Happy Harvest Blog
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”?
guinea lift
I can’t believe this just happened. I was closing up the birdies’ coops in the almost completely dark, and there was one guinea that wasn’t up on the perch. It’s tough; their perches swing, and they fall off, or knock each other off, but they are usually all back on by nightfall. He was sitting on the edge of the chickery slash confinement module. I was already crouched beside him to shut the big coop, so I reached out, like, here, I’ll help you up (haha).
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.
magical christmassy snow
There was an unexpected veil of snow settled on everything yesterday (I wasn’t expecting it). It was warm, too, and that kind of snow that falls in huge, feathery flakes gets heavy. Awful to drive in. It’s very hard on my bird protection. Surprise, no birds are outside! I have to untether the netting when it snows like this and drop it down inside the fence. I’ve learned to tie quick release knots, so it’s not much slower than walking around the garden. Then I hoist it back up when it melts.
Oh great, it's time to move blog platforms again
I’ve been blogging here at WordPress for nine and half years, and I was perfectly delighted with it for eight and a half. I’ve never had so many problems as I did this year. Coincidentally, this year is also the first time I’ve paid for the top tier account, for extra storage (nine years of images, yo), and to keep my blog free of annoying ads. To hell with that.
Guinea grazing
We have snow, everywhere but in these pictures where the sun shone. A light crunchy layer of snow. It was very nippy today and I thought the guineas weren't going to even come out for their graze. They've taken to climbing up the pile of sticks during their recess. No grass up there. Maybe they just want to look around. This little one is the most successful greenhouse escapee. She darts out right in the middle of the guinea pack so I cant' turn her back.
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.
Bees Snugged I
The bees are almost wrapped. They have their foam on, and I think I’ve really sorted out my wrapping method this year. The hives each get foam on three sides plus tar paper, that wraps the front of the hive too and absorbs heat. The foam I’ve figured out how to get it on quick and easy. First, the three-sided “box” is made. Look at my fancy two-step carving- a nice seal. Foam is so easy to carve. Then I tape that together with Tuck tape, including a strip up the whole seam.
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.
Havoc in the henhouse.
Ok, it’s officially December now. It’s not time to be broody. But I’ve been having a battle of wills with four broody hens, the most determined of which is Ursa Minor, and the peckiest is Fiesty, predictably. Then I open the coop to this. This. And this.Not ok! That’s seven. Seven. Seven broody, growly feather pancakes sitting on eggs. I didn’t have seven broody at once all summer. This is bad. Maybe it’s contagious. They win. They are sitting on eggs, and since they’re not going to give up, they can keep them.
ruffled feathers
I stopped this little Barred rock hen who's been wearing a denim jacket for a while, to see if she needed it still, or if her feathers had regrown underneath. Three of the other jacket hens are out of their coats now. This one happens to wear her coat like it grew on her, edges neatly tucked under her wings, and a perfect fit at her tail. I never see her jacket askew. But when I grabbed her to look under it, I messed everything up.
Shenanigans
Cheeks put herself back in her box after breakfast yesterday. I'm done. Either I spent too much time with the other chickens, or she thought if she was settled back in her box when I got back, she might avoid the pill procedure. Today she just settled on her box. In the greenhouse, all it takes to create a stir is a half dozen hay bale chunks set around. They disrupt the chicken run flow, make something to pick at, and they must all be inspected.
Cheeks is a cutie
Her foot is still hot and swollen and she's not keen on using it, so I hope she recovers.She's dozing after her meal. Now she asks to go back into her box when she's done eating and preening. She knows the routine. Birds' lids close upwards. There's the fattest squirrel: We mock this squirrel because he's so fat, his little hands don't meet in the middle over his belly. He's doing very well. He's thriving on sunflower seeds, or something. He recently made an appearance, after a long time seeing no squirrels.
forecast: slush
Yesterday we had a beautiful snow. The kind where the flakes pile up in delicate balance like they're weightless. Right this minute, it's snowing and raining at the same time. Ugly! It's "supposed" to just rain, and wash away all this snow, but instead, it's precipitating slush. Inside, it's tropical, the little birds are growing up, four Silkie hens are insisting that they are broody, and I'm insisting that they're not allowed to be. Everyone needs some entertainment, so I have to get in there and build and shuffle stuff.
Cheeks and sprouts
My worm bins were full of little sprouts. I pulled a bunch of them up, and they were pepper sprouts! All growing in a clump where I chucked in pepper innards.Pale, but apparently they get enough light in there. The worms are hiding. There sure are a lot of them though. I have to start selling worm starter kits. Cheeks digging into her windowsill meal. It's funny to me to see how much she likes variety (now she's eating again).
Lap chicken
It's nice to have a house chicken to hold. It's like a cat. I love cats and their hot water bottle properties, and I can't have one, but a chicken will have to do. You think they're all sharp beak and talons, but chickens are pretty nice to hold. They're soft, plush, and very warm. They burn hot, like a cat. Cheeks can sit on me for a solid hour, and she doesn't even peck my keyboard. She hasn't pooped on me either. Apples was not so polite.
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