New Faces on the Croft and a Haircut

What with all the excitement of the ducklings hatching, the broody hen sitting on her six eggs went almost unnoticed until yesterday. When we checked her out four of the chicks had hatched and by yesterday evening there were five. This morning we moved the run, the nestbox and the happy family to a new position where they will be warm and we can keep an eye on them, so I seized the opportunity to take a snap of the wee ones.

They are all different - two cute little stripey ones, one classic yellow fluffy, one little naked neck who hatched from an araucana egg! and another little auburn chick who has the look of a miniature nankin bantam about it.

The chicks and mum will be going down the road to their new home sometime this week where they will be lovingly cared for and protected till they are big enough to fend for themselves. They have a magnificent hen house to live in when they are grown - I will get a piccie of that as it is a landmark in itself.

Yesterday was a good day for being out and about on the croft. The sun was shining but there was a bit of a breeze to keep things cool. Daisy was looking a bit tatty round the edges, so we coralled her into the fank and sheared her. Here she is before......

Here she is during.......

Sadly we don't have one of her after as she escaped while I was getting the camera and high tailed it off into the distance. Hopefully we will get one of her next time she comes to the fence.

Meantime there is a lovely bag of fleece - clean, white, classic cheviot with a bit of a crimp to it. Staple about four inches which is about right for a first shear, and very oily. All in all a job well done. The fleece will spin up beautifully so I will need to contact Mrs Tin Shed to see if she wishes me to spin it, or if she is going to do it herself!