Bog Myrtle & Peat

During the course of this year, I’ve managed to accumulate quite a nice selection of birds for my project. I’ve used them to hatch off two broods of chicks, and I can’t help thinking that some positive steps have been taken. I now have two pure silkie hens (one partridge, one white), three silkie x light sussex hens, three millefleur pekins, four silver sebrights, a black rock, a cream crested legbar and a white silkie cockerel. This is a great deal more than I was expecting to have, but there’s something in the nature of keeping hens which becomes addictive. Obviously, the sebrights will serve no purpose in next year’s gamebird rearing projects, and the legbar will probably not be much use, but she at least lays a stunning blue egg every morning, so she’s pulling her weight for now.

I’m particularly pleased with the two silkie x sussex pullets which I hatched off in the incubator in May (pictured above) – they’ve come on brilliantly, and it won’t be long now before they start laying too. Fingers crossed, when I start to get hold of grey partridge and black grouse eggs in 2013, I’ll have more options that I did this year…