A few decisions have been made about male chickens in the last few weeks. The two older cockerels, or young roosters, Winston Cheepers and James Claw, had both started active duty and the hens’ eggs were showing as fertilised. This got me thinking about the next hatch and who I wanted to keep to breed … More Winston Cheepers: The Kingmaker
Another heat wave is upon us as we hurtle towards summer. Thankfully, the mornings and evenings are still somewhat cool. Most of the crops are in the garden now. I still have spares of some things, which have come in useful to replace seedlings eaten by my dreaded enemy: the molluscs. Let’s just say I’m … More Things You Shouldn’t do With an Axe
The Dorking hens, Moppet and Mittens have left the homestead. I had been thinking about what to do with them since I couldn’t keep them with the main Australorp flock all the time, due to over-attention from the big roosters. We are limited with space and it wasn’t practical to keep them in their own … More In Which we Say Goodbye to The Dorkings
The chicks have finished hatching and, as I expected, 8 out of the 9 hatched. The first one was a little fasty. It pipped at the wrong end of the the egg but made it out by itself towards the end of Day 20. Most of the chicks hatched later on Day 21 or on … More In Which The Little Fluffballs Arrive
Wild Hope Homestead 