Hanging Out

Dottie & Romie (and chicken)

First Hummingbird Chick

I checked the hummingbird’s nest this morning and found a freshly hatched chick. It was a little difficult getting a good photo due to an anxious mother and poor lighting but I’ll keep trying.

Chickens and Chairs

I was working on the chairs today and while cutting out parts our chicken was behind the drill press singing songs of encouragement. When she departed she left me an egg for tomorrows breakfast.

And speaking of chairs, I finished cutting all the pieces today for all three chairs. Now just a bit of initial sanding, cutting a million mortises (slots that the tenons go in) and then assembly.

Dry Feet

Bobcat (Lynx rufus)

We lost our two retired chickens, Kate and Anna, to a bobcat this week. We thought the fence securing them was safe but we hadn’t thought of a bobcat and he had no problem breeching the fence. He was back today looking for more snacks to no avail.

Despite the situation it was quite a thrill to see such a beautiful animal.

Retirement Bliss

Kate and Anna have been enjoying their “retirement” in the orchard where they have a large fenced area to scratch and explore. They are doing a great job at bug and weed control and are actually laying better than ever. Looking pretty good too!

Winter Eggs

Despite the short daylight hours and colder weather our four new Aracuna chickens are outdoing themselves with their egg production. Even the two older girls living in the “Mini-Coop” in the orchard are laying. So…usually five to six eggs a day in lovely pastel colours. The Aracuna’s in shades of blue and green and the Blue Sumatra/Rhode Island Red mix producing brown eggs.

Retirement and the Mini Cooper

We just got four new  Araucana chickens so Kate and Anna, the resident chickens, have gone into semi-retirement. They have moved from the big chicken coop to the Mini Cooper that is in our orchard. They will spend the remainder of their lives enjoying the grass and the fruit trees.  Meanwhile our new quartet is settling in well and we’re looking forward to their blue eggs.

The Four Araucanas

Kate enjoying the view from the new Mini Cooper

 

Fart Eggs and Other Chicken News

The new chickens, Kate and Anna, are settling in well although there have been a couple of surprises. The other day I went out because Kate was doing a lot of squawking and complaining.

Kate the Rhode Island Red/Blue Sumatra Chicken

Kate is a much different chicken than our old Beulah. Beulah was a talker and I had many back and forth conversations with her. Kate is an orator. Loves to hear her own voice and it is pretty much a one sided conversation with her. She reminds me of the American election campaign where there is a lot of noise but not much substance.

Anyway, I went out to see what her problem was – apparently nothing – and reminded her that she hadn’t laid her egg yet. A couple hours later I checked the nest and found a very small egg in it.

Kate’s regular egg and the small egg

I thought that was pretty weird and headed straight for Google. I found out that it isn’t too unusual for young chickens to produce these eggs although it was the first that I have seen. These small eggs have several names – wind eggs, fairy eggs, witch eggs and fart eggs. They are all part of a young chicken adjusting to her new egg laying routine. After playing her little joke Kate is back to producing her large brown eggs.

In the meantime Anna has turned broody and spends most of her time on the nest trying to hatch her eggs even though I remove them each day and, because we don’t have a rooster, they are infertile.

Anna the Blue Sumatra/Rhode Island Red Chicken

Hopefully she will give up soon and enjoy the last of the Summer days.  Anna reminds me of the days when we had Banties running free in the yard. Every so often one would disappear and 21 days later come out of the bush with a clutch of chicks. They were always wonderful, protective mothers and fun to have around. Now that we are seeing so many more predatory animals around a chicken wouldn’t last long running free.

To give the girls a bit of variation I have created a Chicken Chariot. This wheeled cage rolls up to their coop,

The Chicken Chariot

I open the sliding doors and they hop in and I close the door. I can then roll it around the yard so they can dig in fresh grass or soil for the day. I still need to paint the racing stripes on it.

 

 

Sill Life with Feathers