An update: We hatched 11 chicks in the incubator. Five Buff Orpington x Australorp chicks have now gone to their new home with a broody hen. And for me the temptation was too much, I held onto 6 chicks…by now I think that you know me well enough not to be surprised! When I figuratively […]

Michael got a surprise this morning when four sweet little chicks peered up at him as he lent over to check the settings on the incubator. The chicks have hatched a week early and are somewhat of a miracle. The incubator was still on the rotating cycle (not optimal for hatching chicks), it wasn’t on […]

How is your garden list of things to do for the week looking? I’m trying to be realistic, prioritise things and still have that goal of doing something for half an hour in the garden each day.  Hopefully we’ll be able to tick everything off the list over the weekend weather permitting. Some tasks on […]

This morning the hens were keen to potter about outside until they stepped into their garden and felt the force of the bitterly cold winds. Enticed by the contents in their daily bucket of weeds, herbs and mustard greens they soon hopped back inside. A hand full of sunflower seeds is a favourite for them […]

Caring for a dog that needs regular grooming is a big long term commitment financially if you don’t do it yourself. Over the years we have taken Molly & Ebb to different dog groomers, for the first 7 years of their lives I was able to do the dog grooming before my hand injury restricted […]

It is so exciting when chicks or new members of your flock finally arrive and even more so the very  first time you bring your first flock home or they hatch in the incubator or under Mama Hen. There is nothing like those early days of learning hands on even though there has been so […]

If you have new members in your flock or are establishing a new flock with chicks that have gone straight from the incubator to the brooder box then ready for a bigger outside pen an easy way to train them to go into their pen at night is simply with food. Follow these simple steps […]

  Do you watch BBC Gardener’s World? There was a segment in an episode late 2017 about scientific studies proving that growing plants close to buildings helps insulate a building, there is the micro climate they create plus so many other benefits. I think we may have all realised that to some extent but a […]

Do you remember the children’s shows where they feature animals and part of the segment is a fact sheet about the animal? We make one of those fact sheets for every animal before they come to live at Fairy Wren Cottage. With so much parental guidance it has been a good way for our daughter […]