Farming Friends

I received a comment that led me to research whether snails can change their shells. Van & Lilo commented,

“We found a garden snail and brought it home to keep it safe, even though the shell is broken, none of its body is at sight and hes still alive and well. My daughter named it Gary. I was wondering if we find him a new empty shell will it move in or thats just not possible?
thanks
van & lilo”

My research led me to believe that the snails body is attached to the shell so removal of the shell would damage the snail’s body and it would also dry out and die. Since the snail is attached to the shell, I don’t think that it will move into another shell.

So the answer to can snails change their shells is actually no snails cannot change their shells.

Thanks for the interesting question Van & Lilo.

If you have a question that you would like me to try to find the answer to then just leave a comment and I’ll try my best to find an answer.

Cynthia asked in a comment, “What is a pipped egg, please?”

A pipped egg is one that has been cracked by the chick at hatching time. When eggs are placed in an incubator for hatching, a sign that the chicks are going to hatch is when the eggs are pipped or cracked. It is important to look out for pipped eggs so that you can check the length of time it takes the chicks to hatch out.

Cat Definitions

• Carnivore - An animal that eats other animals.
• Cat - A small carnivorous mammal.
• Deworm - To treat a cat to remove and prevent worms.
• Feline - A cat or another animal in the cat family.
• Grooming - To comb and clean the fur a cat.
• Kitten - A young cat.
• Litter Box or Litter Tray - A box or tray where cats are trained to go to the toilet.
• Neutered - The removal of the sexual organs from a cat.
• Tomcat - A male cat.
• Vaccinate - To be given injections or tablets to provide immunity to certain diseases.
• Weaning - To start feeding a cat food other than it’s mother’s milk.

Arable Crops Definitions

• Arable Farming - The production of crops.
• Barley - A cereal crop grown mainly for malting and as an animal feed.
• Biodiesel - Fuel that has been produced using crops.
• Blight - A potato disease.
• Buteric Silage - Silage that is too wet and does not ferment properly.
• Canola - The American name for oilseed rape, an arable crop grown for the extraction of oil from the seeds.
• Chlorophyll - The green pigment in leaves.
• Chloroplasts - The leaf cells in plants.
• CO2 - The chemical formula for Carbon Dioxide.
• Dehusked - To remove the outer layer on grain.
• H2O - The chemical formula for Water.
• Hay - A mature grass that has been cut and allowed to dry in the field.
• O2 - The chemical formula for Oxygen.
• Oats - A cereal crop grown for animal feed and for cereal foods for human consumption.
• Oilseed Rape - An arable crop, also known as canola, grown for the extraction of oil from the seeds.
• Photosynthesis - The food making process of a plant which takes place in the leaf.
• Potato Cyst Nematode - A soil borne pest that affects the potato crop.
• Potatoes - An arable crop and root vegetable grown for human consumption.
• Silage - Grass that has been preserved by pickling rather than drying.
• Wheat - A cereal crop grown for animal feed and for the production of flour.

Saturday 8th March 2008, saw the guinea fowl egg laying season begin.

I found one guinea fowl egg laid in the paddock. I don’t know if this is where the guinea fowl laid the egg or if a magpie has tried to move the egg but it was certainly an unusual place for the guinea fowl to lay it’s egg as they like to lay their eggs in a dug out ground nest that is covered with foliage or greenery such as a thick patch of nettles.

I will now begin my guinea fowl egg count. Last year I collected 275 guinea fowl eggs but think that I lost over 300 guinea fowl eggs to the magpies. The guinea fowl began laying on the 23rd February 2007 and finished on the 20th September 2007.

My guinea fowl free range and so finding their nest sites is not easy. I have to watch their movements carefully so that I can track down their eggs and I also need to make sure that I get their before the magpies who are partial to stealing guinea fowl eggs. We currently have about 6 magpies in and around our farm. I will let you know when I find the official guinea fowl nesting site.

I have been busy trying to keep on top of sowing seeds at the correct time of year.

Currently I have the following seeds germinating in the greenhouse:

• Sweetpeas.
• Broad beans.
• Summer radish.
• Marigolds.
• Spinach.
• Spinach beet.
• Lilium regale.
• Purple sprouting broccoli.

In the next few days I will be sowing the following seeds:

• Rudbeckia.
• Mesembryanthemums.
• Cosmos.
• Parsnips.
• Dwarf French Beans.
• Italian Flat Leaf Parsley.
• Borage.

I will post some photos later.

What seeds have you sown in your greenhouse or garden?

Join

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As The Garden Grows for more information.

Egg record keeping is an important part of keeping and raising poultry.

It is important to keep a record of the following information:

• How many eggs laid.
• When laid - time of day if known and time of year starts and ends so can work out the laying season.
• Where laid. 

Keeping a note of when eggs are laid and how many are laid is important to tracking patterns in egg laying and helps to identify problems with your poultry such as health or age. Poultry can stop laying and if you know the dates that this occurs it allows you to track any changes that may have occured such as change in feed, weather, housing, lighting or the introduction of new birds which may all effect the egg laying of poultry.