Hello from North Somerset

[MalcolmP]

Hello everyone,
Here is a little intro about me, (better late than never, having already posted in the Quail forum ! )

We have been keeping poultry, on and off for a long time, LF, bantams, ducks and briefly a pair of geese.
I blame it all on John Seymore and Ann Williams
In particular I blame Ann for her book "Backyard Rabbit Farming" !
It's a long story,,,
we started with rabbits but when our daughter became old enough to realise what was going on it had to stop, she rather amusingly declared rabbit to be dreadfully poisonous to humans
So that is how we got into poultry !
(and more recently pigs and sheep, but that's another story, and quail - more about that later)

The LF, bantams and ducks free range but usually stay near the house and their housing. The geese were ok when young but as they became older so they ranged wider and one day were found on neighbours patch heading for his newly planted cabbages, he was bravely defending his crop with his walking stick !
He was ok about it but we decided not to take chances with neighbourly good relations and they had to go :-(

Recently we found quail(cortunix) to be amusing little creatures, very easy to keep and very productive, I think we ought to have started with them all those years ago. As you know, they mature and are ready for the table in just a few weeks. Their little eggs are excelent, especially suitable for scotch eggs and in pork pies.
It was while browsing the web for sources of replacement quail stock that I found your interesting forum and so ,,,
here I am !

 

[Marigold]

And you are very welcome, Malcolm, glad to have you on the Forum, especially as you are a quail man as well as all those other birds.
I gather your daughter doesn't think chickens or quail are poisonous to humans?

 

[foxy]

Hello and welcome to the forum! 99

 

[MalcolmP]

Hi Marigold and Foxy, thanks for the welcome.

Marigold >
Yep, you got it ! ;-)

Actually, LF are not poisonous at all, possibly(*) because a long time ago when she was a toddler a North Holland Blue cockerel (that was a little bigger than she was) went for her, claws out front, thankfully no contact and no damage but no more chances could be taken and he graced the dining table later.
Bantams (usually mottled pekin or gold partridge), though not poisonous are granted protected status, are much more friendly (*) and are kept as pets and for their intermediate size eggs. ( and maybe because another member of the domestic staff recon they are more feather than meat and too much trouble to pluck ;-) ! )

 

[chrismahon]

Hello and welcome MalcolmP. Great intro which I really enjoyed reading. So you know where to go if you have serious problems but perhaps the forum can turn to you for your experience? You clearly have a lot, even if you don't realise it.

 

[MalcolmP]

perhaps the forum can turn to you for your experience

Thanks for the nice welcome Chris.
Yes, some experience but with big gaps Always happy to discuss poultry and a lot is to be learned from responses to giving out advice !!
Another aspect of keeping poultry for a long time is that one can get umm,,, "accustomed to ones habbits", so it is good to read of others experiences on forums like this. Especially Quail which dont often get talked about elsewhere.
(and apols for late reply, I got carried away with hatching quail and forgot to look back in here for a few days ! )

 

[chrismahon]

Yes MalcomP. People develop their own ways of dealing with problems but fail to accept that they are not necessarily the best way. That's where a forum comes in. Lots of people trying lots of different solutions with an open mind and by sharing results reach the best solution.