Friday 3 August 2012

Broody Hens...... and Not Spending



Look what I found under some of our hens today, this was hours after I had done the first sweep of the henhouses fetching the eggs.   With the much higher temperatures of the last few days three of them have gone broody on me, including Mother Goose, who must now have decided that her three HUGE children are most definitely big enough to look after themselves.

Of course this now means that I must be vigilant each day and go out and fetch the eggs from under them.  We don't want any more chicks on the smallholding this year.  We have more enough hens at the moment.

Hopefully I will be able to persuade them that motherhood is not all it's cracked up to be and get them out and about eating and drinking with the others.   While a hen is broody she usually stops laying, and disassociates herself from the flock, I don't want to have any outsiders while the goslings are growing so quickly, and these three are simply pinching the other girls eggs to sit on.

What's more annoying at the moment is that I haven't actually got any eggs to eat myself!!

We sold out of eggs at the Car Boot sale last week and then Lovely Hubby had a bumper order from work which we just about managed to fulfill and now, she says with a sad sulky face, I haven't got any eggs for me!!

And on a completely different note....




Today I have made a decision NOT to  spend any money for the rest of the month.

There are three reasons,

1.  I don't have much money left. 

2.  I don't think really I need anything.

 3.   I want to eat up what we have in the cupboards and freezers to make room for storing and freezing our own produce in the next few months in readiness for Winter.

So although  I will still have my normal weekly housekeeping allowance of £50, in case of emergencies, I'm going to try NOT to  spend it.  Whatever is over at the end of each week will be transferred to the £2012 in 2012 Challenge pot, which is looking decidedly poor at the moment and way behind where it should be.

Call me strange (and some folk do), but I like the idea of this, let's see how long I can go before I spend any money.

Sue xx

9 comments:

  1. Brilliant idea, when we look at how little some of our fellow humans have, we realise that we are very rich to the point of indulgence. Love Froogs xxx

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  2. I tried this just after Christmas, and got through to March just living off my store cupboard (apart from fresh produce & Milk). But as my stores got lower I found myself beginning to panic at thge sight of empty shelves. I like the comfort of knowing that if some disaster befalls us, I can still feed the family.I admit I struggled not to spend, but I made it.

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  3. We too love a challenge which is why we have sorted out all our utilities bills and got them now as low as they can be. It is amazing that people think we're strange but that is their problems isn't it.

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  4. Good luck on your no spending month, we have way overspent this summer I am ready to get back to normal

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  5. We've just hatched chicks with a broody hen, and looks as though another might be going broody. According to my husband, to stop them going broody, make the laying area draught for a few days and then they soon hop out of the nesting box!
    But baby chicks are so cute!
    x

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  6. I love this post, broody females and the honesty of reason no 1 for not spending anything this month! My daughter gets married in just over a week and I am not going to spend anything ever again after that because I don't have anything left. I wish us both lots of luck with it! And as for being strange - all the strange people I know just happen to be all the best people I know too. x

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  7. I have never tried not to spend anything - I just can't imagine it - I think I would get withdrawal symptoms - although we could possibly live from the freezer for a couple of weeks - maybe one day I'll be brave enough to give it a try.

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  8. Wow lovely eggs - the Cypriot hens are not so keen on producing in the hot summer weather so I have had to resort to shop ones for the last couple of months! Loving this post because it has reminded me I really really need to start pulling in the purse-strings, I have just completed my first month on part time salary and am due a salary of exactly 50% of normal, it will be a bit of a shock I think! So good luck with the economizing, I bet you will be producing some very varied meals! Yvonne xx

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  9. Good luck on your spending goal for the rest of the month...I need to cut down myself but hope to make a bit this weekend at one of our Agricultural shows. My kitchen is going to be a lip balm factory for the next few days ;)

    How many hens do you have in total now Sue? And how many have they been laying per day before the three became broody? Our three are producing 1-2 eggs a day now and it seems enough for us - especially since they're a bit smaller than store-bought eggs.

    Good luck with getting your three girls off their broodiness and I hope you get to eat some eggs of your own soon! :) xx

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