A new Scottish emblem?
THE first occupants of my smallholding came from an endangered species of hens called Scots Dumpys and, as their name suggests, they originate from Scotland and have a history stretching back to 900AD.
They were in danger of becoming extinct in the last century and are still on a watch list by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.
Legend has it that because of their excellent hearing they were used by the Celts and the Picts in Scotland to raise the alarm if would-be invaders pitched up over the border from England. The hens would send out high-pitched clucking sounds if they felt in danger and the tell-tale crunch of a stranger treading on a distant bunch of thistles, which still grow in abundance, would be enough to raise the alarm. I'm told this is why the thistle became an emblem of Scotland but I would've thought if that was the case, then the Dumpy should also have been equally acknowledged.
The Americans have their Bald Eagle so why not have the Dumpy as the country's bird? Perhaps it is a suggestion I can make to Scotland's First Minister and SNP leader Alex Salmond in the run up to the independence referendum.
My little bunch certainly know how to raise a racket if disturbed although sometimes I think they do it deliberately just to see me running outside waving my hockey stick ... happily I've not encountered any Border raiders although an overly inquisitive hen harrier caused consternation the other day by hovering overhead.
My first Dumpys, known as The Originals, came from a chicken house on the Isle of Wight and were all cuckoo coloured comprising of seven hens and one cockerel called Horatio. They all hatched on June 7 2012 and I took possession of them in the August. Shortly afterwards they were joined by Beryl and Ruby, two very aloof black Dumpys from Halifax and two more, Napoleon (pictured above right) and Josephine, came from Northampton. By September I had four more cuckoo-coloured birds from Cheshire known as The Newbies - Maisy, Daisy, Little Dorrit and Jumping Jack.
Their names reflect their characters but perhaps the most loving and giving were The Newbies; they were certainly the most affectionate, enjoyed being handled, and the first to produce eggs which they did from mid-December on an almost daily basis and with great pride. Occasional visitors to the hen pen love The Newbies, with the exception of Jack but I'll deal with him another time.
Just a few days ago I noticed Maisy climbing into a nesting box and she looked fine but several hours later she was dead. I still can not believe it because everything seemed so normal that day. I took her body to an animal laboratory in nearby St Boswells to get a post mortem examination done in the hope of establishing the cause of death. The staff are really friendly and incredibly efficient - I suppose they have to be because if livestock go down everyone needs to know if the cause is a serious disease like foot and mouth or something similar. Within 24 hours I had the answer - Maisy had succumbed to egg yolk peritonitus which in human terms is similar to an ectopic pregnancy. Sadly she didn't show any of the symptoms I've since looked up on Google so I'm not sure anything could've been done to save her.
What I do have is a video clip taken a few weeks back of Maisy after she'd been bathed and shampooed (my hens love their spa day as I will show you in future postings) - and, as you can hear we were sitting listening to Prime Minister's Question Time on Radio 4 in the kitchen when she laid an egg just before David Cameron was ambushed by Bradford West's Respect MP George Galloway over the situation in Mali..
This little clip is my tribute to a wonderful hen and her brief, but happy life.
 |
| Stately: A Scots Dump cockerel |
They were in danger of becoming extinct in the last century and are still on a watch list by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.
Legend has it that because of their excellent hearing they were used by the Celts and the Picts in Scotland to raise the alarm if would-be invaders pitched up over the border from England. The hens would send out high-pitched clucking sounds if they felt in danger and the tell-tale crunch of a stranger treading on a distant bunch of thistles, which still grow in abundance, would be enough to raise the alarm. I'm told this is why the thistle became an emblem of Scotland but I would've thought if that was the case, then the Dumpy should also have been equally acknowledged.
The Americans have their Bald Eagle so why not have the Dumpy as the country's bird? Perhaps it is a suggestion I can make to Scotland's First Minister and SNP leader Alex Salmond in the run up to the independence referendum.
My little bunch certainly know how to raise a racket if disturbed although sometimes I think they do it deliberately just to see me running outside waving my hockey stick ... happily I've not encountered any Border raiders although an overly inquisitive hen harrier caused consternation the other day by hovering overhead.
My first Dumpys, known as The Originals, came from a chicken house on the Isle of Wight and were all cuckoo coloured comprising of seven hens and one cockerel called Horatio. They all hatched on June 7 2012 and I took possession of them in the August. Shortly afterwards they were joined by Beryl and Ruby, two very aloof black Dumpys from Halifax and two more, Napoleon (pictured above right) and Josephine, came from Northampton. By September I had four more cuckoo-coloured birds from Cheshire known as The Newbies - Maisy, Daisy, Little Dorrit and Jumping Jack.
Their names reflect their characters but perhaps the most loving and giving were The Newbies; they were certainly the most affectionate, enjoyed being handled, and the first to produce eggs which they did from mid-December on an almost daily basis and with great pride. Occasional visitors to the hen pen love The Newbies, with the exception of Jack but I'll deal with him another time.
 |
| St Boswell's research centre |
This little clip is my tribute to a wonderful hen and her brief, but happy life.
No comments:
Post a Comment