Windy hill chickens - first flock(s) of my own

[thistlewick]

omg the looks you're getting are AMAZING hahahahah your chickens are spectacularly gorgeous!

 

[kattabelly]

Gave someone a couple of eggs today because they happened to be in my pocket and he asked how many I'm getting and do I have enough spare to sell some at the little shop where he lives. I don't, but it was interesting talking through a few pie in the sky possibilities both in terms of the practicalities and working out what I'd be comfortable with (I could never run a big barn of production hybrids that technically have access to just enough outdoor space to meet free range standards, for example).

Little Shets are still refusing to grow anything that looks like male saddle feathers but I don't quite believe I've managed to hatch six pullets and no cockerels, so not sure yet how many eggs I'll be expecting to get from them when they start laying.

Brambles started ripening a week or two back here and now the seasons have definitely turned. The wind today felt like a reminder that winter's on its way.

 

[Perris]

In case you are not aware of it, to sell to 3rd parties via a shop, you need to be registered as or to use a registered packer. (I think those laws apply to Scotland as well as to England and Wales.)

 

[kattabelly]

In case you are not aware of it, to sell to 3rd parties via a shop, you need to be registered as or to use a registered packer. (I think those laws apply to Scotland as well as to England and Wales.)

I know, ta. I think it's actually four registrations here - egg producer, egg packer, feed business and food business - though I wouldn't be surprised to find a lot of people don't bother with at least some of those here. That shop already sells chicken eggs from a woman who swaps them for her shopping, and duck eggs that just appear sometimes from someone or other. It's not something I'm seriously considering for now, anyway.

 

[cavemanrich]

That shop already sells chicken eggs from a woman who swaps them for her shopping, and duck eggs that just appear sometimes from someone or other. It's not something I'm seriously considering for now, anyway.

In regards to those taxing bodies, and manure authorities,
"what they don't know don't hurt them"
Barter has been going on for centuries before these thugs placed themselves on the tax generated payrolls.

 

[kattabelly]

And the Dafty of the Day award goes to...

VID_20250908_194651~2.mp4

• kattabelly
• Today at 4:02 PM

He gets really excited about dead leaves and the "woodchip" I sometimes make by dragging some brittle deadwood up from the willows down the hill and stamping on it a bit.

The other day he was dropping and picking up a piece of wood with so much enthusiasm, he managed to headbutt the pullet when she came over (against her better judgement, no doubt) to see what he had. She got her revenge last night by flap-running past and smacking him in the face with her wing while he lost his mind over a very dead courgette leaf