Garden plans

Friday we made a visit to Sarina Landcare Catchment Management Association Inc. (SLCMA) www.sarinalandcare.org.au

As members we are allowed up to 20 native trees from thier nursery- for free! They will also visit your property and give you personalised advise, about what to plant for your needs, conditions etc. We had someone come out a few weeks back- If your local management association offers this, I highly recommend it. I mean local knowledge is envaluable, especially to newbies to this like us, especially being foreigners any advise is gratefully appreciated.

So we left with 35 trees, all of which are currently 'weathering' on the patio; whilst we we make final decisions about thier final destinations.

The lady also wrote the common and latin names on the labels, so I can look them up myself... Note to self I still need to do this. 

Over the weekend we also took some cuttings from existing trees around the garden; lime, lemon & bay. We bought a propogation podwer from Bunnings, so will let you know how this goes

And for the planned herb garden near the shed, I potted some parley that had sprung up in the walkways of our now raised gardens. We planted this (rather unsuccesfully) in the ground level garden last year- funny how plants germenate themselves and turn up where you least expect

12 months on... life at Maes-y-Delyn

29th of June is the first year anniversary since we collected the keys to Maes-y-Delyn, we moved in on 30th... so I am looking at his blog and wishing I had taken the time to update it and blog more often- no matter how insignificant it seemed.


So I intend make 2-3 blogs a week (with or without photos etc). Now I know we have achieved so much in that time, but there is still always things to do, new things to learn and new challenges to meet. All of which I intend to tkae head on, and online!


So at the moment I am making a fresh start with the veggie patch. Having raised the beds, following the deluge of last years wet season.
We still have 2 huffers (at least for the time being), we have 3 pigs. Our breeding pair, Smokey & Streaky (for which we are still waiting hopefully) and a Berkshire-Saddleback x which we bought locally for the freezer.
3 roosters, "Rocky" our Light Sussex, an Indian Game rooster and and Old English Game, who is to find a new home. 4 Indian game hens, 4 "commerical layers", 2 RIR x, 1 RIR, 1 Wellsomer, 1 laying light sussex, 2 (hopefully hens) from our first hatchlings, 4 light sussex from our second and 5 'Ross-cobs' (commerical meat birds).
1 Muscovey drake and 5 hens.

Meat birds and rabbit stew

Well we picked up our last batch of purpose bred meat birds this week. We have sourced these from a hatchery, they are apparently the same 'breed' as those used by commercial chicken growers. However I find them a little un-natural, so we have sourced some game birds and are aiming to cross breed our own more free ranging 'table birds'. Other half also went 'hunting' with a friend and came home with

some rather delicious rabbits. Which he made into a tastie rabbit stew. Hopefully this may become a more regular occurence, as they are considered a 'pest' in queensland and would provide a tasty supply of lean meat.

More than one way to Skin a Chook

Well this is not for the faint hearted. However as a small holding owner rearing and killing your stock for food is a fact of life.For us plucking has proven a long process. So my other half suggested we attempt to "skin" our birds. An option that as brought to his attnetion over a blog. So I guess here I am passing thsi knowledge on, should anyone else be consider plucking too much work.

Personally (fore personal preference, diet and health reasons)I skin our chicken to cook, so it seemed a logical suggeston that we eliminate the process of plucking feathers and then removing the skin, to just removing the feathers with the skin.

To do this first you will need to kill and hang (and bleed) your bird- order is your preference. Then(using a sharp knife) cut the skin (and not the meet) just above the knee joint (well below if it is upside down). Then run the kife along the groin. Then just pull the skin away, using the knife to release any connected tissue.

First hatchlings at Maes-y-Delyn

Easter Monday was very exciting for us at Maes-y-Delyn... as we awoke to the tiny chip of feathery feet! As we recently purchased an incubator and had inherted a working rooster we attempted the process of rearing chickens of our own.
We had hopefully placed 30 eggs (having been told 1:5 were good odds). To our surprise 17 successfully hatched (from 20 fertilised eggs)! Unfortunately 3 didn't make it out, but we had 11 yellow and 6 black babies!
WE have kept one of each (yellow and black). We hatched a further 4 (that our Sussex was detern=mined to sit on) and sold the remaining 19. 6 going to a local home. 4 to the family we bought our pup from adn the remainder to a local produce store.


So now we have cleaned and reloaded the incubator with 40 more... guess we'll wait and see.

Ok so we're 1/3 into 2012

So we're over a third the way through the year and yet again I have failed to keep this blog upto date. And what a busy year it has been so far.


The wet season has come (and should I dare breath it) gone. The tanks are full but my veggie patch and the piggies grazing are long lost.
I attempted my first concrete pour (not on my own, but with Matt), but successful laid the foundations for the pigs new bed/shed. High and dry shelter for them to escape the rain... though they have thoroughly enjoyed the mud!


We have also purchased a lovely little Saddleback- Berkshire cross to rear, as ours are only just at breaeding age (with no current signs of action), so pork supplies of our own seem along way off. She has settled in well, and am trying to maintain a distance and unemotional connection to her (though she's making it difficult).

New Year

Well it has been a while since i last posted. And yes as usual I have full intention of posting more frequently this time ;p


Well we have a few more residents at Maes-y-Delyn. We were given 7 muscovy ducklings and a sussex rooster over Christmas.
Unfortunately 3 of the ducklings squeezed out of they're safe little enclosure on the first night and the dog got one. The other 2 were a welcome sight waddling back in, in the morning. Since then, we have had to separate the 'runt' of the flock(? right term) as I believe 'she' is the only girl (as she's that much smaller) and the others are trampling her. She appeared to be having breathing dificulties, although she seems to be getting around alright. I think we will be keeping her on her own for a while longer... til she is big enough to stand her ground that is.
Sometimes she calls out for the others, but they don not even respond (mean boys!)


As for the rooster, he was given to us by friends. As we have a meatbird hen who had started laying and we have never had a rooster; he had also killed another young rooster, so couldn't stay there any longer... at ours he has been hen pecked. Well hen pecked is an understatement! I had to guard him on the second day, as they wouldn't let him eat. They would jump on his back and pull feathers out! So since his first day with us, he hasn't crowed since. They are letting up on him now, and they even let him stand in their hut from the rain. So hopefully he'll be a fully functioning rooster soon enough.