Behind bars - guilty mouse
The broad bean seedlings which are still bravely emerging despite the colder weather are being destroyed by mice. I inspected the patch yesterday afternoon to find that nearly half the crop had been dug up to gain access to what remains of the original seed and it was intensely frustrating to see the strong green shoots, severed from their roots and discarded beside each hole. I own a very effective live mousetrap which I bought in France about 20 years ago and within half an hour of darkness falling I had already caught the first yellow necked mouse, lured in by a plump raisin. They are beautiful creatures. Large with sleek chestnut coats and shining bead like eyes, which are so alert and sit so proud of the face they seem as though they might pop out. The ' yellow neck ' which gives the mouse its name is only visible on the creature's underside and takes the form of an amber band crossing from one foreleg to the other. Despite their visual appeal they are a menace in our garden, hemmed in as it is by woodland and in the past I have caught up to 18 on consecutive nights in an attempt to protect beetroots, sown peas or other vulnerable crops.
Poultry killing day always looms large in my mind and although I far from relished the thought of killing and plucking dozens of birds today, I slept fitfully last night, waiting for the alarm to sound in the darkness. Having completed my animals, I was plucking the first cockrel at my parent’s house by 7:15 AM and the early start was just as well. Em and I finished the final goose at 4:30 PM allowing us to join the Morris men's carol evening, albeit late, down still in our hair. The day's activities as well as providing poultry for Christmas and the coming year should go some way to alleviate the rapid decline of our wheat store as 12 cockerels, 15 quail, 3 muscovy ducks, 4 turkeys and 6 geese shan't need feeding in the morning. The quality of the carcasses was very pleasing and seeing as everything, save for the muscovys, were homebred it is good to see that plans and schemes for producing better meat birds is paying off. Using an Indian Game cockerel on my flock of hens appears to have been particularly beneficial in plumping up the cross bread cockerels, the finest example being (as far as I can make out) a naked neck cross Indian game, which despite its free range existence and being predominately wheat feed (most meat birds are reared on high-protein pellets) had a decent frame and plump rounded breast.
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