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Diary of a Cackleberry Farmer #2
Adventures on a Hobby Farm
We have had up to four roosters and fifteen hens. We have downsized since moving to town but still have a few chickens.
Welcome back to the Cackleberry Farm and this, the second instalment. I was planning on waiting for a month to pass since publishing the initial Cackleberry Farm article to make sure that there were enough new happenings to create an article around. However, today there was just such an occurrence to warrant bringing it forward.
The winter weather here in Ballogie has been generally cool with only three of four really cold days in the last two weeks. It hasn’t rained since May either, so the grass is brown and brittle, and I’ve been watering the garden, with grey water from the shower, every second day.
Shortly after writing the first article in the series, I came across one clucky hen hiding in among the bromeliads and sitting on a nest containing 14 eggs (not bad for a tiny bantam hen). I subsequently relocated her (under severe aggressive pecking) and the cackleberries into the hatching pen (an ex-trailer cage) to protect them from both predators and the weather.
After an hour or two of squawking and flapping the hen finally settled back down on top of the eggs. This was a relief as they needed to be kept warm if they…
