No change here, the doves are still doing a text book incubation and changing over at 10 and 4.30. I think Lily gets to do the long night shift. Hindoo is still grey but getting gradually lighter as the days go by. No sign of Bully despite me walking the fields and putting up notices for the neighbours to keep an eye open for feathers. I spoke to the dove breeder who thinks that the doos should hatch no bother at all and he does not anticipate any problems at all. Any time after the 12th is our best estimate for hatching so fingers crossed.
We had our first ground frost of the year two days ago, I need to find some cloche covers to put over the Charlotte Potatoes I put in so that we can have new spuds at Christmas. I have also sown perpetual spinach and and about to plant some garlics that should be ready around June next year. Time to harvest the apples, the Bramleys are brilliant this year, about double the quantity we had last year and all good sizes and nearly blemish free. I cooked up an Apple Crumble to see if they were good and they were great!
The new hen integration has been a total success with no blood drawn and everyone very contented. Getting only two eggs a day at the moment so they are all being wormed for a week to try and up the production rate. Big Vera is moulting quite dramatically though which may account for her lack of eggs. The new girls are not yet laying, I think they may have bee younger than the farmer said they were. they are comical and fearless though and act like teenagers! Climbing on to the hen house roof, flying off and chasing butterflies and sparrows. The other day the three of them saw a sparrow swoop into the run so they ran after it heads looking upwards and all three ran right into the wire fence and ended up in a heap, it would have made a brilliant You've Been Framed Video and well worth £250.
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