This is the time of year that I find the hardest. The chickens, ducks, and guinea fowl have all been (up until last weekend) in their ‘winter’ quarters, kept together in big groups but since the snow of early January melted, the runs are getting far muddier than I would like. It doesn’t help having clay soil, most of the water sits on the surface but fortunately there is a slope to the field and most of the surface water runs off.

My Abacot Ranger Ducks have started laying and this year I have a German strain that I imported to breed from. I’m getting the odd egg from my Copper Black Marans and Cream Legbars and I know it won’t be long before my incubators are full again.

Last weekend I decided it was time to separate the breeds back out again, ready for the breeding season. I like to leave the cockerels in with the hens at least 3 weeks to settle in before I test for fertility. My guess is that most of my birds will be laying by the end of February which is in 5 weeks time, enough time for them all to settle into their new homes and runs. I will start them on breeding rations at the end of this month, they are more expensive but do result in healthier / stronger chicks.

This year, I have decided to sell a few surplus eggs on Ebay. I don’t normally do this since I hatch most of my own eggs and by word of mouth have sold on any surplus birds but I’m thinking of hatching a little less this year to allow me to spend more time concentrating on hatching some goslings.