Omlet cube and run

[Guest]

Here are some pics from our small holding, sorry about the quality I don't have a proper digital camera so they are from my phone!

 

One of our hens - I've no idea what breed as we raised it from a chick that was given to us along with a load of others:

 

 

We stuck some fertilised eggs under her and look what hatched out:

 

 

Teaching the chicks to scratch and peck:

 

 

Looking all lonely - the others are not too far behind though!

 

 

These chicks are now fully grown and laying well and we recently hatched some more eggs under a couple of the broody hens that were once the chicks that you see above. They have been great first time mums and are so protective!

 

I haven't counted how many we have now, but it would be a good excuse to do it so I will try and gather them up and get some more pictures when it's sunny of the flock in it's current state. Some of them tend to go broody themselves in the hedges and then come out with their chicks once they've hatched, although usually we try to find them and put them in a broody coop so the fox doesn't find them first!

 

Here are some of our rare breed Jacob sheep - taken from our PTZ CCTV camera:

 

More pics to follow...

Edited August 4, 2010 by Guest

[chick wiggle]

err..ok

 

Edited to add; I did wonder when your first post was blank

 

Aww they are lovely, and i agree the first does look like an Amber Star.

The chicks look gorgeous But they're all grown up now you say? Well Done

Edited August 4, 2010 by Guest

[scarlettohara]

Aaahh they are gorgeous - the first chook is an Amber Star (I think)

[scarlettohara]

err..ok

 

[Guest]

Aaahh they are gorgeous - the first chook is an Amber Star (I think)

 

Thank you! And also many thanks for identyfing that one for me, we have been going all this time without even knowing what she was!

[The Dogmother]

Lovely chicks and sheep cluckingclucker.

[MummyHen]

Lovely chicken and wonderful looking sheep

 

Can you let me have the details of your PTZ CCTV camera - I'm thinking of getting one

 

Thanks

[Jools]

Looks great! Whereabouts in the country is your ranch?

[Guest]

Lovely chicken and wonderful looking sheep

 

Can you let me have the details of your PTZ CCTV camera - I'm thinking of getting one

 

Thanks

 

Of course, the one I have is an AXIS 213 PTZ Network camera with 26x optical zoom and low lux sensitivity with built in infra red LED's for close range night vision in complete darkness.

 

Here is the product details:

 

http://www.axis.com/products/cam_213/

 

The camera is great for what we need, but it is quite old now in relative terms and there are a lot of better alternatives, but the bonus is that this model can now be brought fairly cheaply on ebay. I got it because we use AXIS security cameras for our work sites, so I'm familiar with the reliability, image quality and how to programme and set them up etc.

 

I have it set to motion record just in case we get anyone wondering through the fields (we never have yet) and obviously I can check it whenever I'm not at home over the net and move it around etc. to keep an eye on things and in particular to make sure that the sheep haven't got their horns caught in the stock fencing...

 

To give you an idea of the quality of image at 26x zoom, here is a pic from this evening of the sheep in our furthest field which is quite far away from the house - we have about 6 acres in total and although it's not in a straight line I'm sure you can imagine it's pretty far away (note that the sheep have been sheared since the first picture above):

 

 

Hope this helps!

[Guest]

Looks great! Whereabouts in the country is your ranch?

 

Sunny old Cornwall... It's a really nice place to be actually with the coast all around etc. I've travelled around quite a bit with my job but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else...

[Jools]

I envy the "sunny" bit of your description, but I'd never move from wet and windy Cumbria.

 

I haven't been to Cornwall yet though, but I've heard it's beautiful there. I always wanted to visit Rick Stein's place in Padstow, but while Chalky was still alive as I had his dopple-ganger. Too late now

[JanTheDiver]

I am with envy, I want a smallholding and I love Cornwall; have spent many a time down there.

 

Lucky you

[The Dogmother]

Padstow is really lovely Jools - been there quite a few times. Cornwall is top of my list of places to retire to.... lots of happy memories surfing there when I was younger, and holidays when Rosie was little.

 

You say that you ended up there CC, where did you hail from originally?

[Guest]

I envy the "sunny" bit of your description, but I'd never move from wet and windy Cumbria.

 

It's been raining for most of the summer, so there's nothing to envy at the moment...

 

I haven't been to Cornwall yet though, but I've heard it's beautiful there. I always wanted to visit Rick Stein's place in Padstow, but while Chalky was still alive as I had his dopple-ganger. Too late now

 

It's a lovely place to visit with lots to do for all the family. It's a shame though because it has become very touristy now with lots of bars, bistros, restaurants etc taking over the local shops and post offices. Which is nice in some ways because it's like living in some holiday resort in the med - without the weather! But in the winter some of these remote villages have to virtually close down because places can't afford to open all year because they don't draw in enough local customers...

 

I've never been to Rick Stein's place, but I have visited Jamie Oliver's fifthteen restaurant a couple of times and it was OK, but nothing special.