I’ve been cooking and crafting like a crazy person this past week, so while I’ve been taking a lot of farm photos and doing a lot of farm chores, I haven’t have any extra time in my day to update you on the usual farm antics.
My friend Sue has a great variety of colored egg laying chickens. She sent me this picture the other day and I just had to show you how lovely they all are.I am DYING to get some of those olive egg layers!
I guess the biggest news this week was the adolescent and baby chicks finally got to stop looking longingly out the door and windows and got to go out in the real world. I knew it was supposed to get cooler later in the week, so on Tuesday I let them out for the first time. As is typical, they are very hesitant to try anything new at first, and not all of them came out the first day.
Wow! It's so big out here!
I'm scared!
Hey, it's not so bad out here. It smells better too!
Watch the big barred rock hen. Chickens don't take to newcomers very well, and she doesn't know quite what to think of this little thing.
She's moving in from behind for a closer look.
And of course I missed the shot, but this is where she moves in for the head peck. Poor chick.
Paula Deen, my blue buff cochin, is giving the chicks her "angry eyes". They're scary.
Here's one of the 5-week old chicks out enjoying the sunshine and open spaces.
Friends tend to stick together for exploring.
In and out, all day long.
My trusty dog Bullet is the supervisor of farm antics, and he takes his job quite seriously.
I caught this chicken on the swing this week. I had to take the picture through my window while I had the chance. Of course by the time I stepped outside to take another one she'd hopped down, deciding that a swing isn't a very stable roost.
I had to rig up a pulley system in the chicken coop to raise their feeder during the day. Grace & Kiki are still small enough to squeeze in through the chicken door, and they sneak in there during the day to eat the chicken's food. I lower it again in the evening so the chickens can get to it through the night and early morning. Grace and Kiki and pissed.
India and I cleaned out the goat stalls down to the rubber mats. Fresh pine shavings with a layer of straw over that.
I can't help but admire the entrance to the goat house every time I go in it. The goat house and chicken coop will get painted towards the end of the month.
There’s more to show and tell, but that’s enough for one post. Next I’ll try to remember to show you how I compost the old bedding when I clean out stalls or coops.
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