Final chicks of the year

The last chicks of the year have now been adopted by a mother hen and are in the chick run. The chicks in the above picture were actually bought as the buff Orpington hen was due to get a set of chicks we had hatched in our own incubator. Due to a miscalculation by us as to hatching dates, the chicks had to go into the brooder box which also contained a hen which we had separated off because she has a lump on the side of her head. We had tried to treat the lump but our attempts were unsuccessful. She was in the brooder box to ensure she was eating properly (she was!) Our fear was that she could attack the chicks when we put them under the heater in the box but when we checked on them first thing in the morning, she had adopted the chicks and was doing everything that a mother hen should do!

So this successful adoption meant the buff Orpington, which had been sitting on fake eggs for 20 days, was going to need a new set of chicks. We were after some more Rhode Island reds so we bought 5 chicks which the buff Orpington then adopted. They are now all in the chick run.

There will be no more hen eggs hatched this year though we have discovered one of our ducks has gone broody and is sitting on some eggs under one of our hedges.

Until 2009 I was working in London, UK, but I gave it up to pursue a life of self-sufficiency. My aim is to grow or forage for all my food, produce my own power and live a healthier and greener lifestyle. I left London to return to my home village of Sunniside, near Newcastle, in the North East of England. I have a couple of plots of land there as well as the garden of my house. Our village is a commuter area for Newcastle but we are surrounded by countryside which we use for picking wild foods. My mission in life is to show that it is possible to live well without destroying the planet in the process. I am also keen to ensure knowledge of historic recipes and cooking is kept alive. I regularly try out recipes from old cookbooks using the food we have grown. I make videos about our progress and about how to cook home-grown foods. These can be viewed on www.youtube.com/jonathanwallace.
www.self-sufficientinsuburbia.blogspot.com