Animal woes

We have a hen sitting on some eggs as shown here. The hen is in a broody box , ensuring that she doesn't wander too far and forget what she is there for .

But there are problems - there isn't a lot of room and they sometimes end up standing on the eggs before settling down over them .  And we found a cracked egg.  As the chicks aren't due to hatch for another week  or so  the chances of survival are slim - it went in the incubator
but after a few hours it was clear that the chick hadn't survived .

  And one of the ducks didn't look right. We managed to catch it and have a look.

 I imagine it cant see much out of this eye. But it is still active, going round with the others and  eating anything that is in its way. So for the time being we will leave it with the rest of them


And we've got a guest . A limping pheasant

this pheasant has been hanging around for a few days. It limps, but can still fly away if you get too close to it. So its harmless and we will leave it hanging round .

Sadly

The duckling was alive first thing this morning, but at lunchtime we found it dead in the run.
And the mother hen was still dutifully guarding it.

Either it wasn't strong enough to survive, or there was a problem anyway ( which is why it ended up in our pond)

At least it didnt get attacked by the local hoodies whilst it was alive.

see what we found

Out early  in the morning , we found this  duckling trying to get out of the pond.   No sign of its mother, or any other ducks ( ours were still locked up) . Ours get counted in and locked in every night , so we don't think one has surreptitiously been sitting on some eggs. Although the eggs will probably survive if left for couple of hours  and then re-incubated  , they wont survive left overnight, 

So we think its a wild duck that has hatched some and this little one got separated, or lost, and go carried down on the stream.

So what to do ? We could just leave it and let it take its chance  of either the mother finding it (very unlikely) or it succumbing to the hooded crows (very likely)   or it dieing of cold and starvation (very  likely). 

So what we did is  take the eggs off one of our broody hens and  put them in the incubator

 and  slipped the duckling under the broody hen.  She seems to have accepted it and they have been moved to the chick run and  given access to food and water  

  So we shall see what happens.

Brooding

So a couple of hens have gone broody.
We've put one in a broody box . Heres the box

If you remove the lid

There are some eggs

The hen is taken off and given some space, food and water,  twice a day.

They will sit for 3 weeks .
 Watch this space

information sought

From page 3 , The Orcadian weekly newspaper.
It appears we were not alone.
But is it the same person ?
Our thief didnt take any eggs. The other thief took eggs and cash ( unless the eggs were already sold and they  just took the cash as well)

We will have to see if the Orkney Crime wave continues .

Anyone with information should phone Crimestoppers 0800 555111

An Orkney Crime Wave

We are not alone - reported on the ORKNEY MERKIT Facebook page

The Orkney Egg  thief has struck again . But this time in daylight

And the Police have been informed . 

 Its only a matter of time now.

The whole populace ( except for one)  will be on the lookout for the Orkney Egg Thief.


Follow-up reporting will no doubt be in the Orcadian next week.

A reward will be offered

There has been a crime.  A reward will be offered 

The crime scene 

The evidence

a plastic container containing £6.70 (4.00 float and 2.70 from egg purchases)  was removed  between the hours of 9pm on Wed 6th April 2016 and 6am on Thursday 7th April . 

The remaining eggs ( 12 hen eggs) were left. 

The police have been informed . 

Very strange. 

Someone has come past in a car.  In the middle of the night . In the dark. On an unlit road. 

Why didn't they remove the entire contents of the box. Or even the box as well ?

A psychological profile  of the suspect 

They are clearly not egg-lovers. 

And have a need for loose change.

There will be a reward for any information  regarding the whereabouts of our 6.70 and its clear plastic  container.