State of the flock, May 2019

The day's collection, Apr 2019

For about a month we've been getting around 50 eggs per week, which means we haven't needed to buy eggs (it's been about two years since the last time we were in this happy state).  However as we're getting on to summer, production is slowing back down to about 45 per week;  this isn't quite enough to meet all our needs.  Oh well.

There are still nine chickens doing the regular garden rotation, mainly mowing the lawn but I've been able to get them onto a few ornamental beds too.  I'm keeping them off the perennials section for the present, until the berries have been harvested (probably not until July) as I wouldn't put it past them to eat them all, green and hard as they are.

And we also have three chickens still tractoring away at the allotment;  we move them to a new patch of grass/weeds every day, and though they do a good job mowing and fertilizing, they can't keep up with the regrowth, despite the overall small size of their pasture.  We recently swapped the previous three chickens for a different set, as I felt sorry for keeping them in such cramped conditions for so long (about a month).  It's enough size for three, but not as long term housing.

Finally, the two new ducks are nearly all feathered out and letting out regular quacks alongside their peeps.  They're free ranging in the rest of the garden while the chickens are in their paddocks, with full access to the pond, which they have made very green and murky indeed.  They are champion slug eaters though, and are getting most of their food themselves.  Unlike the chickens who are content to hang out at the feeder all day, these two are very industrious looking for bugs and slugs, and have been enjoying greens and weeds too, and only eating a little feed each day. 

We may be picking up two more ducks from a rescue charity next week.  We'll see how that goes.