Farming Friends

• Red mites are a parasite that suck blood.
• They can cause irritation, loss of weight, loss of egg production and anaemia in poultry.
• The yellow hen flea lives in the under fluff of the bird’s feathers and can be seen when the feathers are lifted.
• Red mites are generally not found in the day time.
• These parasites like to feed on the bird’s blood at night.
• They can be seen underneath the roosting perches and in the cracks in the walls of the poultry hut and nest boxes.
• The best way to identify a red mite infestation is to examine the poultry hut at night.
• The presence of red mite can also be identified by a salt and pepper marking on the perches.
• Dust bathing is the best way for the birds to control mites and lice themselves, although if red mites are present, further treatment is necessary.
• Louse powder specially prescribed for red mite control can be used on the birds but make sure the manufacturer’s directions are carefully followed.
• If an outbreak occurs, treat the whole poultry hut by thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting.
• Paraffin or creosote sprayed onto the infected area of the hut are said to be effective in removing red mites from the housing.

Latin Name: Fringilla coelebs.

Habitat: The chaffinch usually inhabit farmland, woodlands, scrubland, parks and gardens, but they rarely nest in city centres.

Food: Chaffinch eat seeds, berries and the young nestlings will also eat insects.

Distribution: The chaffinch is a common resident of Great Britain.

Nesting: The nest is usually made from grass, moss and hair with an inner lining of feathers and hair. It is normally a round shape and can sometimes have an outer covering of moss added for camouflage. The nest is normally located in the fork of tree and shrub branches.

Eggs: They lay 4-8 greyish-blue spotted eggs from April to June. The females generally incubate the eggs for 11-13 days.

Did You Know?

• Chaffinches can form flocks.
• Chaffinch have a ringing call which they use when perched and a staccato call when they are in flight.
• The song of a chaffinch is made up of quick succession of lots notes.
• Chaffinch chicks leave the nest 13-14 days after hatching.

We have lots of Chaffinch on our farm and they love to fly from branch to branch calling to each other.

Latin Name: Coccinella 7 punctata (7 spotted ladybird)

Description: Ladybirds are small, brightly coloured beetles. The black flying wings are covered by a hard shelled wing cover (elytra) that can be red, yellow or orange with black spots or more rarely stripes on it. They are approximately 1.2 - 9mm in length. Ladybirds have six legs.

Habitat: Ladybirds are found in gardens, forests, nettlebeds, scrubland and farmland.

Food: Most ladybirds feed exclusively on aphids (greenfly and blackfly). Some ladybirds will feed on red spider mites.

Distribution: Ladybirds are found all over the world but are found in larger numbers in Europe and North America. They can be seen at any time of the year, although they do hibernate in the Winter and are therefore more often seen in the Summer months.

Eggs: Ladybird eggs are orange in colour and depending on the species, the number of eggs can vary from 3 to 300. The eggs are laid in the Spring and Summer months and hatch after 5-8 days. Ladybirds lay their eggs close to a colony of aphids.

Did You Know?

• There are many species of ladybird.
• Ladybirds are viewed as a friend of the farmer and gardener because they eat aphids which feed on crops and vegetables.
• Recently ladybird farms have been set up in Britain to encourage farmers and gardeners to use ladybirds as a form of pest control.
• With the use of pesticides in farming, ladybird numbers have declined.
• The leg joints on a ladybird provide a method of defence when attacked by birds and other animals. When attacked the leg joints bleed and the blood contains an unpleasant substance called coccinelline which repels the attacker. This is called reflex-bleeding.
• The brightly coloured wing shell helps to protect the ladybird by warning off predators.
• The life span of a ladybird is about a year.
• Ladybirds are often found in large numbers and they hibernate in groups.

I saw my first ladybirds of 2007 in early March when I was putting new straw into my poultry hut. Two ladybirds emerged from the straw and tried to escape across the floor. I managed to capture their escape with my camera.

Click on the image below to visit Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book or visit one of the Farming Friends Bookshops.

Hyacinths (Hyacinthus) are a Spring flowering bulb and an indoor pot plant.

They can start flowering from March to April for Roman Hyacinths and April to May for Dutch Hyacinths.

Hyacinths have a couple of long green leaves and a stem with 30 or more bell shaped flowers.

They have a very intense fragrance.

Hyacinth flowers range in colour from white, pink, red, orange, blue and purple.

The plants can grow to a height of 6 inches to 1 foot.

Hyacinths should be planted in September and October at a depth of 6 inches.

They thrive in sun or partial shade and like any reasonable soil type which has had compost or peat added to it.

Dutch Hyacinth bulbs can be left in the ground over Winter, but it is recommended that the bulbs are lifted and stored in dry peat until planting time.

Click on the image below to go to Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book on Spring Bulbs.

There are many birds to see on and around our farm. Here is a list of the birds I have spotted on and around our farm at different times of the year;

In the Garden

• Blackbird

• Blue Tit

• Chaffinch

• Pheasant

• Robin

• Songthrush
• Starling
• Tree Sparrow
• Wren

In The Yard

• Barn Owl
• Magpie

• Partridge

• Pheasant

• Stock Dove
• Swallow
• Swift
• White Wagtail

• Wood Pigeon
• Yellow Hammer

In The Fields & Hedgerows

• Barn Owl
• Crow
• Magpie
• Moorhen
• Little Owl
• Partridge

• Pheasant

• Rook
• Skylark
• Sparrow Hawk
• Tawny Owl

It is a thrill to see the different varieties of birds in and around our farm. I thoroughly enjoy bird watching and hope that you do too. Happy bird watching!

Click on the image below to visit Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book or visit one of the Farming Friends Bookshops.

What is Fowl Pox?

• Fowl pox or avian pox is a slow spreading viral disease in birds.
• This disease affects many types of birds.
• Fowl pox may occur in birds of any age.
• The disease manifests itself in one of two ways - 1) Cutaneous (dry) pox or 2) Diphtheritic (wet) pox.
• The same organism can cause both the dry and wet pox.

Dry Pox Symptoms

• Starts with small whitish spots that develop into wart like spots.
• The spots turn a browny black colour and scab over before final healing.
• The scabs are visible on the featherless parts of the body - the comb, wattles, ear lobes, face, legs, feet and vent.
• Laying birds may experience a reduction in egg production.
• Young birds can have restricted growth.
• Affected birds may look sick and have a poor appetite.
• The birds can remain infected for 3 - 6 weeks.

Wet Pox Symptoms

• Wet pox affects the oral cavity and the upper respiratory tract.
• Birds may find breathing difficult.
• Wet pox can cause a nasal or eye discharge.
• Soft yellow ulcers can form in the mouth and on the tongue.
• Affected birds may look sick and have a poor appetite.
• Laying birds may experience a reduction in egg production.
• Young birds can have restricted growth.
• The birds can remain infected for 3 - 6 weeks.
• Mortality does not usually occur unless the respiratory problems are acute.

Causes

• Fowl Pox is caused by a virus.
• The disease can be transmitted by direct or indirect contact with infected birds, spread through the air or transmitted by mosquitoes.
• The virus can survive for months on contaminated premises.
• Recovered birds do not remain carriers of the disease.

Treatment

• There is no treatment for fowl pox.
• Preventative vaccination will control the disease in future flocks.

Click on the image below to go to Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book entitled The Chicken Health Handbook.

Did you know that The British Potato Council have launched a Grow Your Own Potatoes project for primary schools in the UK because 60% of children thought that potatoes grew on trees.

I am a teacher and a farmer’s wife and this competition is an ideal way for me to show the children I teach, how potatoes grow and where their food really comes from.

A month ago I registered the school for the national competition and I eagerly awaited the arrival of the champion (we hope!) seed potatoes.

Two weeks ago I received the 3 seed potatoes and I put them in an egg box near the window so that the seed potatoes could start to chit.

“Chits are the sprouting shoots that grow out of the eyes of a potato. Gardeners encourage these chits to grow before the potatoes are planted, so that they have a head start when they are put in the ground.” TopVeg.

More information about Chitting Potatoes can be found at the TopVeg website.

The 3 seed potatoes have been chitting for 2 weeks which is sufficient time for the sprouting shoots to grow.

Today (Thursday 22nd March 2007) I launched the competition in my school. The school has three Year 3 classes and each class was given a container, compost and a seed potato. At 3.15pm today the seed potatoes were planted.

3H 3HS 3P

As well as taking part in the national competition, the Year 3 classes are going to compete against each other to see which class can grow the biggest yield of potatoes.

Watch this space for regular updates on our potato plants.