Bearded Iris and a Popping Incubator

The irises are starting to come into their own in the garden, they always look speccy.

I always love the two tone ones :)

Bantam araucana chicks:

And silkie chicks, have had to band the legs of one, but hope it will soon be 'good as new':

Roses in the Chook Pen, Michelle, Ancona Ducklings and Murrumbateman Field Days

The roses in the chook pen are looking lovely and every so often there is a waft of their perfume, which is as lovely as it is unexpected in the chook pen!!

Sutters Gold is in the silkie pen:

And a Blue Moon climber in the modern game pen:

Michelle must be getting close, she looks as tight as a drum, spends lots of time each day just resting and is as cranky as a bear with a sore head!!

On Sunday I took my turn manning the Llama Association stand at Murrumbateman Field Days.  Clovis and Storm were pretty calm about the whole thing.... eventually!!

The alpaca exhibit was the other focus of my attention, and the owners of these lovely alpacas were kind enough to help us pack up our stand and our pen at the end of the day, thank you Qozqo Alpacas :)  They proved irresistible for our llama owner, Tanya, who bought the third alpaca in this pen - not shown in this shot, but a gorgeous medium grey girl :)

Some other cuties there too:

And last, but not least, our bantam Ancona girl has hatched 10 ducklings :)

Ducklings and Dutch Iris

How many ducklings can you fit in one laundry trough?  Think this is pretty much it!!  if they are still to have room to swim.  The khaki campbells (dark brown ones) are the eldest by a week and are always first to get water logged!!  Had to hoisted out immediately after I took this pic!

So there are 6 Call ducklings, 7 Ancona bantams, 2 Black East Indies and 2 Khaki Campbells.

The blue dutch iris have been and gone, now its the turn of the yellows :)

Bushfire Smoke Haze and more Roses

The smoke from the recent fires all along the coast of New South Wales has drifted inland over night, not so good for our asthmatic cat, Skinny :(

Speccy sun this morning, and eerie sort of feel to everything.

The roses are all getting into the act now, its starting to look lovely out there.

Sutters Gold is in the silkie pen, and is looking even more orange than usual in the strange light today:

The first bearded iris, the pink rose, chickens and other ducklings

The first bearded iris for the season are out - and taking a hammering from the wind!!

The pink rose bud is getting better and better, fantastic salmon pink:

Judy has 7 ducklings now, (I have sold 7!!) those remaining  include one mini duckling (blue fawn, extreme left) and one micro duckling (fawn at the rear left), they are hearty eaters, but just grow more slowly than their siblings.

I am growing out a few araucana babies from our own stock, and they are growing up with a couple of crazy (but gorgeous) polish chicks and a lone modern game bantam, who has of course turned out to be a roo!!

Ducklings, Wisteria and Roses

Ancona ducklings!!  I took 7 eggs from my duck, 7 were fertile and 7 ducklings hatched - perfect result!!  These are the 'middle' four, showing the complete range of makings, from big splashes of colour, a few little dots and no visible markings at all!

Here is the rest of the gang in the brooder, 2 ring in khaki campbells, 5 grey calls, 1 silver call and the first 2 anconas.

Close up of the little silver call :)

The roses are looking better this year, pruned by my mother instead of me and sprayed for black spot they are rewarding the extra care with lovely blooms.

 Another plant in the short but hell flashy flowering season is the wisteria, which was looking whizz bang a week ago, but has now 'gone over'.

The garden, Llamas, Alpacas, Bunnies and Koi

This week in the garden the banksia rose is doing its thing.  I'm not a big fan of this short flowering period rose, but its display is an intense as it is brief.  There is a smaller, less prolific white form next to it, also nice, but both ear marked for the chop in favour of some of my favourite hybrid teas next season!!

Another Nowra run this weekend, these trips are quite tiring but I love the chance to catch up with friends.  Last night Shayne and Brad hosted me and my old friend Gayle for a delicious dinner of salmon, potato bake and asian greens, followed by desserts provided by Gayle - the ever popular meringue roll with raspberries and passionfruit AND a cheese cake!!  All washed down with plenty of bubbly - what's not to like??

It was also a chance to say hello to Tarquinn and Freddie, unfortunately Freddie seems to be trying to take on the role of professional victim - seeking advice on how to cope with this!!

Tarquinn still cuts a dashing figure:

plus meet new bugs - a whole pond of Koi - who are perfectly calm:

until you add a handful of fish food!!

And the bunnies, who are constant source of fascination for Minto:

Shayne with Minto and bunnies - Slingshot (black and white) and Benny (black).  As a herding dog Minto shows no interest in harming the buns, just wants them to stay together.... very cute!!

Ducklings!!

More ducklings hatched yesterday evening, and overnight in the incubator - 4 in all - and I was wondering where on earth I was going to put them, since I already have 3 brooders running!!   And they are all full!!  When Shake-Me-Up-Judy came out of the nest box for brekky this morning with ducklings in tow!  YAY!! Problem sorted.  Quickly set up a mummy pen for her, rescued the ducklings, gathered up all the unhatched eggs, moved Judy, added my incubator ducklings and sat back and waited to see if she'd take them.  She did, bless her.  I have one baby drying off in the incubator, it was just hatching when I moved them, and lots and lots of eggs, bit worried that some of them may be later additions from the other duck that was in the pen, so there may be a delayed and rolling hatch happening!!

Dutch Iris and Wildlife Hazards for Chickens

Today started out windy and warm but has deteriorated to windy and wet, but yesterday it was sunny and still and the dutch iris were putting on a good show:

Late yesterday afternoon I gave broody Delilah a just hatched, still wet chicken to look after.  This morning, as planned, and as we've done with good success in the past, I gave her 5 more fluffy 'ready to go' chickens.  But when I went to the pen early this morning with the new bugs, the first chicken was gone and there was a very smug looking shingle back lizard in the pen!!  I had put a wire cage front in front of her nest box to prevent other hens bothering her while the chicken dried, but it wasnt a tight fit and plainly the lizard got in!!  Took him for a long walk, put him over the neighbours fence and sent him on his way with a flea in this ear!!

But the troubles kept going.  We brought Delilah up to the house pens, set her up with food, water and a nice safe place to be with her chickens, checked on them an hour later and one chick is stretched out on his back, soaking wet, stone cold and looking for all the world like he's dead.  Went to clear the body, and his leg moved!!  Dashed inside, straight under warm water to clean him up, and from semi rigid when I first picked him up, he went immediately to limp under the warm water.  Dried him off and put him back in the incubator to warm up!!  Had to take a second chick back because plainly I had kept it too long and it had lost the instinct to burrow under mother hen, that can only end in tears, so into the brooder he went too!!   The wet one is now up and about and eating again, but its pretty clear it doesnt have the nous to be a hen's chicken, so he'll have to be brooder chicken from here on in!!  Wish us luck :)