Little Blue Chick

These are the two little barnvelders hatched the same day but in an incubator. They aren't as advanced as the blue chick and it will be several weeks before they go outside.

After hatching, mum kept the chick under her for a further 2 days before introducing her to the rest of the family!

1 egg 2 golfballs

The little blue Auracana was actually sitting on 1 egg and two golf balls. the chick was hatched on saturday and today I managed to get my first glimpse of it. It is the daintiest most beautiful little blue chick I have ever seen.She is being closely watched by her mother but dad and aunty are also keeping a caring eye on her. I have now removed the golf balls, don't want those hatching. Will try and get a photo as soon as!

Rat Trap

After last years disasters with the chicks I am on a mission to keep these ones safe once they are in the big wide world. We have installed extra fox proofing, have chains and padlocks ready for unsavoury characters, but how do you keep the rats and stoats out. We have traps, live and otherwise, but we rarely catch anything! They have been set with all sorts of treats from dog food to chocolate, everyone has a tried and tested treat. so far this week the traps have been set with jammy hot cross bun, mars bar (what a waste) and chocolate spread on toast. Each time the food has been taken, the rat evading capture. To vary their diet a little, tonight they are having chicken fahjita. I have set the traps to the lowest sensitivity and I'm hoping for a successful catch tonight.

The fluffy lifttle chicks are 1 week old and starting to get their feathers. It wasn't a successful hatch. Out of 24 eggs, 2 died, 1 had to be dispatched, 2 are in a recovery box and 5 are fighting fit and rearing to go.

This little blue chick from the first of last years batches is sitting on her own eggs. She is an Auraucana her mate was a blue leghorn so it will be interesting to see what their chicks looks like.