Gastroschisis

Gastroschisis is a condition  here the abdominal wall doesn't develop properly and the intestines remain on the outside. 

Hens can get it as well 

 It is not survivable in poultry. 

you lose some , you win some

We put some eggs to hatch at the end of January 

We were expecting them to start to hatch a few days ago. But nothing has happened  and no signs of activity Unfertilised eggs make a sloshing sound when you shake them gently and we identified one that was like this. But the others ? 

Well, we have waited to see what happens. They were stored in the barn - a suitable cool place and weve put them there before whilst collecting a batch to incubate all at the same time .

But this time ? Nothing. 

So I cracked one open to see what has happened 

Speaking to friends in the Lake District with chickens, they had eggs that were outside freezing  and cracking open. ut that didnt happen to ours . So we are assuming that they got just cold enough to interfere with the germination and growth of the very early embryo. 

But the good news is that the eggs we put to incubate a week later have  started to hatch. 

Growing up , moving on .

 We had some surprise arrivals back in November. 

Since then , they have been growing up. Because of Avian flu they had to be kept apart ( wherever practicable, according to the regulations ) from wild birds, so they hae been in one of the larger chick runs. 

And they have outgrown the chick run . 

 And they are 4 cockerels. So they want to establish a pecking order. And they do that by  displays and pecking at each other. And the run is too small for 4 of them to be doing this . Ideally they would go onto the moor, along with the geese. But geese are aysmptomatic vectors of Avian flu, so they cant go there. 

So they have gone into one of our empty hen houses,  separated from the other of our poultry. They are locked in with food and water for 24 hours or so  as they learn where their new 'home' is. 

And we have done that  and now opened the henhouse to let them out to forage for food. 

But they dont know that. 

They are staying in the hen house 

 So ive removed the food. 

And put trail down the ramp  so hopefully they get the idea. 

 

The solution

 Heres the problem . 

And the problem is there is no grass for the sheep to graze - its all under a couple of inches of snow.

And its been like this for a couple of weeks and the forecast is for a couple of weeks more .

 

So we are getting through the hay at a rapid rate. 

 

So Michael to the rescue 

And stocks replenished