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Angelina is an amazingly bright white cria who was born on the 21st May. She is quickly catching up with Annie our first born cria of 2014 and they are often seen running around together, although sometimes the younger adult females try to join in and it puts them off a bit, which is a shame.
Her fleece is exceptionally soft but does not have as much crimp as I would like, whereas Annie's definitely has the wow factor.
The photos were taken soon after she was born. She has fitted in well and is very self confident.
The hens are laying 18 eggs per day now and they are in great demand. It is tempting to get more hens but I do not want to have to get involved in the regulations which govern bigger flocks. It is also quite nice to know my customers, whom I often run into when they are raiding the egg box at the roadside.
Earlier this year I experimented with field matings. That is, I put a male in with a harem of females that I wanted him to mate. After a couple of weeks, I took the males away. Today we did some spit-offs - that is where a stud male meets a supposedly pregnant female. If he shows an interest and she is pregnant she will run away, spit at him, and maybe kick him. (a good trick to remember if you are in a nightclub and want to ward off unwanted advances!!). If she is not pregnant, she will lie down so that he can mate her.
Sad to say 50% of the females involved did not reject the male and so will be covered again so that they will give birth next spring. This time we will put one male with one female so that we have more control. It is a shame really, as I thought they would prefer a more natural environment.
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