I'm now feeling much better - thank you to every one for the well wishes. I think it must have been some sort of 24 hour bug and I'm feeling really guilty about it, as my dad, who came to help out with the children, has now got it. No need to guess who's to blame for that one! I just hope he feels better soon and it doesn't spread to the rest of my family!
On a brighter note we had some chicks hatch yesterday. Two days earlier than I had marked on the calendar, so I guess she must have been sat on them in the coop for a little longer than I thought before separated her from the rest of the flock!
Out of seven eggs, six hatched, one chick was deformed/injured so had to be dispatched straight away (away from the sight of the children) but five chicks isn't bad really. I bet they'll all be cockerels now though!
The girls love them, it's going to be as much as I can do to keep Ev away from them! She's really gentle with the chicks and helped me pick up all the egg shells and tidy the nest then told her mum all about it when she got home. What a great way for a little person to learn about life and food!
Melissa seemed fascinated by them as well so hopefully I've got two budding young poultry keepers in the making!
They're gorgeous, I would love to have some chicks but I couldn't dispatch them if anything was wrong. I know if you have live stock you have to be prepared for dead stock but even so I'm a wuss and I'm not afraid to admit it ;)
ReplyDeleteI think if you can't do it then that's the responsible thing to do, unless you know someone that will do it for you.
DeleteWe had three chicks hatched yesterday. One is struggling to walk still, so may have to be dispatched. The other birds are so cruel to lame chicks and they usually have a terrifying, painful life at the hands (beaks) of other birds. Much kinder to dispatch, though not a job anyone relishes I know. How wonderful for your daughters to grow up on your smallholding. Ours were 11 and 14 when we moved. However, our grandchildren (now 22, 19 and 9) have grown up here, As I wrote that I realise that maybe our GREAT grandchildren could be around soon !
ReplyDeleteGill
Chickens are cruel animals under it all and anything different they pick on. this bird wouldn't have lived long anyway so it was the kindest thing to do.
DeleteI know I've written before on how desperate I was to find somewhere with land before we had children and we were so lucky to find this place at the time we did, a month before our eldest was born. It gives them something like the upbringing that I had, on a farm, and to me that was important.
Lovely chicks :) Not a nice job dispatching them but needs must :(. Are they a sex linked breed?
ReplyDeleteYour girls are having a wonderful childhood :)
It's not a nice job at all but something that needs to be done quickly and as painlessly as possible when needs must. As for sex linking I'm not sure as they're just my own "mongeral" chickens a mix up of legbar, or ex battery hen with a wellsumer cockerel!
DeleteWell Legbars are sex linked, so maybe there is some colouration on these. I am betting the chick in the 4th photo is a little pullet :)
DeleteIt would be good f she is as there are four with her colour. I think the ones we hatched out last year were all dark coloured and they were all pullets so fingers crossed!
DeleteI suppose with very young children you have to watch they don't put them in their mouths, the child not the chick LOL!
ReplyDeleteMy Grandad kept hens and I remember after he'd shown me which ones they could eat, feeding them weeds from the garden. He got the best of both worlds, me weeding the veg patch and the chicks getting to eat the weeds!
" more eggs laid this morning, 1 blue and 1 brown. Don't know if the novelty will ever wear off of having fresh eggs!
It's more that they don't kill them with too much love! Or let them out when I'm not a about (too many crows and predators about for that at the moment).
DeleteBelieve me the novelty never wears off. Your cakes will become a talking point as a fresh egg makes a simple sponge into something amazing and poached eggs, laid the same day, stick together without any tricks. It's something I'm not sure I could do without now!
If you are lucky, there might be 2 pullets in the bunch.
ReplyDeleteI'm like you, ever the optimist! Although that said we only hatched out five last year as well and they turned out to be all pullets! So this year it'll be the other way round! Make for a couple of good Sunday lunches otherwise!
DeleteI think it's important that young children learn about 'the circle of life'.
ReplyDeleteJane x
We were sat with last night looking at the chickens and talking about how much she understands. This was after she helped me dig up the potatoes and collect courgettes! It's lovely that her early education is all about food and where it comes from.
DeleteHmm...? At least fifty percent of smallholding animals are male. Unless you can sell them for breeding the only way is to fatten them and eat them. We eat one of our own cattle every year, but I always feel bad when we say our last goodbye to them when we load them in the cattle box. Do you eat your own Kev?
ReplyDeleteI certainly do eat them! Growing up on a farm it was always my job to pick which lambs we had in our own freezer so I guess I understood pretty early on. I don't like dressing chickens though, my hands are too big to gut them comfortable and I hate the smell of the guts. I'm never waste it though and we make it a special meal if we've raised the meat as well.
DeleteNot a nice thing to do dispatching chicks but needs must, fingers crossed you have a nice clutch of girls.
ReplyDeleteIt's never nice but like I said on compost womans blog it's something that needs to be done. So long as you're as kind as you can be to the animal then that's all you can do.
Deleteglad to hear your feeling better, sounds like your kids will grow up experiencing all that is good in life
ReplyDeleteCheers Josh! I hope they think it's all that's good in life - it's not to everyone's taste!
DeleteAh yes, kids and chicks, we've raised the two together for over three decades.
ReplyDeletegreat lessons about gentle caring, need for food and shelter, so much better to learn on the farm.
They do seem to love them. Mind you I challenge anyone of any age not to melt when they see them! It's a great way to learn these things.
DeleteWell done for putting that chick to rest. It takes courage to do such tasks, but I think that if you have animals then you need to accept that sometimes one has to help them to go out of this life.
ReplyDeleteYou daughters are blessed to have such a father as you are trying to be, and they will grow up with an understanding about the nature of life, which is a priceless gift that you are giving them.
They might not see it like that in a few years and will probably wish their dad was more "normal" and did normal things like watch football and go to the pub rather than making them eat unusual things and grow their own food!
DeleteLooks great Kev. Our neighbours hen is sitting on a clutch which should hatch this weekend - as soon as they have weaned (fledged?) they are going to come here - our first livestock! How does one sex a hen? Probably impossible until they have grown a bit?
ReplyDeleteSee Compost woman's comment for the sex linking. Some chicks are a different colour when they're born but mine are a bit to much like a mongeral to be any sort of bred! Good luck with the chickens, they're kind of a gate way drug and lead onto many other things!
Deleteni
ReplyDeleteThe question still remains the same about chicken, "who came first the chicken or the egg?" It's good to see that the kids aren't afraid to play with the baby chicken, a good exposure for them, before they grow old and start working for where to buy college essays.
ReplyDelete