Wealden Times | WT162 | August 2015 | Wedding supplement inside

FablesFromThe FarmJane reflects onthe Howard familychickens...Subscribe and NEVERmiss out...If you would like to contribute to future issues ofTotal Grooming Magazine please contact :Sue Corfieldeditor@totalgroomingmagazine.co.ukIf you would like to subscribe to the magazine orhave an interest in advertising then please contact :Mike Smithmike@cimltd.co.uk01795 509110www.totalgroomingmagazine.co.ukwww.totalgroomingmagazine.co.ukLove is...WILDWASHWildWash Natural Skinand Coat Care For PetsTo see Pepper’s fi rst bath visit:www.youtube.com/WildWashCowww.totalgroomingmagazine.co.ukJUNE 2015APRIL 2015CELEBRATING20 YEARSwww.totalgroomingmagazine.co.ukwww.totalgroomingmagazine.co.ukMAY 2015March 2015The chicken department has been running especiallysmoothly recently. For the past two years we have hadthe same six chickens – four Buff Sussex, one SpeckledSussex and Phil the cockerel. This in itself is a record as in thepast we have always lost a few every year to the fox, to friendsvisiting with terriers and once to a nasty condition called Gape.But all’s well at the moment, with plenty of fresh eggsand only one of them deciding to go broody. The wholechicken and egg thing is still one of those miracles whicheven after ten years of hen keeping never ceases to amaze.An old fashioned hen will lay an egg most days fromabout February to October (commercial hens do it everyday, 365 days) and if she is running with a cockerel theeggs will be fertile and for about three weeks are capableof developing into a chick. This development will onlycommence once the egg has been kept consistently warmfor 24 hours in an incubator or under a broody hen.Becoming broody is a hormonal thing and once it kicks inthe hen’s temperature rises and she plucks the feathers fromher breast, skin-to-shell contact being more efficient with allthe feathers out the way. And there she sits for 21 days. Sheforegoes food and drink – unless you pick her up and makeher leave the nest – and also ceases to give off any smell sothat in the wild any passing fox won’t find her. Clever.And then on day 20 the chicks begin to cheep insidetheir shells. This is the signal that turns off broody modeand turns on maternal mode. As all the chicks hatch shebecomes a protective mother and will carefully raise themfor about eight weeks before she loses interest and the littleones have to take their chances as part of the flock.We don’t really need any more hens, five hens eachlaying most days is plenty for a family of four – althoughin our case you first have to find the eggs because thehens resolutely refuse to use the dedicated laying box intheir hen house, but when one of them did go broodyrecently I couldn’t help but put some eggs under herand chalked up in the diary the happy hatching date.However, with the very hot weather we’ve had recentlyI felt, after two weeks of sitting tight, she really did needto get out of the ark, stretch her legs and have a drinkof water. So I turfed her out and she ran screeching tothe nearest flower bed for a good dust bath (it is VERYannoying that with all the farmyard to use they always pickmy already far from impressive perennial border as theirpreferred spot for ablutions). Ten minutes later I checkedon progress only to see two large crows flying out of theark with eggs in their beaks. Of the original nine only twowere left. As they say, never count your chickens…Follow Jane on Twitter @coopers_farmwww.wealdentimes.co.uk144TotalGroomingWT162.indd 1 22/07/2015 10:32