Happy Harvest Blog
The walnut tree dropped all its leaves.
All in one day, the walnut trees dropped all their leaves. There must have been the exact right frost. You could stand there and watch them drip down. Now there's a big pile of leaves under the naked trees. One coop in. It sure looks crowded right now, but I think it's going to work well. Last year I had a corner cordoned off for the Silkie hens, so why not move in the whole run. Of course, right away everyone who was already living in the greenhouse has to jump up on top of it.
Greenhouse freedom
I have to move all the coops in to the greenhouse, and I'm at a bit of loss what to do with all the chicks and mamas that have been at large in the GH for weeks now. They're very much enjoying themselves. Somebody's got a windfall tomato. Interest is aroused. Now I got the tomato!I got the tomato back! It seems most or all of the non-Silkie chicks don't really need their moms any more, so they might be willing to go back in Silkieland.
Rascally roosters
Oh, we could definitely make a mess here. This looks much too tidy. Lots of potential.Let me figure out our angle.And, ten seconds later... crash! BOBWAWCK, BOBWAAWCK!
Predator pressure
The gang's all here. You put these here for us, right? We needed a grooming station. The gang's not really all there. A few of them are trapped in the greenhouse with the Silkie moms and their chicks today, because I was worried. Things are going to change. I have to get the birds under cover for their own safety, asap, and it's going to be hard. Yesterday I got out of my car to a bald eagle hovering overhead. We looked at each other, I told him to leave, and he tipped and banked towards the greenhouse.
Winter is knocking
The feeder's been loaded for two hours, and four chickadees are here, scrapping for primacy. It's another frozen day, so while it seems a little early, I'm starting to feed them. It's nice to see the chickadees again. They keep to themselves all summer, but clearly, they keep an eye on me. The Family has a new spot to lounge. I've been clearing buckthorn, and they love it. They want to hang out in this alder, fine.
First snow!
First snow in October! Real snow too, big swirling flakes that are sticking around for a little while. The Caped Crusader doesn't wait for me to distribute the food. These are the four middle chicks, having a snow day in the greenhouse. Snow is pretty much rain, only quiet. The co-mamas and the 7 Silkies. Adorable. They're so tiny. I'm in dread of stepping on one, since they're so small and brown and hard to see. Luckily Marshmallow is fierce.
Middle Chicks and greenhouse chicks
The four middle chicks are kinda loners. A little little chicken gang. On the left is a Silkie cross. She's experiencing the unfortunate phenomenon of her friends all growing up faster than she is. Her growth has stalled. Caped crusader on the right. The four of them are very attached to each other, and haven't become latched on to either flock of grown chickens. Their preference so far is to be in the greenhouse with all the babies, but I often put them outside, where they just pal around with each other.
Second frost
Had a proper frost; ice crust on the water buckets. This is the right time for frost though, not September 24th! Overnight, one of the Five has become the spitting image of Philippe Petit. A petit Philippe. I don't want to believe he's 100% a rooster yet, but he's looking awfully leggy. So many roosters! The young roosters are refining their crows now. They don't have to go hide in order to practice. They're sounding pretty good. Silkieland and the Colonel on patrol.
Co-mamas
Brown Bonnet and Marsha (Marshmallow) are cute. They hang out together, their chicks spilling over into each other. Brown Bonnet is very maternal and relaxed, and all seven of the little Silkie chicks will sometimes be with her. Marsha's a bit nervous. At night sometimes they share a box, and they readily share patches of food without competition. Our kids are the same age (and size), we should be friends. This little one is already developing an extravagant hairdo.
Poultry powder room
It was a warm and humid day. Almost the whole family was piled in the dirt bath by the house, making chicken angels. The family is growing. Except for Speckles, who's having a party of one in a private dust bowl out by the pigs. Yeah, and you're interrupting it right now. Got snacks?! Oops, I roused them. The pitter patter of chicken feet behind me on the path is quite a stampede these days. I didn't even have a bucket.
Mini release
She's got four! Two and two. They're still ridiculously small, but in spite of being the size of golf balls, they are developmentally old enough to be bold adventurers. Time to prop open the chickeries so they could creep out and join the chicken greenhouse society. Here they come! Mom immediately dove into a sprawly dirt bath. Nothing celebrates freedom like throwing dirt over your head. Brown Bonnet was a bit more furtive.
No more Inky
Inky is gone. She wasn't in her tree and I searched, and found a half dozen black and iridescent green feathers. I'm heartbroken, and I've already been having a hard few weeks. I want to get out of chickens, because it hurts too much. I can't protect them 100% and let them range. It's captivity, or risk. It's not fair though, it's like they know which are my favorites, and get the special ones first.
Pas de roo
I was taking pictures of Chris and Cream Puff, the love chickens, hanging out together the way they do, but looking back at the pictures in series, it looks like they're dancing. He is SOOO much bigger than her! Oh, were you watching?
Brown Bonnet's babies
A rare sighting of Brown Bonnet's surviving chicks. She's big, and really good at standing in front of them and hiding them. They're so tiny! They're smaller than her head. It's hard to believe a chicken can start out so tiny and get by. But then, there's hummingbirds. Apples' little one is four days older than the other two, and it shows. The greenhouse is full of small chickens, jumping around and climbing on everything they can. Foxy is out of a job.
Guinea spa
I heard the musical little sounds of the guineas approaching the house (doesn't happen especially often), so I peeped out.They were going for the bath! There's a spot right by the trail where I was weeding out buckthorn, and the birds have decided that that's the optimum dust bathing locale. Now there's all divots and feathers. The guineas came in for the bath as purposefully as if they had little towels over their shoulders. It was their specific destination.
Every morning I have an exploding box of chickens
Every morning I have an exploding box of chickens. Most have them have pushed out of the cardboard boxes they so tranquility spent the night in, and are jumping, and pooping, and scrapping all over the top of the boxes, frantic to get out. We're all cooped up! The broody kennels too (now night occupancy for the greenhouse chickens).They all come busting out, scratching and fluttering, and then vanish, absorbed into the jungle. They love a good hay bale. Brown Bonnet has three little chicks, including the chick that Apples hatched. This was a terrible hatch for her.
Porch sitters
I've got a bunch of porch sitters. Other than Perchick, these are all this years chicks, all grown up (almost). This crowd is always together. There's Inky and Velvet and Speckles (all lovely), and Pepper trying and failing to look distinguished. They're very relaxed. Head under the wing relaxed. Another one down. He's almost rolling over, he's so asleep. And three. Ok, everybody hide their heads!
Frost casualties
The frost was surprisingly fierce. The tomatoes took a bigger hit than I thought. The watermelon was obliterated. Same with the basil. The greenhouse is full of little birds scampering around. She'll be coming through the peanuts when she comes. They're all sneaky and hidey in the pepper jungle.
Baby bird bath
One of Foxy's chicks (all independent now) was givin' 'er in the big dust vat, all by itself. Rub a dub dub. In the greenhouse - paaaartayyy! The chicks are all staying dry and having a fantastic time with the foliage and variety, thanks for asking. I got wings! Settling down with Feisty for the evening. Here come the guineas! Look how they're growing up.
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