Move In Day!

coop door, just needs a latch

Well finally the top floor of the silkie/brooder coop is done enough to move in! After a lot of set backs I finally got a door made. It has a Lexan panel in it which I scrubbed on for a whole afternoon trying to get the remains of the paper covering off of it to no avail. I even tried some orange goo and a plastic scraper. So it will always look really dirty....

stairwell bumper

I added a bumper around the pop door opening so that litter would not be always falling down the hole when it's open.

I never got the side windows figured out, so just stapled some plastic over the openings and called it good.

On the advice of a long time breeder and master exhibitor I added plain old clay cat litter to the floor. The non clumping, no additive kind. I may add some shavings on top; not decided yet.

Mamma silkie & the two BCM chicks

So now mamma silkie and the chicks are outside in their new home.

Mom! Let me in!

Those chicks are real camera shy; I have to be quick to catch them before they run back under mamma!

One Spoilt Chick

what did you say son?

About a month ago I set some eggs under a very determined broody hen, one I just couldn't seem to break from her broodiness. I also set some shipped Welsummer eggs in my incubator. Shipped eggs have a notoriously low hatch rate. Seriously, if you get 30% or more hatch rate then you are doing good.

Well the post office was not kind to these eggs, one smashed and another cracked; most of them seem to have been scrambled. Out of 14 eggs shipped I got exactly ONE little chick.

Meanwhile broody girl was sitting tight on her eggs but for whatever reason, none of hers hatched. Finally at dusk I took the eggs out from under her and slipped her the poor lonesome little Wellie chick. Pretty sure he's a he and he's one week old today.

See? Look! right there! it's a bug!

Broody mamma is doing an excellent job taking care of this baby, keeping him warm at night and showing him how to scratch and hunt bugs.

Standing tall!

I have some more eggs in the incubator that are due in a couple of weeks. I might see if broody mamma will take on a few more chicks when they hatch.

Poultry, Melons, Squash & More

Ducklings, about 1 week old

Well, I've moved the ducklings to a rabbit cage with a wire floor and a pan under it, so taking care of them will be easier and less messy. They also have more room to run around. As soon as they are feathered they will go outside in the chicken pen.

Welsummers

The young Welsummers went out yesterday. They are so wild and I don't have the time right now to tame them down, I just went ahead and put them out with the big chickens. They are half the size of my Buff Orpington pullets but they have made themselves right at home with the adults, even checking out the adults house. The Buffs are still scaredy cats when it comes to mingling with the adults.

Broody Hen

I also have a hen gone broody, she was quite persistent to sit on the egg nest so I made her a nest in a dog crate with about 10 eggs. When I first moved her over she was pretty upset, but it was almost dark and soon she settled right in. I'm not sure how hatchable the eggs will be, some of them had been in the refrigerator, but I'll try and candle them in a week or two and see how many look good.

Mr Roo and a couple of the girls

Mr. Roo has grown up into a very handsome rooster. However he is also getting to be mean. I have bruises on my knee and thigh where he is hitting me for no reason at all. I move slowly and quietly in the pen, careful not to upset the hens, and then BAM! here he comes. So unfortunately he is going to become chicken stew very soon. I am wondering if part of it is because I did not raise him from a chick, so he doesn't see me as the boss or the food source?

New Bed, Lima's on trellis

I did get that carrot/potato bed dug and will be planting some small artichoke plants out this evening, with black eyed peas in between. This bed is next to a large trellis out front and has some King of the Garden (aka Leviathan) lima beans starting up it.

artichoke plants

Baby Blue Hubbard Squash

The Baby Blue Hubbards are going like gang busters, I think there are 5  or 6 on this plant with more coming on.

Bee Balm

The Bee Balm, Monarda citriodorata is blooming. Click on the pic to see it larger, you can see the bees and hover flies that are draw to the flowers. This is also supposed to be a good tea plant but I haven't tried it yet. Self seeding annual.

eggplant

More eggplant are coming on, both white and purple ones.

Melons on the greenhouse trellis

There are at least 4 more large cantaloupes coming on the greenhouse trellis.

Society Garlic

The Society Garlic is blooming again. The flowers are great in a salad or as a garnish, tasting like a very  mild garlic. It is totally rootbound in it's pot but I haven't decided where to plant it out yet.

tomato wilt

On a sad note I have lost about 5 large tomato plants due to some wilt disease. Here is one of them, about 2 or 3 days ago it just looked like it needed a drink of water. (and the soil was a bit dry so I gave the bed a good long soak) and this morning the leaves are shriveling and drying up. I'm hoping no more succumb, as I didn't plant that many large canning tomatoes.