Blog
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Happy Christmas!
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Hello and seasons greetings to all!
We hope you and all your chooks are well! We have had a busy few months up on the farm since opening in August. We now only have 12 hens left and they are selling fast - once this lot are gone we won't be getting anymore until march!With the run up to Christmas being so busy, don't forget to stock up on your chicken feed, remember delivery is FREE locally and you don't even need to be in when we deliver, just tell us where to leave it.We have been selling lots of growers pellets/mash the last few weeks rather than the usual layers, it would seem a lot of our customers buy some every year before winter sets in to bulk up their chickens for the long cold season. Growers pellets have a slightly higher protein content than layers pellets.For those chicken lovers in your life check out our online shop, we have chicken novelties plus other luxury items such as stainless steel feeders and drinkers etc which make great gifts!With temperatures dropping don't forget to make sure your chickens water isn't frozen. We usually empty the waterer and take it up to the house with us in the evening when we shut the chickens away and take a freshly refilled one back down in the morning to save fiddling about trying to get the ice out.Finally don't forget to make sure you have some cider apple vinegar at the ready. If you don't use it regularly we recommend using it for a week once a month in your chickens water throughout the winter to help with any stress or depression during the winter and periods of snow. It has also been shown to help keep worms at bay and is a cost effective all round tonic for them. Remember not to put it in a metal drinker though, it's too acidic, if it corrodes the metal it may contaminate the water.We wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!Tanya, Matt and HollyXxx -
Greetings!
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Hello everyone!
It's been far too long since we updated our blog but we have a pretty good eggs-cuse! 2013 has been a hectic year so far, it kicked off when our own little chick, baby Holly arrived at 00.10 on New Year's Day! In december when Tanya was 8 months pregnant we started building work on our house and had to move while it was completed. We moved home with baby Holly in May and have been busy decorating and settling in! But now we are home we are getting back on track and have some exciting news about Handpecked!We have a brand new look and our website is being redesigned as we speak by Jennie Plant, a very talented graphic designer who has won awards for Handpecked's new branding!We are very excited to tell you all that we now have a premises on a farm in Bayford where you can come and visit us and see all our chickens and our range of feed, bedding, accessories etc. We have a huge new range of 9 different chickens in stock, including the 'Easter Sussex' a hen which has a 60% chance of laying pastel pink eggs! Below is a photo of the Easter Sussex, she is proving very popular already, we only have 2 left and we have only had them for 3 days! Get yours before they are gone...... -
All dry and in their new home!
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After 48 hours from the first crack appearing, our chicks have now all hatched and are now warm and fluffy in their brooder. Reserve yours now before they all go!
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A hatching egg in pictures
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Here are some pictures of one of the chicks emerging from the egg, eventually looking wet and exhausted! These photos were taken over an 8 hour period!
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Our first arrival!!!
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Well here SHE is! The Cream Legbar is an auto-sexing breed which means the male and female chicks are different colours. Being dark like this one means its a little girl.
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first hatching of 2012!
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When we woke up this morning this Cream Legbar egg had started "pipping". Pipping is when the chick has finally managed to break through the shell after tapping about a thousand times. You can just make out the little beak. He or she is already chirping. Should be several hours til they have fully hatched. tbc...
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Day 7 candling
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We have just candled our eggs to see how the incubation is going!
Here are two photos of the eggs, the dark spots are the embryos and the 'X's are just our pencil markings to show which eggs are fertilised!!!
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First hatching of 2012!
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We put our 19 fertilised eggs into our incubator today! we will keep you updated with their progress!
due date - 28th January!
We are hatching the following breeds
welsummer
gold laced wyandotte
cream legbars
silver laced wyandottes
buff orpingtons
mixed orpingtons
fingers crossed!