chagesWednesday = short post day. Not a whole lot going on that’s exceptionally interesting, but we have some things that have happened to note today and some plans to start making improvements. Change; the only constant.

IMG_3516I had reported awhile ago that Nudie Booty was almost completely feathered. Well, we decided that she was doing so well that we put her in GenPop a couple of days ago. We didn’t want to jinx it by making the announcement too soon, so we waited until now.  It did take about three days for her to feel safe. Our concern was that she would get too stressed again and start loosing or pulling out her feathers. We had planned to put her back with the littles if that happened. Just as we were wondering if we’d need to execute plan B, she seemed to acclimate – almost overnight. Here’s a not-so-great photo of her out and about in the wide world. We’ll continue to keep an eye on her and monitor her progress in this flock. So, as of now, all the hens we took over from Mike have re-feathered and are quite healthy. I think the key may have been separating them away from each other. The five birds have been spread out into 3 different flocks and were moved around at different times. It seemed to shift the dynamic enough that they all settled down. Booty was the one who was suffering the most and time in solitary seemed to be just what she needed. Great success story for us!

Other changes that we’ve started to talk about again are allowing the oldies out into the “yard” area around the house. We have been saving up money from egg sales to complete a fenced in run to the permanent coop with a couple of exit doors for chickens. This way they can eat all the grasshoppers and grubs and centipedes that they want and still be able to get back in for water and protection. Allowing them out will be a several step process. Step one being the addition of smaller fencing all around the yard. Currently it is  welded wire, but the squares are quite large – keeps dogs in ok, but chickens could easily get out and into the road – so that’s not ideal. We’ll do this is sections and let them out into those a little at a time.  This will also help get them used to free reign and, hopefully, not be overwhelming.  Currently we have 35 separate small flocks in the area closest to the house. I’d love to be able to cut that down a bit and go back to a larger cohesive flock.  Currently we have several roosters and we may need to have a bachelor flock again for a bit. We are down one rooster though; Sue now believes are large white chicken, who she named Olaf, is actually a hen and NOT a rooster. I’ve started calling her Olafina. 🙂

thanks pumpkinAnyway, that’s what is currently on the drawing board. We have enough cash available to start this project, so well get going soon. Just like we always do, we’ll share it with you as we go through the steps. Until then, as always~
Thanks for reading!

Today’s Weather: Lovely, mild temperatures, if a bit windy. Gusts up to 13 mph for the last few days. Mornings have been chilly, getting down to around 42° at 6am. High today was around 80°. Currently, at 4:19 p.m., it is 77° with 13% humidity. Sunrise today was at 6:41 and sunset will be at 5:25. We’re expecting an overnight low, again, of 42°. Tomorrow may be a little cooler, but still clear and breezy.

Egg Report: Low egg day today. Zero goose, zero duck, 14 chicken. Oldies only laid 4, banties gave us 3, layers had 7 with one eaten. Vicente’s two hens haven’t laid anything for about a week now. Slackers!