Wow, what a scorcher today was. But the birds seemed to get through it ok by sheltering in the long grass and under the trees. We lost a couple of poults though which was sad, and I put this down to the heat. The number of hens going broody is increasing which is frustrating, but I think this is a heat-related issue…
When I was a lad we had ‘bob a job’ week, that’s a shilling or 5p to you, youngsters. Anyway, it was a way for local cub and scout groups to raise money. I suppose technically this event has disappeared. But we have just experienced the modern equivalent, and it was brilliant. Our eldest runs a very successful Explorer group…
‘Line 1 Buffs’ are breeding well and we currently have about 20 young poults from them. They are still laying so we will put more in the incubator and see how they progress. Interestingly one hen has laid a clutch outside and is sitting tight. She has persistently laid outside and we have now ‘fox proofed’ her as best we can…
Now I grew up in the country and over the years have handled many snakes. Ok, I was never a big fan, but I was always comfortable around them. Until tonight that was. Brenda called me up to one of our raised vegetable beds where she had placed a tarpaulin to keep in the heat and progress the compost. Watch…
This evening when putting the turkeys away I heard the churring of nightjars across the valley. Since moving to Dodpen we have heard them every year, and it is wonderful that they have returned once again.
The hatchery Building goes up today. Finally, Heritage Turkeys get its totally dedicated hatchery building. Ok, it is essentially two stables and a tack room, but as a combined unit it offers the space and flexibility for our incubators, hatching units and heated pens. It is located next door to my office so we finally have everything together to manage…
Today we acquired a pair of British White turkeys and these are to form the nucleus of a new breeding program at Heritage Turkeys. There is so much that is unknown about these delightful birds and it is going to be interesting to undertake background research to find out more about them, and to initiate a breeding program to ensure…
Our first Buff turkey chick hatched today and it I am absolutely delighted as it is healthy and strong. This is such an important event given the critically low numbers of this delightful variety. Excitingly there are a few more Buff turkey eggs pipping as I type, and at last candling, all the other eggs from this group appeared fertile.…
The Buff turkeys are laying which is brilliant news given that this particular variety is down to very low numbers and has in fact almost disappeared completely. We are desperate to save the Buff turkeys and scoured the UK looking for birds to improve and develop our line. Sadly even after all our searching and miles travelled we only found…
We were really pleased with the two birds that entered. Sadly there were not many birds entered in the turkey classes, but Malcolm Thompson the turkey judge made some nice comments about our birds afterwards. Norfolk Black Hen: First in Class and Best of Breed, Kingsbridge Show Crollwitzer Stag: First in Class and Best of Breed, Kingsbridge Show