Big boy - He was an egg last spring.

[Gilberdyke John]

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

he'll be ready in time for Easter then

 

[Michael Palmer]

Do you have wild turkeys in the UK?

 

[amandaj57]

Do you have wild turkeys in the UK?

Only if you really p*** them off!

 

[Curly green finger's]

View attachment 24154

Are the white orbington in the back ground?

 

[StephenT]

I love hatching chicks. The whole process of the incubation, hatching, mum looking after them and then heading off back to the flock is just lovely. Shame that our broody Wyandotte passed away last year although we’ve still got a few of her (unrelated) kids including this beauty.

 

[Apple]

Do you have wild turkeys in the UK?

Never seen one... but I expect Jenkins has shot one!
Have this.... one on the boundary of our 2 acre walled orchard, buzzes with bees in the Summer.

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/tr...ritish-trees/a-z-of-british-trees/turkey-oak/

 

[Gilberdyke John]

he'll be ready in time for Easter then

No but his progeny will be contributing to our domestic protein supply later in the year. We hatched 5 out of 6 half dozen mixed source bought in eggs last year, ate a couple and saved two females plus him.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Are the white orbington in the back ground?

No the white ones are Bresse Gauloise dual purpose lay/meat birds. Heston Blumenthal's favourite breed of chicken apparently. The ones in the picture are pullets due to start laying anytime now.

 

[Curly green finger's]

No the white ones are Bresse Gauloise dual purpose lay/meat birds. Heston Blumenthal's favourite breed of chicken apparently. The ones in the picture are pullets due to start laying anytime now.

They are lovely looking hens, it is nice to watch eggs hatch in the incubator.
Or watch a big astrolope hen mother a little bantam chick.

We plan to hatch a few light Sussex, astrolope, wyandottes and some lavender bantams.
I want to remove the chickens from the tunnel now so I can prep it for carrots next month.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Or watch a big astrolope hen mother a little bantam chick.

Or a hen raise ducklings

 

[amandaj57]

Or a hen raise ducklings

You should have seen the look on my hen's face when I started introducing the ducklings she hatched to water. She was horrified and thought I was trying to drown them!
She managed to hatch five out of the six eggs I gave her. Unfortunately, they all turned out to be boys.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Or a hen raise ducklings

We ventured into ducks by hatching some kayuga eggs. We got two drake's and two ducks but a fox got one of the drake's before it was shot. That stopped it's farting in church!
Strangely some time later I was setting off to go out when I saw a kayuga duck near my car. Thinking one of ours had got out so following a bit of rounding up and catching I took it back to the duck pen where I found we still had a full complement. No one in our area kept black ducks so we still don't know where she came from. Our drake enjoyed the extra member of the harem. For a while my son sold hatching kayuga eggs but age and predators have reduced our kayugas to one pensioner who now sleeps in the hen house. We have had a varied stock of hens over the years and collected white, brown, dark brown, blue and green eggs from them. Currently most of the eggs we're getting are white from the older Bresse's but a mixed batch pullet has recently begun laying green eggs and after taking a few weeks off over Christmas a Maran is laying dark brown eggs again. We keep supplied with eggs and our neighbours buy the surfeit which supports feed costs.

 

[Newbeeneil]

We ventured into ducks by hatching some kayuga eggs. We got two drake's and two ducks but a fox got one of the drake's before it was shot. That stopped it's farting in church!
Strangely some time later I was setting off to go out when I saw a kayuga duck near my car. Thinking one of ours had got out so following a bit of rounding up and catching I took it back to the duck pen where I found we still had a full complement. No one in our area kept black ducks so we still don't know where she came from. Our drake enjoyed the extra member of the harem. For a while my son sold hatching kayuga eggs but age and predators have reduced our kayugas to one pensioner who now sleeps in the hen house. We have had a varied stock of hens over the years and collected white, brown, dark brown, blue and green eggs from them. Currently most of the eggs we're getting are white from the older Bresse's but a mixed batch pullet has recently begun laying green eggs and after taking a few weeks off over Christmas a Maran is laying dark brown eggs again. We keep supplied with eggs and our neighbours buy the surfeit which supports feed costs.

I can't get the idea of a fox farting in church out of my head! I think this needs some explanation.

 

[amandaj57]

I can't get the idea of a fox farting in church out of my head! I think this needs some explanation.

Ohh, I thought it was the duck that was farting in Church, which obviously makes much more sense....not.

 

[Erichalfbee]

You should have seen the look on my hen's face when I started introducing the ducklings she hatched to water. She was horrified and thought I was trying to drown them!
She managed to hatch five out of the six eggs I gave her. Unfortunately, they all turned out to be boys.

Yep....that's exactly what I meant

 

[Etton]

I’m after some Black Copper Maran eggs to incubate, any one know where I can buy from, either internet or collect ( live in East Yorks). Maybe too early & sorry I know it’s a bee forum!

 

[Arfermo]

he'll be ready in time for Easter then

Why wait - he looks about ready to me.

 

[OldFarm]

We kept bourbon red turkeys for a while. The stag (Tommy) was a horny beast, ready to get fruity with anything and everything, literally. A chap walked across the garden with a large plastic bag, the bag became the centre of Tommys universe and he was desperate to mate with it, the elderly beekeeper carrying the bag wasn't so impressed. Tommy shimmied up to scaffold to show the electrician how much he liked him, my daughter carried a broom in the garden because Tommy REALLY liked her. He would mount anything and everything, he was good to go during all daylight hours, he had phenomenal stamina. Heck, knowing him, I doubt sleep stopped him going through the motions. After a spot of fox trouble Tommy got it into his head that our vizsla (dog) was a threat. Tommy and his girls hounded him (the Viz), picked fights and chased him. Understand that if one of them has a beef with you, they all have a beef with you. It got so bad that the turkeys had to go. I love turkeys. After the Tommy experience I carried on each year with a few for the table, but the last lot we had were commercial whites, the females dressed out at over 30lbs, no way the oven was big enough.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I’m after some Black Copper Maran eggs to incubate, any one know where I can buy from, either internet or collect ( live in East Yorks). Maybe too early & sorry I know it’s a bee forum!

My son got his from eBay. Supplies tend to be seasonal and rough postal journeys affect hatching rates