And in case you think I’m joking, Blue Silver Duckwing Welsummers anyone! Or rosecombed Australorps.

No, not I have too many but there are so many breeds out there that I can’t do all the breeding tests that I want. A lifetime would not be enough and as I’m 68 there’s definitely not time. But one that I’m determined to do, so long as I don’t drop dead tomorrow, is to use Speckled Sussex and Coronat...

Thanks Hen--Gen, I must say, they are darlings. some of the chirpiest, best natured chicks have ever hatched. No shyness at all, just happy and chirpy and friendly. Good. I can only say that the only bloodbath I’ve ever experienced was with three young Blue Leghorn cockerels. They were being grown ...

Not as clear cut as some would think! As a pullet approaches egg laying maturity it’s comb and wattles redden up and appear more prominent. At a similar age cockerels comb and wattles follow the same trajectory. So the crucial question is how old are the chicks. At eight weeks I can generally sex th...

Bit blowy here too but the constant southerly winds are warm so the grass is still bright green rather than the lifeless, wind scorched brown that we expect by this time of year. However my copse is now leafless and ready for winter. Even so a neighbour was putting out cat food yesterday for a hedge...

So 18 months ago I imported a Black Welsh Mountain ram. He was from a top breeder and a show winner only being sold to prevent inbreeding. On his 6 month blood test (compulsory here) he was found to be carrying a disease called Caseous Lymphadenitis and was destroyed. Unexpected but not a disaster b...

I had a pet jackdaw as a kid. It was called, somewhat unimaginatively, Jack. It was friendly enough and free ranged in the garden. But like it’s cousin, the magpie, was obsessed with stealing anything glittery. So if in years to come anyone unearths a cache of milk bottle tops in the Harrow Weald ar...

That’s the one, Svarthona. Thanks MrsBiscuit.

What do they call that variety of chicken that is like a standard chicken except that everything, including comb and wattles, is black?

Ah no. Don’t diss the commonplace. I was brought up in a road called Chestnut Drive (that was in the days when no one cared about sticky buds on their cars or roots undermining their foundations). Full forest sized trees so abundant wildlife. One day a gale blew through and I found two unfledged woo...