertile, not quite sure about the other 2 yet, so will wait and see. The Turkey eggs are on day 7, so will be due to hatch at the same time as the chicken eggs I have set today. They are:

5 Lavender Pekin
4 Silver Partridge Pekin (in with Buff Pekin cockerel)
3 Black Mottled Pekin
6 White Pekin
1 Blue Pekin
4 Yokohama Bantam
1 White Crested Poland

It will be the last set of eggs before we move and are due to hatch on the 4th of May.

The weather has been atrocious today with non stop rain, so needless to say I've not done much outside today. I cleaned the ducklings out. Something I think I'll be doing again tomorrow a they don't half make a mess!. I also plan to candle the Call Duck eggs that are under a broody Pekin when I put the chickens to bed tonight, so will update on that tomorrow.

The eggs we've had today are :
1 Red Pekin
1 Buff Pekin
1 Lavender Pekin
1 Friesian Fowl
1 Yokohama Bantam
1 Turkey
1 Call Duck