4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[laurmurf]

After our delightful get together at Harlow Carr I came away with warm feelings towards my fellow omleteers and a wicked case of Broody envy of HENthusiastic!

 

HENthusiastic is hatching some eggs under her reliably broody girl. I TRIED hatching aracauna and ancona eggs under my unreliable (and NOISEY) black orp Willow, but while it kept her quiet and busy for a while, she's bored now, off the nest, abandoned her eggs and is shouting again

 

Did i take this philosophically? NO. I've been suffering since... So common sense has been abandoned and I'm picking up a Silkie Sussex cross this afternoon who is already broody. Am I the only mad woman on the forum who is seeking out a broody?

 

This doesn't sort out the problems I have with Willow at all (the whole point of it in the first place) but it does allow me to be very naughty:

 

I've rung Temple Newsam Home Farm (purely to seek out information for our next Omlet get together, you understand ) and i happened to ask if they might, by any chance, have any rare breed fertile eggs in at the moment. Well, imagine my surprise.. but they do! And at a £1 a go, an amazing bargain!

 

So here's the plan, get my new girl, settle her in on some pottery eggs and make sure she's well and truly stuck fast, then get some lovely rare breeds under her

 

So what shall it be.... Croad Langshans? Scots Dumpy? Scots Grey? Dorking? Indian Game? or even a Transylvanian Naked Neck?

[mags]

scots grey and scots dumpy look good chickens

 

Mags

[craftyhunnypie]

Go with the Scotts!! But I too would be tempted by the naked necks - I feel sorry for them.

 

Emma.x

[Omletina Kyckling]

I see Prudence has well and truly vacated the northern counties!

 

I looked into Croad Langshans a while ago because my friend's brother breeds them, but decided against because they are big mammas, eat lots and lay very little but the others all sound lovely.....you are likely to lead all of us astray now though!!

[laurmurf]

oh Diane, I'm so naughty... aren't i?

 

I went into this hatching lark to calm Willow down (well that's what I told the OH, anyway). When she let me down I couldn't let the idea go, especially when HEN was all excited about her new babies imminent arrival!

 

I can't decide what to get. I know purists think you should stick to one or two breeds but i've always been an 'All sorts' kind of girl

 

The woman I'm getting the broody from is a Croad Langshan breeder near me, recommended by the Home Farm manager at Temple Newsam (who also breeds Croad Langshans at home... talk about taking your work home with you!). I have a strong feeling that when I've been to collect this broody from her a few fertile CL eggs will find their way home with me too

[ClaireG]

I dunno what are some people like Looking forward to hearing what eggs you decide on.

[Griffin]

Croad Langshans definitely, lovely pinky eggs and not bad to look at either.

 

Glad to see someone with the same 'I want one of everything' attitude as me Dorkings, Black Orpingtons, Lavender Aracaunas, Frizzle Polands & Houdans in my incubator right now and I intend to keep one of each. I'm not hatching any more this year but 2010 will be the year of the Marans in this house I want a French Wheaton & a French Copper blue!

[Egluntyne]

How far from Temple Newsam to Sheffield?

[The Dogmother]

You lot!

 

I wish I'd known - I have just let Lavinia (brillinat broody and mum) out of the sin bin. You could have borrowed her Laurie.

[Yorkshire Pudding]

 

A few of each!

 

 

 

Your OH is wise to you by now Laurie - I'm sure he didn't believe it would work on Willow and I should think he's only surprised that you haven't tried hatching until now .

 

 

 

How far from Temple Newsam to Sheffield?

 

 

Not far at all. About five minutes by car from my house in fact - so about half an hour on the motorway plus a stop off for a cuppa!

 

I am NOT telling OH they sell chooks there or I will never be allowed to take the kids for a walk again - it's one of our favourite places to go locally.

[Lewis]

I love Naked Necks! The chicks are so cute, I always used to want to take them home from work.

 

We had a few broody Naked Necks aswell

 

The rest of the family think they're really ugly so I was never allowed

[HENthusiastic]

Well now you even have a small bag of chick crumb it would be rude not to use it up somehow wouldn't it???

 

Don't know about getting the blame for leading you astray, I believe you had your Willow sat on eggs BEFORE my henrietta started. (Due next Wednesday

 

I will have to make a visit to Temply Newsome soon.

[meezers]

I saw some naked necks at Wernlas and after having a laugh at them I decided they look rather cute in a weird way sort of like little old ladies that have had a bad day at the hair dressers ! You should def get a couple of naked necks to hatch just so they know someone cares

[mostin]

You naught naughty girl Laurie ,

 

by the way, I'll be up soon to visit the new girl as I'm very jealous . it's been a while since Shaun ans I took a stroll around Temple Newsam, it's only 10 mins from our house .

[laurmurf]

Babs, a lovely silkie-sussex cross joined our family this evening!

she's already raised a nestful, which isn't bad going for a girl who isn't even a year old yet! Pictures to follow.

 

We've got her set up in the pumpkin, in the girls' run. The bigguns have been so lovely, curious but no agression and Flo made a point of sitting next to the Eglu run for ages this evening.

 

What's bizarre is that having brought a new girl home we very nearly got our first CoF too: we were all in the garden feeding the girls some corn when a very bedraggled looking ginger hen limbo danced under the fence and joined in . Not a squeak from any of mine, she just joined in the corn fest, eating from our hands... so very tempting but i knew she must belong to my farmer neighbour so having enjoyed her company, we opened the gate and invited her to go home!

 

The best thing about this afternoon was that I met another lovely chook keeper, she's a keen breeder of Croad Langshans (bantam and LF) and even won the rose bowl at the Fed a couple of years ago. She also keeps beautiful Belgian bantams. The girls and I had a wonderful tour of her small holding - chooks, chicks, broodies as well as wonderful pygmy goats. What is amazing is that she started out with a couple of hybrids on an allotment in Bradford, not that long ago! She said that it all grew from there

[laurmurf]

btw..... it still doesn't sort out Willow, does it now?

she can't get any louder but she can get a lot bloomin' earlier, can't she?

[Old Speckled Hen]

scots grey and scots dumpy look good chickens

 

Mags

 

Oh yes ... they'd cope with the weather here as well.

Mmmmmmmm I wonder

[mostin]

Pictures of babs pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease