Will Spring ever arrive?

As I write this we are approaching mid February, and we appear to be still gripped by freezing weather, gales, the odd snow shower and a lot of mud!!  The poultry are actually looking quite good. Of course this is towards the end of the showing season so they tend to look their best now.  They have moulted and are in full resplendent plumage.  The hens have not started laying in earnest, so are not losing condition.  My own birds have been shown at the main Winter shows and returned with a few trophies and red rosettes, so now preparations begin for the breeding season.  Choosing which cockerels go with which hens to breed that show winner is always a challenge.

The Christmas season was busy for Peck and Feather.  Nearly every weekend was taken up with attending Fairs and Shows from the beginning of November, right through to Christmas.  It was fun and rewarding listening to the reactions to my unique poultry jewellery.  After just over two years of trading I am really pleased with the way things are going.  As many of you know much of my stock of jewellery is designed by me, made by a silversmith with a huge amount of tweaking and nagging by me (!) before eventually being putting on the website or being taken to events.  I have also found it great fun going round trade fairs and finding new and original poultry and bird themed items to sell.  The cuff links which are now on my website are an example.  I have just returned from the Spring Fair at the NEC Birmingham, and what an amazing event that is.  All the huge halls are full of wholesalers showing off their wares to retailers of all sorts.  We have only just finished with Christmas, but one hall is entirely devoted to Christmas decorations!!

I am in the process of planning the stand at Gardener’s World Live where I will be from 14-17 June along with poultrytalk. The Poultry Club of Great Britain will be joining us for the first time this year.  We have talks planned on poultry keeping, along with Q & A sessions, both on our stand and in the VIP area, so plenty to plan and think about for this one! This show is now combined with the BBC Good Food Show, which makes it a really good value day out.  This takes place at the NEC Birmingham.

New items will be appearing on the website over the next few weeks, and I hope to see you soon either with your live poultry at the many agricultural shows over the Summer, or at the shows I’m attending with Peck and Feather.

Toddy