Spring is in the air

Spring is my favorite time of the year where the days get longer and I can feel the warmth of the sun upon me.  Nature renews herself and everything comes to life.  An energy of new beginnings and life celebrating its existance.

Primroses

Primroses bloom in a variety of colours and the flowers last for ages. They draw your eye with their bright exuberance.

Forget-me-nots - wonderfully romantic to pick some for your beloved.

They are also very aptly named as once you plant them in your garden they spread everywhere so......you won't forget them. 

I don't know what these plants are but they were one of the first flowers to open in the garden and the white brightens a shadey spot.

A couple of weeks ago I was hunting about for Sweetcorn and found her on the nest and she refused to budge.  She was broody.  It must be contagious as the next day Priscilla joined her. They go into a kind of dream state and when I open the hut their feathers bristle and fluff out and they make a growling kind of sound.  After much deliberation we decided to buy some fertilized eggs from Keiths Orps (breeder) and put them under the hens.  It takes 21 days for the chicks to hatch and it is not a 100% success rate. They are sitting on 10 eggs now - so bets down everyone to how many chicks will hatch.

Their mother instinct is so strong that I have to lift them off the nest once a day otherwise they will not eat or drink anything.  The first thing they do is run to have a dust bath.  They flick and rub dust into their feathers which cleans them and gets rid of any parasites.  The laws of nature are amazing - this is not taught but instinctual.

 AND now Hattie is broody.  She tries to peck me when I keep lift her off the nest, which I do a few times a day but she is determined and keeps heading on back.  More eggs????

Chirpy chirpy cheep cheep - chirpy chirpy cheep cheep - Bye!!!!

My how the hukus have grown!

So....where to begin?  So much has happened since my last post.

The hukus are now all around a year old.  Their feathers have filled out and they look like they are wearing beautful, billowy victorian dresses.

Huku flock

Priscilla

The hens are free rangers and just love scratching about the whole garden. I whisper to you that Priscilla hold a special place in my heart as she cherishes her freedom more than the others, we sometimes find her off on her own ever after the elusive morsel and always last to go into the coop at night.

Beautiful Bella

   In my eyes prettiest of the flock 
   Bella. The dark and soft greys are 
   soothing to the eye and suits her 
   gentle character.











The girls all started laying just after Christmas and we suspect Lara started the egg..... oops I mean ball,  rolling. When Chris fried us the first two eggs I found myself looking at it and thinking that I couldn't eat it - felt really strange to be eating something produced by my special hukus.  The yolks are a deep yellow colour and demand from friends and work colleuges outstrip production.

One morning I went down to the Huku Hut and found an egg.  I picked it up and it was still warm. As I held it in my hand I felt a few tears escaping down my cheeks.  How wonderful nature is - a miracle really.

 Beginning of March we moved house and it was only fair that the girls house got a make over too.  Blues for peace and relaxation. Puuukkk puuukkkk.