The last and first

Yes it is time for the last squash (sigh!) The Crown Prince squashes kept very well in our new vegetable store but now we must do without them till the 2012 crop comes in. I am growing 'Sprinter' Butterenut squashes as well this year to try and fill the gap as soon as possible.

And the first chicks hatched on Friday - only four hatched (another weak one hatched and died later) but I cant blame the hen as she sat solidly through the rain storms and cold - snug in her little coup.  Two more hens are sitting so I hope for a better hatch next time. 

Poor hatch from our broody hens

We are getting very poor results from our broodys this year.  Some of the failures are infertile eggs and I guess our cockerel may be struggling to cover our twenty four hens.  We have also had lots of eggs developed but not hatched and I am wondering if this is to do with the dry weather.  I have built the nests with soil as usual but the soil is dryer this year.  Anyone else had similar experiences?  The last hen to hatch was distressing for me as she hatched some chicks but killed them all herself -young inexperienced mother I guess freaking out when the chicks appeared underneath her!!

Broody hens everywhere

Yes our hens are going broody left right and centre (must be the hot weather).  Two of the sitting hens have hatched so far but with disappointing results so far with four chicks each (out of 8 and 11 eggs ) don't know if our cockerel is a bit past it or its the weather (again!) here is a picture of the coup ready for the next hopeful mother.  The coup is filled with earth to make a nest which will keep the eggs in the right humidity.