really old style living?

kezlou

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

hahah i can you see holding the kettle to ransome, till rv gives in hahahaha
April?!

D&DD if your dogs anything like my cats, it will be a nightmare. Honestly its crazy, my cats try to eat everything, form chilli plants leaves through to onions. Never known such animals.

Hmmm not sure about quails, but they must be a mrket for them Our local sainsbugs sells whole quails for a small fortune.

Well on the whole self sufficiency thing, i may have strawberry plants coming to courtesy of MIL:D:D:D:D.

Forgot to make the yoghurt yesterday:o, so going to have :oa go tonight instead.

ChocClare

flea72 wrote: »

we are getting a new batch of hens next month hopefully, and have also been offered some quails

anyone have any tips on keeping quails? is there a demand for quails eggs, as we currehttp://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=41569642ntly cant keep up with demand on hens eggs, hence the restock, so was wondering whether quails eggs also sell well at the gate, and prices?

F

We've been offered some quails too, and DH is building an aviary for them. I LOVE quails' eggs but I don't know if there would be a market for them at the door so much. We are so sad that we are going for the quails because BABY QUAILS ARE SO CUTE :rotfl::rotfl:

Ahem! And we have chickens too. I don't get so excited about them

D&DD

aw CC how cute are they??
I'm no help on the livestock front haven't a clue

Kez yes thought as much..my cats are pretty good and don't go on the beds so they aren't a prob.
She is very good and its only a mad dash around when she's excited rather than leaving any 'presents' she does respond to OFF and since we've put the cloches on the main bed Friday she won't get up there so I'll live in hope it won't be a total loss and I always have pots and the greenhouse

Hippeechiq

Aww - how cute are those baby quails?

I'm so envious of everyone who has or is getting chickens. We used to keep chickens when I was a child, and they're lovely old things, they have such quirky personalities too.

I'd really love some but it just aint gonna happen. The garden might just be big enough, but I'm not sure the council would allow, and also the back garden - which is the only place I could put them - is all paving slabs, and chickens really should be allowed/be able to have a good old scratch around, well, imho anyway.

Love Hinge & Bracket for the names, lol. They may well not be the be all and end all in life, but you must be excited all the same.....go on....admit it I would be!

jumblejack

[QUOTE=Purpleclutterbuck;
I grow pea shoots for salads from dried peas upstairs on a sunny bookcase as I don't have flat window sills just put an old tray underneath to catch any water[/QUOTE]

What a great idea. Do you buy seed packets or the cheap dried peas in the supermarkets?

I've never tried pea shoots but they look wonderful on a plate (masterchef contestants seem to love using them!)

jumblejack

Hippeechiq wrote: »

Aww - how cute are those baby quails?

I'm so envious of everyone who has or is getting chickens. We used to keep chickens when I was a child, and they're lovely old things, they have such quirky personalities too.

I'd really love some but it just aint gonna happen. The garden might just be big enough, but I'm not sure the council would allow, and also the back garden - which is the only place I could put them - is all paving slabs, and chickens really should be allowed/be able to have a good old scratch around, well, imho anyway.

Love Hinge & Bracket for the names, lol. They may well not be the be all and end all in life, but you must be excited all the same.....go on....admit it I would be!

I rang my council 2 years ago to see whether it was permissible to keep chickens. I was told yes as long as they are kept clean and free from vermin. Cockerels are a different matter entirely due to the problem of them crowing but as I only wanted lay birds, it wasn't an issue!

Also, I started off with a few ex battery hens. When you research the living conditions of these poor creatures you would change you mind about your feelings of inadequacy regarding the area they would have.
They are kept in a cage with the floor area of an A4 piece of paper which is SHARED!!! They have no room to even stretch their wings! This is how they live for a year before being slaughtered. Fancy never seeing sunlight.

They would love the liberation of your back yard, slabbed or not!! I would say go for it! Get some ex battery hens and you will feel do very thrilled for giving them a chance of living. They are actually very good layers too and will give you an egg every other day at the very least!

Red_Doe

I have eleven hens and one cockerel, and can confirm they`re well worth the keeping. They don`t need expensive designer hutches or anything, I built mine out of scrap and it looks fairly good and keeps them dry and cosy.
One thing though...if you get a group of hens, watch out for the pecking order. Mine trampled over one of their sisters to get to the food the other morning, and she is now a bit poorly, having been injured. She`s relatively ok, but is always the bottom of the pecking order and I currently have her separated from the rest to give her a breather and recover. I`m a bit reluctant to put her back in with them, and might have to make other arrangements for her.

flea72

Red_Doe wrote: »

I have eleven hens and one cockerel, and can confirm they`re well worth the keeping. They don`t need expensive designer hutches or anything, I built mine out of scrap and it looks fairly good and keeps them dry and cosy.
One thing though...if you get a group of hens, watch out for the pecking order. Mine trampled over one of their sisters to get to the food the other morning, and she is now a bit poorly, having been injured. She`s relatively ok, but is always the bottom of the pecking order and I currently have her separated from the rest to give her a breather and recover. I`m a bit reluctant to put her back in with them, and might have to make other arrangements for her.

tbh now you have separated her from the rest, it will make her life even harder if you try to reintroduce her.

if you want to redistribute who is in charge, then you need to remove the dominate hen, rather than the hen-pecked one, so that way when the bossy one is reintroduced, they will be at the bottom of the pack and it will take them a while to get back to their nasty ways, if at all

F

Winged_one

Well, I got my vinegar on Friday (cue OH rolling his eyes at me - again!), and the makings of Sushi after growing to love the M&S packs and seeing it looked so easy on the Hairy Bikers during the week. I figured the cost of 4 lunches would be allowable to experiment and I could get up to 50! or more from what I bought!

Another part of really old style got restarted too over the weekend - I finally started sowing seeds for this year. Leeks, broad beans, cauliflower, lettuce, tomatoes, sweet and chilli peppers, basil, coriander, carrots and salad leaves are all nestled into compost somewhere (some indoors, some out) and I will sow cabbage into modules during the week, and some radishes and spring onions direct into the back garden too. Now that I've finally dug it over and added plenty of compost. I am hoping to work more in the back garden than last year, and do less on the plot - which theoretically should give me a better yield of crops and also spend less time at it (a few minutes pottering most evenings rather than disappearing for a half day every weekend), as well as better watering (a couple of cans nightly from the rain butt on anything taht needs it rather than maybe one or two cans lugged from the tap once a week on the really precious things).

kezlou

Wish my cats responded to "off", they only move when i shout "get off you little **it!!!!":o Not lady like i know, but what can ya do, i;m not pouring yoghurt down the mouths again:eek:.
Just been planning the yard, and i've realised, yet again, that i don't have enough room,to do what i want to do. But i will find a way.
Going to soow seeds today and see whats happens. The last lot i sowed, nothing happened, think it was just too cold for them:(.

But checked on the raspberries, rhubarb and gooseberry plants and all are looking well, think i saw some rhubarb runners coming though to:D. So going to have a go at transplanting these and growing them in pots maybe.