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The Kitchen Garden |
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Diary
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May/June 2002 |
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The Kitchen Garden Church Lane Troston Bury St. Edmunds Suffolk IP31 1EX 01359-268322
What happened in:
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I usually hatch my Orpington chicks under a strain of experienced bantam crossbreed mums that I keep especially for that purpose - although they're also excellent layers and all round good eggs. This doesn't mean my pure bred ladies don't go broody and the youngest hen has spent most of her first season fluffing and sitting. |
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Her most recent attempt was the most extraordinary. I knew she was laying by the purposeful way she strutted down the vegetable garden path, but I couldn't find her nest. So I followed her. I watched her march up to a sitting duck nesting on a compost heap, peck her hard on the head 'til she moved over, and then settle down and lay her egg, one of 18 - a dozen blue and the rest her own. As she left, the duck took over again. |
Although I removed her eggs, she continued to lay there and eventually she shooed the poor duck off altogether and covered the clutch herself full time. I'm afraid I took all the eggs away in the end. My menagerie is diverse enough without a troupe of ducklings who think they are hens. |
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