Things are never quiet for long. Sue has finished several projects (that we’ve already discussed) and is lining up several more. Most recently, because we’re contemplating graduating the Delawares to the Biggies side, she built an “escape hatch” for them. A place they can get into, if they need to escape from the Biggies and still get food and water. There’s a door on the left side that we can use to put the water and food in there for them. The teens can get in, but not the Biggies – well Maeve might be able to fit, but – in general – she doesn’t really bother the littles. Sue made it really sturdy because we’ll be
using it off and on for a while yet… and she connected it to the footer wall so it won’t simply blow away the next big wind storm (tomorrow and Sunday and Monday). I think it’ll work really well. When we do move the Delawares, we’re not sure how Roman is going to like it. He’s sort of found his tribe with the chickens AND the ducks. They’ve become a big family, they still squabble a bit, but – hey – what family doesn’t. At least there hasn’t been any blood lately. The second photo here is last night, just before they were all ready to bed down. Roman sometimes protects the chickens when the ducks want to run after them, and sometimes he runs after them himself, when they get too much into his personal space. The ducks seem to think of him as an annoying younger brother. We may end up moving the family as one; Delawares, Ducks, and Roman.
The other newest project was inside the biggies coop. She added some steps up the coop for those who may be having difficulty getting up there. The Buffs don’t fly very well – too big I guess – and we think Big Buff, the rooster, may have injured himself getting up or down the roost. He’s been limping quite badly for a couple of days. We don’t really have any “chicken doctors” in the area, but someone did tell us to check and make sure he didn’t just get a thorn in his foot – why didn’t we think about that. It’s just that his walk looks like it’s a bit more complicated than that. Tonight we’re going to check out his foot and leg and see if we can tell, more accurately, what’s going on with the guy. For now though, they have a great new stair case to help them out.
Sue went to Tractor Supply today to pick up feed that we needed – it’s time to start some of the chicks and the ducks on Chick Builder, rather than just the Chick Grower food – and came home with the latest gardening experiment. That’s right, you guessed it from the photo, Blue Berries! I love blueberries and, in our zone, it’s the best time of year to plant them. We were thinking of adding it to the garden where we had the winter veggies; underneath the oaks where the soil is a bit more acidic – they like that; has shade most of the day, some morning sun which is good; will be a little more protected from the winds; and will get regular watering from the grey water creek. I’m excited to try this and see how we do. Mom has tried to grow blueberries for a while now, the plants don’t really grow much, and they rarely fruit… it may be a watering issues for her. I’d like to see if it’s successful. If it works out, you’ll know we’ll blog about it here. Until then, as always~
Thanks for reading!
Today’s Weather: Actually quite hot today; 92°… supposed to cool off to 81° around 7-8pm tonight with a low of 61°. Don’t think we’ll need the heat light in the coop tonight! The clouds came over around 2ish and made it a bit cooler and we have had a nice breeze – although now, at 5:30, it is rather still. Calm before the wind storm that is supposed to start tomorrow.
Egg Report: We had 7 today- well, we think maybe 8 because the 2nd Buff hen is sitting on her little nest… there may, or may not, be an egg there for her. Yesterday we ended up with 7. When I went to shut them in, there was a Maeve or Imen egg sitting right by the door. We also had what might be a fairy egg – very, very, tiny; even for the two Banties. The photo here shows the size differential in the eggs. The littlest could be the fairy egg. The color is a bit washed out but what you’re seeing, left to right, are: two Easter Eggs, two Hamburg Eggs, Two Banty Eggs… I didn’t have any Buff eggs to add at that point; it’s the Easter Eggers that often give us the double yolker eggs. Fun!
Wing and a Prayer 