Just a quick note to say that the main crop potatoes, Sarpo Mira, went in today. I dug three trenches measuring nearly 100 feet in total, I added a bit of Growmore fertilizer, backfilled and mounded over the top. My back was aching a bit when I'd finished but I had a couple of beers in the fridge as a reward! So, all the spuds are in, 80 odd of Rocket and 60 odd Sarpo Mira.
On a sad note, the last of my first batch of chickens died in her sleep this morning. Jenny was a rescued hybrid who extremely friendly and always responded with a 'cluck' if you talked to her. I had four chickens in August 2014 from the British Hen Welfare Trust but, looking back in it now, the hens probably had had a very hard life and were plagued by various forms of ill health from the start. One died in her sleep a few weeks after they arrived and two had to be put down due to illness the following year.
While having rescued hens is a charitable undertaking, knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have any more. These hens are bred to last no more than eighteen months, they are put in the large chicken sheds at point of lay and are kept for around 12 months before being culled. It's a real challenge to keep them thriving after this.
Over the past few months she slept a lot, tucking her head under her wing or just dozing where she stood; she just looked 'old' compared to the other hens in the flock. She was barging the others out of the way last night to grab first dibs at the scratch corn and died mid-morning sat in straw in the coop. Jenny was my favourite and I hope she enjoyed her stay with me and the freedom of pottering around in her large run with the sun on her back. (Pic - the old girl Jenny dozing in the Winter sun back in February).
That's it for this quick update, bye for now.
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