Farming Friends

I was delighted to receive this fantastic reader’s recipe for Roasted Courgette And Parmesan Soup by Tony from Cambridge. I thought that it sounded so good that I would share it with you all.

Hi, roasted courgette and parmesan soup is good. I don’t really have a recipe.

• Just roast a load of courgettes with an onion and garlic and olive oil at 200c for about 45 mins until it is nicely browned, then blend with a good portion of parmesan.
• You might need a bit of veg stock depending on how big and moist the courgettes are. Season as you like.
• Sprinkle a fistful of chopped basil over the top when you serve. Great with just baked ciabatta.

Tony from Cambridge.

Thanks Tony sounds great, I can’t wait to try it.

If you have a courgette recipe or indeed any recipe that you would like to share with the farmingfriends readers then just leave a comment.

It is important when japanese quail are kept in huts, barns or aviaries to try to re-create their natural habitat.

Junior asked, “what would a japanese quails natural habitat look like?”
thankyou
Junior.

Hi Junior,

Quail are shy game birds that ground nest and therefore in the wild seek out natural cover. Their natural habitat includes grassland and agricultural land, although they don’t like the crops to be too tall.

If you are trying to create a natural environment in a run or aviary then some conifer branches placed in a corner or pots with small conifers in would work well. Also bracken cuttings and small branches and logs can be used to help create the natural environment.

I hope this information is useful to you.

Kind regards

Sara @ farmingfriends

If any readers have created successful cover in a run or aviary for quail then I would like to hear from you.

I am often asked advice about guinea fowl sitting and hatching guinea fowl eggs,

“I have a guinea sitting on eggs. How many days does it take to hatch and should i let her set instead of trying to incubate as i don’t know for sure how long she has been on nest.Do they throw babies out of nest at hatching? some one said you have to be there when they hatch. She has 25 eggs. Is this a lot of eggs for one guinea? Thank you for any info as i am new at this. Thelma”

Hi Thelma,
Guinea fowl eggs take 28 days to hatch. In the wild they will usually sit on about 12 eggs per clutch. You may decide, if you can get any of the eggs that you leave half under your guinea hen and put half in the incubator or under a broody hen. I have read that in the wild guinea fowl make great parents. They don’t like to sit on eggs in an aviary or a hut and I know from experience that if I try to put a run over my sitting guinea hen to protect her from predators she normally gets off the eggs. Guinea fowl should sit if they feel secure and hidden away. My advice if you want your guinea hen to continue to sit is to try not to disturb her but make sure that she is well hidden and protected from predators.
A couple of farmingfriends have hatched my guinea fowl eggs under broody hens who looked after the keets very well but I am not sure if the guinea hen throws the keets out of the nest. I imagine that if a guinea hen goes to the trouble of sitting on the eggs until they have hatched then she will look after the keets as well.I have only ever managed to hatch guinea fowl out using an incubator. When my guinea hens start to sit outside and I place a run over them it usually disturbs them and they get off the nest. This has happened 3 times this Summer already.
I hope this information is useful for you. Let me know how you get on.
Sara @ farmingfriends

If anyone has any advice for Thelma regarding guinea fowl sitting and hatching guinea fowl eggs then please leave a comment.

I have been sent an email by Junior asking if his male quail is likely to be fertile. Junior’s male quail is 2 years old. A way of telling if a male is fertile is if the eggs hatch, however Junior’s birds have yet to hatch some eggs.

Hi Junior,

I believe that the foam ball that the male deposits is a sign that the mating season or fertile stage has been reached.

I have read that a fully sexually mature male quail will have a noticeably swollen cloaca gland under the tail.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards
Sara @ farmingfriends

If you are growing sunflowers then farmingfriends would like to hear from you. Emma is one of our readers and she sent a comment telling me that her sunflower is 8.5 foot tall,

My mummy and I planted some sunflowers in our small greenhouse earlier on in the year. They are now 8.5 foot tall!!! We can’t believe it. My mummy has had to put 2 canes on them (tied together!) AND they haven’t even got their head on the top yet so they are still growing. We have another 2 which are about the same height, we can’t wait to see how big they will get by the end of August!! Emma

Let me know if your sunflower is taller than Emma’s 8.5 foot sunflower.

I was sent a comment asking about how to incubate quail eggs without an incubator.

There are a number of options:

• Get the quail hens to hatch to sit and hatch the eggs.
• Use a broody hen to hatch the egg.
• Build your own incubator using recycled material.

“hi I would like to hatch my 16 japenese quail eggs from 3 of my 11 month hen quail and my 2 year old cock bird without an incubator any ideas and by the way you gotta cool site” Junior