Happy Harvest Blog
closeups of nosey
OMG! I just noticed she seems to have a bit of a crossed bill! I hope that doesn’t get too far. I like Nosey. Don’t worry, Nosey. She’s about half grown up now so will probably not have an advanced crossed beak. I haven’t had any crossbills before, only hens from the store that had clipped, aka mutilated beaks. So sad.
I can't enjoy my bath when you're standing over me like that
This guy’s really into standing on the edge of the bath. Now in a new location! Must inspect!
Boxed In day
You're doing it wrong. This little rooster is cerebrally challenged. In other words, he’s kinda dumb. The last surviving rooster of the refugees from the horrible, terrible chicken place (all the hens recovered and relearned how to chicken, although they are all super small), he gets to stay in with the hens because of his beautiful colouring and mild, meek attitude. His brains, on the other hand, leave something to be desired.
Happy holidays
Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas today, if that’s your culture, and maybe a delicious meal! No need to eat it with this intensity, though:) Happy Cheeksmas!
Chickyback ride!
There are now an astonishing TEN unseasonal chicks. Ursa has four, and the other hen has six. Only the two of them stuck out broodiness to the end; all the others gave up (thankfully!) Ursa has graduated to spending days in a chickery, so the other mama is in the bigger corner coop suite, for a few days, as her chicks are more freshly hatched. A couple are brand new out of the egg. I think this is Chocolate, but I’ll have to check photos to be sure:)
the morning owl
This owl was in the walnut tree, lurking on the greenhouse. I need to get in there. I will learn how it opens. Then it flew to the nearby treeline to watch me, and the treetops above where it perched just filled with small birds of various kinds, including grosbeaks. I wonder what they were planning. Inside there’s a new pile of chips. It’s not a party in a bag, but they work away at a new pile of chips pretty steadily.
Cheeks the stork
Cheeks is doing much better than when this photo was taken a few days ago, and that aloe in the background is doing much worse. She’s done quite a bit of standing on both feet today, which is an improvement. She really likes to roost on the edge of the box when she’s done eating. She spends a lot of the day there, watching us come and go. She doesn’t miss anything, and I can tell when she wants to go in her banana box for a nap.
back to our regularly scheduled chicken programming
The chickens are having a ball with their dust baths. There’s quite a bit of spillover. First dirt spillover out of the bag or box. Then spillover of chickens bathing in the surrounding area. Cleopatra is hogging one of the bins, but there’s plenty of bathing outside of the bin. Cleopatra can spend all day in there. She regularly chooses to stay in come lunchtime, putting off eating. Eh, I can eat later.
I feel like some aloe today
Says Cheeks. She took a whole arm off of this plant (right), and a couple of beak shaped bites out of another arm. Then she took the tip off another plant. She really ate quite a lot of it, despite the bits she left behind. Apparently, today she just wanted some aloe. It’s good for her. No one else is eating it (I’ve tried, I find it bitter). This is the box she stands on, to eat, and just to hang out for a lot of the day.
chickens in a bag
Of soil. I bought peat moss, for the first time in years, because it’s a horrible unsustainable thing, since the potting soil I was buying is about 90% peat moss anyway, so it was still a fail. Much cheaper, and it doesn’t have the little white things that the birds pick at and sometimes eat. There are two halves, both being thoroughly enjoyed. The greenhouse and the baths are largely vacant, because it’s a thaw day, and everyone is outside. The netting was all down, but there was just enough overhead clearance for chickens.
unseasonal chicks
Who has chicks in winter? Ursa Minor does. Ursa’s got four little chicks (living). Two were already dead. The future is not bright for chicks hatched at the beginning of winter. But I’ll do my best to help her. One piece of cardboard and she’s got a student apartment now. That’ll be enough space for a few days, as they’ll spend most of their time under her. I moved her back from the kitchen so the chicks would tumble out so I could get some pictures.
Hangin' out
Afternoons are for perching. The Silkies have their dirt baths refilled, and they are all looking very fresh. Whiter than white. Sidewinder in her tattered coat, and Sidekick. Still a duo. Now way I’m going outside, but I will sample some snow.
Chill and chilly
Melting ice for water. It’s so pretty. It looks like thick glass. It’s a goldfinch convention. They are usually here with the grosbeaks, but the grosbeaks are late today and the goldfinches have the place to themselves, for a bit. Cheeks is having a good day. It’s warm in a sunbeam on a lap and her head is high. She’s wearing a festive holiday scarf. She can see herself (and me) in the mirror of my computer screen, which is hilarious. Do the think the scarf is “me”?
Best day ever
The girls have found their dirt bath. It’s bean awfully quiet in the GH. I came in and everywhere, filthy chickens. Chickens walking around with dirt all over their backs, that had clearly just got out of the pool, and of course, a half dozen chickens in the pool. The Silkies have already emptied out one of their baths (seats four). Even Chris is in there, the big rooster. There’s Jacket girl, pecking snow off my boots. She’s got her jacket perfectly in place, but she’s also full of dirt.
New things! New things! - Greenhouse Rearrangement
I got some more work done in the greenhouse. Specifically, I untied all the strings crossing the top third, that suspend tomatoes in the summer. You can just see the strings in this pic. So I’m taking them down and crochet looping them up to decommission them until next year. The guineas will be able to fly around in the upper third of the GH again. This festooning makes sense to me. Then the irrigation came out, and the pool went in, and coops were shifted – oh my!
cheeks and the baked goods
All very peaceful, until a croissant comes out. First, it was pie crust, similarly discovered by accident – I was eating it within her reach, and she stabbed out her beak- I’ll have some of that! Multigrain croissant has proven to be such a huge and lasting hit, that I’m like Ok, eat some more of your grains, and then you can have croissant. She’s like I’ll wait. I can carry a box of them through the room, and her little head periscopes out of her banana box, following me.
Suet woodpecker
The woodpecker was so absorbed in the new dish at the buffet that he let me get quite close to him/her. Then, GAH! I didn't see you there. The suet looks like I'm about to camp-toast some bread. The new floor chips caused consternation this morning. I dropped the Silkie ramp and all the hens came pouring out as always, then erkk! Put the brakes on partway down the ramp, staring down at the chips I'd liberally sprinkled around before opening them.
Let the chips fly where they may
We brought in a quantity of wood shavings today (free for the pickup at a local sawmill). The chips arrive: What is it? Oh, we’re watching. We’re watching intently. Here they come. A cautious approach. Here comes everyone. First, the investigatory pecks – Is it edible? They were underwhelmed that it was not. Then the whole crowd sort of circled around the mound. Later, they were up on top of it.
Puffcheeks' genes are showing
The Pufflings are getting their venerable cheeks and beards now they are almost completely mature. Oh, this was funny. Chickens like caves and tunnels, to hide or escape from other chickens, if only temporarily. This is Chris and C.P's coop, elevated to make a tunnel, and the (teenage) chicks love hiding under it. I brought in a bunch of kale for the birds, and one of the chicks grabbed a big clump of leaves and pulled it under here. Other chicks tugged on it but couldn't get it away as chick 1 was standing on it.
Instagram.
I may not make a blog post every day, but at least I Insta.
Bite size.
