Happy Harvest Blog
An Only chick
Only one baby hatched:( I think it's just too early for chicks; too tough for them to survive and egg cooling happens too rapidly this early in the spring. I thought only chicks were super sad, growing up alone, but they do get intense one-on-one attention. Little Mama gave the other eggs a couple of days, then strutted out all Alright kiddo, time to learn to scratch! I moved her abandoned eggs down the line, to the six Silkies currently broody in the Silkie coop.
A chick!
The first chick of 2020 has hatched! These eggs had a rough go. I had a barred rock hen broody, which was exciting - those two are the sweetest birds. But she got off of them! She's done it before; it's like she's got a calendar in her head and when she's sat too long, it's over, instead of being connected to the life in the egg. So I put the abandoned eggs under this little lady, who I'm between calling Little Mama
The tulips are up!
So exciting to have tulips again! I haven’t had since I lived in B.C, and my mom sent me a big box of bulbs last fall. Yesterday they appeared and now they are poking their spear-like rolled leaves above the ground. Different tulips, different coloured leaves. I planted them by colour scheme, but I don”t remember which colours where, so it will be a surprise. I did wonder if the chickens would cause problems.
The most beautiful time of year.
The apple tree blooms are past now (they were prodigious, and they was no terrible frost this year, so we have reason to expect plenty of apples!), but the hawthorn stays white a little later. This scrappy placeholder hawthorn tree by the house I allowed to live (until I replace it with a fruit tree), is happy to be becoming quite attractive. I've got my decorative birdhouses back out too.
Floods
Today was a torrential downpour in the morning. When it rains I run around like a mad person trying to catch or use it all. I filled several barrels today. I'm expecting a long stretch of rainlessness this summer, and that every rain we get maybe the last for a long time, although it keeps coming and coming. All the birds rushed under cover when it came thundering down, except the little Silkie mama with three chicks.
Saturation point
It's been raining for almost ten days straight. It's just unbelievable. No more water can be absorbed. It's just puddles and standing water everywhere. The ground is so soft you can unexpectedly plunge in the ground over your ankle walking along. then it tries to pull your boot off. The chickens have had their coops outside for several days, but when the rain come hammering down, they run into the greenhouse, which remains empty, to shelter.
The return of winter
Winter was back for a few days. The wild birds descended in clouds for something to eat, including a few new birds. There was a purple finch. This is sad because it's the first purple finch sighting of the year, when normally there would be many of them all winter. Here's a sad robin. I don't eat seeds. Now that the rain has come and washed away the snow, she's eating well, if she survived her three day fast. There was a red-breasted nuthatch, tiny and adorable in a little badger mask.
Rain day
What a day. Buckets of water coming down, starting out with slush on the ground, and wind, blowing the cold rain into your face and coat. All the chickens opted to stay in the greenhouse most of the day, only making brief forays out when the rain abated. The guineas took one step out in the morning before jumping back in, the chickens got several steps out before pulling their necks back, wheeling around and running back in. It's gross out there! I found it the perfect day for a nap, and that was glorious. Never enough sleep!
Flyday
T.G.I. Flyday here today. All my hives are alive, and many, many bees were out flying today in the warmth. I got to feed them, and replace some straw in the top of their hives; I was happy to find that the wet mouldy straw was only around the top and outside edge - where it was nearest the roof and corners. Nested around the bottle of syrup and the opening in the center the straw was dry and golden, bees dry. Bees were everywhere, all over the paths, in the chicken bucket, and all over.
Spring break for the bees
It's just SO weird to put on a bee suit in January. However, it was a warm day, so my bees came out to poop, and I was able to feed them. By warm I mean that in 24 hours the temp shot up from -10°C to the opposite, plus 10°C, wiping out all the snow, and exposing all the gross wet wood and dirt (now the mercury is rapidly falling again). It's the February melt look; it can hardly look worse. Everything is hideous.
Baby bunny season
There are baby bunnies out! They are shy and careful. They're also grown up enough to be out on their own - no longer really babies. Juveniles.A ground nest, one of the odd long-billed birds with a body shape that looks like it should be flightless. But isn't. The chicks have their little wings already. Scampering around. The Silkies have established a favorite sitting vantage point at the top of the ramp. There's always someone there, overlooking.
Bunch'a house sitters
The chickens like to stand around all afternoon on top of their houses. All of the houses are fair game. And a bale sitter. I love this hen. The little silver adventurer. She's the best. She needs a name. Cream Puff. They are just, just about to get evicted from the greenhouse. And those old dusty poopy houses will get a good rinsing in the next rain. And then the birds can't sit around all afternoon indoors. They'll have to play outside. Right now they wander around outside for a few hours, and then like they're slacking off work,
Lush
There's that green. The world is overwatered right now and the grass is growing with all its might. Expect to see it in the eggs soon - the chickens are free-range again (fair weather only). HW comes home and says " Where'd all these starts come from!?" "You grew these?" Yep, they're the same ones as were there yesterday, and the day before... "They're so big!" Yes, they are. And so green. Ready to go outside. I was shuttling tomatoes and set a box down for one second to empty the wheelbarrow....oh...oh!
OPENING THE HIVE
I got my first chance to get into the hive. We´ve had a warm, early spring, so I've been feeding them, and anxious for the right warm day to come, so I can give them the third super. They´ve been unwrapped since the end of April, but this is the first time I´m going to the bottom of the hive, and the inner lid is coming off.
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