It’s Wednesday. Things are just humming along, but what I have for you today are simply updates. I think I’ll have a photo to go with each update, so it’ll still be a fun look into what’s happening with the co-workers. Here we go…
Lining Stonehenge. Here is the Circle Garden… the lining is almost complete, we just need to add a little bit around the edges where the wire didn’t go up high enough. The bad thing is, by the time we’re done with this… it’s going to be too windy to do the following steps until maybe Sunday. Saturday might be calm enough… we have to pick up manure from Mr. Kelly before we can lay down the cardboard, so that the manure goes right on top of it. Moving manure in winds upwards of 36 mph is not a fun job! Neither is trying to work with cardboard that wants to be free to fly! We’ll just have to gauge the severity of the winds and see. We might be on hold for a few days.
Let us out! This is showing how we’ve had to resort to multiple barriers to keep the Specks in their appointed area at night. The just want to be OUT! We’re a little hesitant to allow them access to the general population because they are still so small, comparatively. They are a pretty small breed anyway (see More Chickens? for info on Speckled Sussex) and seem very dainty. Lately, when Sue goes to the coop in the morning, they all rush the screen to be taken out… she no longer has to chase them around the brooder, they wait – somewhat patiently – to be carted over to the Chicken Tractor to enjoy their day out. In the evening, if we leave them till dusk, they’ll come to the door of the Chicken Tractor to be taken in. So much easier when they get what is supposed to happen! We think these little guys are smart! Plus, they are one of the top 10 breeds for layers. That gives us three of the top 10!
Speaking of the top 10. Here’s a shot of a day in the life of the Delawares. It’s been hot, so everyone finds some shade during the afternoon. This guy is on watch. I think he might be the rooster… some of the others are peeking out from under the chickshaw. They stay like this for a long time. It’s a cool place to rest during the heat of the day, but the rooster is en garde! By about 4:30/5:00 p.m. the temps start dropping and they again are out in the grass, chasing bugs and scratching up the ground. They’ve got it pretty good. Last night, around 7:30 p.m., they were still out and about; we had to chase everybody in.
And then, there’s Roman. One of the different watering options we’ve tried lately is the bucket with the little nipples; it’s a type of “water on demand” feature. You attach little metal nipples to the bottom of a bucket and the chickens – or ducks – just peck at them to get the water out. We haven’t yet seen the chickens using it, but the ducks seem to really like it. Roman, on the other hand, he just circumvents all that nipple business and drinks from the top of the bucket! He’s so big that the normal rules just don’t seem to apply
to him 🙂 He thinks he’s outgrown the cuddling thing; he’ll follow us around, or come over to talk to us, but don’t even think about holding him. Yet, he still tries to get into his baby tub. Actually, he does get into his baby tub, he just spills out of it! But he can sit inside the tub and then drill around the ground outside of it. I guess he’s happy. Silly big goose.
Broody Much? We still have two hens that think they’d really like to sit. Here are the two culprits. Imen, the black hen, finds a nesting box where another hen has laid and claims it as her own – we take it. The Buff in the corner gets periodically chased out by the others, they lay their eggs and she sneaks back in to claim them – we take them. Today I just picked her up off the nest and set her down outside of it, have you ever heard of the term “ruffled feathers”? I think her photo was used to illustrate the term in the Dictionary of American Slang. Just sayin’.
The Ducks have been thoroughly enjoying the little swimming pools – who wouldn’t with the weather we’ve been having. They do have a tendency to make the water dirty really quickly, though. Today we were changing it in the lower pool and they were patiently waiting for it to be filled. Pretty darn cute, those ducks. They really don’t seem to mind any of the weather we’ve been having; heat, cold, wind, rain (ok, not much rain) – they love it all!
Are they Ranging? I’m not exactly sure how our Gray Rangers got their name – ours don’t really tend to range a whole lot. It is true that they seem to run hotter than the other breeds so, during the day, they find a spot very close to water and/or food and just plop there for the afternoon. Happy as clams. Then once it gets cooler, towards evening, they have actually ranged quite farm from the coop. We have had to make sure we check everywhere for them – they hide in the most interesting areas.
That’s the update for today. Rather a lot of silly information, but you’ve got the lowdown on all our feathered co-workers now. Haven’t heard anything about the goats in a while, I know… so maybe we can rectify that on Friday’s post. Until then, as always~
Thanks for reading!
Today’s Weather: More of that heat type thing. Right now, 4:30 p.m., it is 95° (phone says 86°, but that must be down by the river). Sky is clear, if a bit hazy. Supposed to be cooling off some tomorrow and Friday, but the winds are coming.
Egg Report: Six eggs yesterday, eight eggs today. As I mentioned above, we’re stealing having to steal them :).
Wing and a Prayer 