Back in August we purchased nine 6 week old chicks from Manor Farm in Ilminster. The guy there said he could sex them and that he could sell us just pullets, but if any turned out to be cockerels he would swap them for us. So we looked after them, fed and watered them, and watched as 2 of them turned out to be beautiful cockerels.
The above chappie is a French Copper Maran.
The other cockerel was a hybrid between a Buff Sussex and a Speckled Sussex. He was a really handsome chap.
So yesterday afternoon we took them back and swapped them for 2 Rhode Island Red pullets, which seem to have joined the flock OK. Here they all are having a feed this afternoon.
As you can see we have a real mix of hens, from Warrens, Welsummer/Black Rock cross, Buff Sussex, Speckled Sussex, French Copper Marans to name but a few. We also have a large hen we call “Boots” as she has feathered legs. We hope she is a hen and not another cockerel. This was one we hatched from an egg, so we are not quite sure yet, but she is fabulous.
We think “Boots” is a Brahma which is why she is so big, but the guy at Manor Farm said if they had blue colouring in their feathers they were more likely to be cockerels. And she has, so we will have to wait and see if she starts doing “Cock a doodle do” or jumping on the other hens. We also have raised from chicks a cute little Apenzeller cockerel (below) who we call “Ted” as he looks like a Teddy Boy, and 2 really handsome Buff Sussex cockerels – any takers? We do need to say goodbye to another couple of cockerels.
It’s all fun in the hen run here determining who is who. The problem with raising chicks from eggs is that 60% turn out to be cockerels and then you have to find homes for them. Our cockerels raised from eggs are all pure breeds, so it would be a pity not to find good homes for them.
As regards the egg-laying birds, they are not happy with the shorter day light hours and the cold weather. We are getting 4 or 5 eggs a day, but out of a total of 26 chickens that’s not really a good average. The people on my egg round are complaining that I’m not selling enough eggs at the moment. I’m hoping that when the days get longer and warmer next year and the chicks come of age we will get a lot more eggs than that.
We still have some vacancies in the B&B for December and all of January.
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