Up and Down. Up and Down!
Following on from the Euphoria of the visit to Liverpool last Monday and the arrival of 7 new quail chicks, we approached the top of the coaster and prepared for a huge fall. In the period of 48 hours we went from 7 quail chicks to one. It was disastorous. The poor little quail chicks were dying 1 by 1, 6/7 hatched out with faulty legs and one with a crooked neck, they were so weak and could not walk. It's all in the job descritption of a small holder. It was a shame that their lives were so short, but the surviving chick is a Jumbo quail, let's hope it is a girl!
It is time for me to start building up my quail colony again and I am about to invest in a £250 new 'Quail Quarters' for them. It has 3 tiers which will be seperated into: Meat Birds, Egg Birds, Birds for Sale. I am going to stick with the current housing for a few more weeks but then will upgrade completly. I am going to pick up 10 (don't tell the parents) Japanese quail this Sunday from a chap in Solihull, they obviously know I am getting more quail but I don't think they realise how many. At £1 a piece I am hoping to get 2 males and 8 females in their new housing there will be plenty of room for them. I was going to get more Italians for layers but these are so cheap that it is not really viable to hatch a flock of Italians for myself. These will do! I am currently designing some egg labels for the quail egg cartons which I hope will be finished very soon.
All weekend I was meaning to use some of the leeks from the allotment up and make a leek soup, unfortunately I kept putting it off and in the end I was making leek soup at 11pm last night, filling the house with such strange smells probably didn't go down to well with those sleeping above.
I have some photos that I have been meaning to upload but I am having a bit of a problem with the computer connection lead on the new computer I had for Christmas.
Anyway, nice speaking,
Martin
Last time I wrote on here I said that I had 36 quail eggs due to arrive. Well now they've started hatching.
2 out so far but lots and lots of pips in the egg.
450 hens out of cages this weekend.
Off to Anfield to watch the Villa tonight so I'll post piccies etc tomorrow.
Off to school now,
Martin
Well the incubator is running and I have 36 quail eggs scheduled to arrive tomorrow or saturday. The library books have gone back but I am yet to plant the broad beans. It needs to be done tomorrow.
Just to let you know that Jamie Oliver is doing a programe on the lives of battery and broiler hens. His series 'Jamie's Fowl Dinners' airs next week on Channel 4 and he hopes the programme will raise awareness and hope to change the eating habits of the Great British people.
The programme is on (Channel 4) at 9pm on January 11th.
Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall is doing a whole series on the industry and our eating attitudes towards chicken. His series can be seen on Channel 4 at 9pm on the 8th, 9th, 10th January.
Has to be worth a watch. Tell your family and friends, the series' are set to be quite thought provoking. I know some people who have broke down in tears just at the trailer.
Martin
I don't really believe in resolutions but it is always nice to aim for something. Resulotions made at this time of year are broken by the end of this month and they are only set to carry out for 365 days or 366 in the case of this year.
In 2008 the biggest thing I have planned is the bees. I have the first lesson in my course this month and Lesley and Carl are also going, which was a nice surprise and it will be nice to see a friendly face rather than be faced with a classroom full of strangers for 90 minutes.
I am also going to be keeping more quail, I reduced my numbers drastically over the winter for the simple reason that it was costing me money to feed them and they were not actually laying eggs. I am going to be breeding Jumbo quail, Italian quail and Japanese quail. The Jumbo quail are the biggest type of quail and the type used for meat, if you feed them on turkey crumb they easily reach 16oz, I am sure they will be delicious. I am off to set up the incubator as soon as I am done here.
I hope to continue to do my work for the Battery Hen Welfare Trust (www.bhwt.org.uk) and hopefully I will add to my small flock of hens once again. I have just persuaded my aunty to keep more hens. She has two pekin bantams in an eglu at the moment but she is upgrading to a large wooden house. She plans to keep 18 hens but wants to start with 10 and then add to them as and when she needs/wants them. She is going to have the 4 growers I currently have and 6 ex-battery hens in March.
I want to get more out of the allotment this year. That £20 has to keep it's worth. I had so much veg in the summer but I have had such bad luck with all of the winter veg. I would like fresh vegetables all year around. Which reminds me, I need to sow some broad beans!
My bi-orb is now fully set up and in working order, it was such an easy thing to set up and it looks great in my bedroom. I have two fish in there at the moment and I hope to add to it soon, but I need to let the filter sort itself out first and get used to dealing with the fish waste.
My 2008 couldn't have got off to a better start. I cooked up a feast for the family, (mum, dad, brother, 3 cousins, aunty, uncle) of Roast turkey, roast potatoes, loads of veg, mash, pigs in blankets, stuffing, a second christmas lunch really. Followed by my home made Christmas Pudding we still have another one left which I look forward to. Then I went to the Villa match and we won 2-1 the thing which makes the victory better is that I won £33. Every game my uncle and I have a bet on first and last goalscorers (£1 on first and £1 on last). I predicted Martin Laursen to score last goal and he did at 33-1. A great header in the 85th minute.
I hope that you've had a fantastic festive period and all the best for 2008 to you all.
Right I now need to set up the incubator, take some library books back, sow some broad beans and hopefully update my AAGB website.
Merry New Year!
Martin
