The FastDay Forum

new day new start! Good fast day yesterday but now need to keep it light today. I know I am eating too much on feast days.
As soon as I have done this I will let out and feed the chickens and ducks. Cats and dog already fed. Have to pick up a few bits of shopping this morning. Planning on doing more insulating and plaster boarding in the little Gite today. Might get some tidying done in the garden if weather permits. Usual daily tasks.
What have you planned today?

What kind of chickens and ducks do you have ?
We are getting chickens soon, just waiting on the chicks hatching, maybe by next month we need to start phoning round to find some.
We've got a small holding with an orchard and grow our own fruit and veg and sell the surplus. Going to put some broilers in the orchard over the summer, thinking 2 lots of 30 should do us the whole year, not got enough space in the freezer to get them all at the same time. Might need to buy an extra chest freezer too as it gets full of fruit and veg over the summer. Going to get some hens for eggs too, which will be here in the garden and more like pets for the kids to help out with feeding them and collecting the eggs. Not sure what breeds to get for eggs, but i'd like some with pretty colors, any recommendations? They have Brahma's here which iv read are friendly and good for pets and the keep producing eggs though out the winter too, although they take longer to mature to point of lay, but im not too bothered about that if they keep on producing year round and for years to come.

I'm just in the house with the kids today. They've got colds and the eldest if off nursery, she'll be going back tomorrow though. Need to get to the supermarket as some point to get something for the dinner. We're running out of food this time of year.

Mostly Buff Orpingtons, big gingery chickens very fluffy and friendly. I have 7 hens and 2 cockerels and get eggs all year, even when snow is on the ground. I have one tri coloured Sussex hen who wax laying daily until she went broody. Just checked her and she has a new chick under her! I have 4 Muscovy ducks, one drake and three ducks. One duck is sitting at the moment, she is with the Sussex and they are sharing the mountain of chicken and duck eggs. The chick hatched under the duck so I have moved it under the chicken! I also have Rouen ducks, three drakes and four ducks. They have a shorter laying time stopping over winter but are good table birds. The Orpingtons are good table birds too. Muscovy ducks lay all year. At the moment I get two duck eggs and five chicken eggs each day. They are free range in my garden.
Am hoping a few more eggs hatch! I love watching the mum and chicks in the garden.

Aww how cute, can't wait to get mine
How long do the chickens generally go on to lay eggs for if you dont kill them? Is the meat not good if they're really old? Is it still good for soup? Is it worth getting a cockerel to keep us in new chicks? We are a family of four, was thinking on getting about 6 hens for eggs, does that sound about right? If we get a cockerel i don't want to end up with loads of chickens and too many eggs. We have to economize on food for them too. We grew corn last season and they will be outside able to forage for them selves plus i'll give them fresh fruit and veg peelings. I'v heard boiled potatoes are good for fattening them up, we grow a lot of spuds too.

I do not eat mine, they gradually reduce laying and in the three years since I first started with them I only have two of the original five left. One was taken by a fox and two died. This is my third lot of chicks hatching and if there are girls I would expect the first egg towards the end of this year. I keep whatever comes and let nature take its course. My original cockerel died when the third one came. It does seem to sort itself out. There is a wealth of information on the web. I had a one year subscription to practical poultry magazine to get me started. You can buy point of lay (pol) youngsters to get you started with eggs, which is what I did at the beginning of this venture. I buy sacks of pondeuse for them which the ducks also eat but supplement with corn to give deep yellow yoked eggs. They also get stale bread, cooked pasta, couscous I do make up with marmite. Any odd bits of cheese, cottage cheese and yogurt. They also get shredded cabbage and courgette which they love. I live in rural France where things are a bit different!

Good morning. I envy you your ducks. We had Khaki Campbells for a few years but sadly the foxes love ducks and it always ends in tragedy. I do have lots f chickens though. I like a mixture if possible for different egg colours. Some of ours are a bit cross bred by now with no blue egg pure cream legbars left. Some of their crosses lay green though. I like Copper Marans for rich dark eggs, and have one old white Star left who lays white eggs. There are some ex battery hens about too. I can see them all over the garden as I type, hoping bits will fall off the bird table.
So far today I've mucked out and fed horses then long reined my young pony. That's good exercise running about while he trots! He is getting broken to drive soon.
The rest of the day will be work of one sort or another. I have b&b jobs to do and editorial to write for my Westgate Labs business.
Great to see the sun shining isn't it and all that bird song?

Should add that when I have an overload of eggs I have a baking session and freeze what I make. I also keep friends supplied! In exchange they give me veg they have grown and jars of jam!

Oh man - you lot have nicked my life and shared it out between you. Now all I'm left with are grandchildren and the garden!

Chicken or Children heehee. What a lovely picture you give us. I have 2 hens and they started to lay eggs again. Xx

[Tracieknits]

Oh Bobshouse that sounds lovely! I would love to retire in France, but I have the wrong color passport

I take it you are American? Quite a few of you in Normandy!

Afternoon all, the grass is always greener I'm struck by how busy everybody is, I'm at work (pen-pushing) have a grand day all.

[Tracieknits]

Yes, I'm an american with a boring blue passport. I keep trying to tell my husband he needs to find a good job in France and he's starting to take me seriously. I'd be thrilled with a UK job as well, I keep reminding him

[carorees]

We have 5 chickens and get 4 eggs most days, sometimes 5. Planning to bake some chocolate brownies tomorrow as they use a lot of eggs! Re cockerels, they can get aggressive...a friend of ours had to get rid of her cockerels as they were terrorising the kids. Also, you get about 60% boys from the fertilised eggs so you have to eat them before they get too big. Old layers are too tough to eat in any other form than soup! Ours mostly have been taken by the fox or died naturally. As we didn't know what they died from we didn't consider eating them.

My cockerels are lovely. I pick them up to remind them who is boss! The first chick of this year is now fluffy and settled in the incubator. I will set up the broody box tomorrow as it will need to eat then. It is still wobbly but that is normal.