Birds of a Feather

So let's just re-cap...
A man called Barney


No, not Barnaby, Barney, came to build us a manege.
And he gave us a cockerel (fair exchange) who we named George. He's a Lemon Pyle Brahma, by the way.

But he also gave us some duck eggs, three of whom survived, to become the Cheepsters. I just wanted you to see that they've grown quite a bit, that they're turning white and feathers are growing. It's amazing.

But last weekend he brought round three other ducks, that are about eight weeks old. They are all Indian Runner Ducks. I think the black one is a male, but I will have to confirm this.

At night the Cheepsters go upstairs to their little house, and the Big Ducks go into the pen at the bottom.
In the morning I let them out and they go running down to the pond. Getting them in at night was a different story, but we've sussed it now. It still takes two people, but if we stand either side of the pond, they come out and take themselves home.

And of course, there are still the Ladies Who Lunch.



Henny Penny and Peggy have gone broody, the same as they did last year, but we have just been out and bought two rabbit hutches. They are ideal as brooding pens, one chicken in each hutch. They are both brooding two eggs each at the moment, and I have finally plucked up the courage to put three more eggs in the incubator today. Chicken eggs take 21 days, and it all sounds easy, but I'm very nervous about it.
By the way, anyone who says it's quiet in the countryside has obviously never lived in Derbyshire during the hay cutting season. Tractors are rumbling up and down the road like there's no tomorrow. Of course, Pongo and Missis are on holiday, so ours will just have to sit there until they come back.
Never a dull moment round here.
Mrs O.