When I bought the basket for Sophie, the outside cat, it came as a two set. Our inside cat Izzy enjoys the larger basket as it fits her perfectly. She has a towel instead of a hand made mat because she likes laying on towels.
Aw
Author: Caryn
Farewell Beetles
Alternate titles: Birds go wild for Beetles. Beetles final tour. Fowl turn for the worm. Bugs cry “not fare”.
Ok, so if you’ve made it through the puns, here’s the scoop. I’m done with growing mealworms. As the weather got colder, we started to have some beetle escapes. Then some more. I adjusted the wire mesh on the beetle drawer, but still they found a way out. The corner spiders moved down and tried the help, but only caught a couple.
The final straw was accidentally mailing my folks a live mealworm. They were good sports about it (they have chickens too, but one mealworm isn’t going to go far for 5 chickens), but that a worm escaped is a no go. The shallow drawer idea seemed good, because we could switch out drawers frequently and in theory have a steady stream of meal worms instead just of a glut, but alas, even the harvests every two weeks were meager.
To dispose of the experiment, I am taking a drawer at a time out to the chickens, starting with the egg producing beetles. The chickens were wary at first (it was an unfamiliar container), but quickly figured out I brought them treats. Interestingly, I have a couple chickens who do not like beetles. Huh. There were plenty of hens wild about them, though, so it didn’t take long to empty the drawer. There were even some mealworms for the non-beetle eaters. The left over oatmeal and cornmeal mix went into the compost bin.
It was an interesting experiment, and I can now pick up beetles and mealworms alike without squirming. My kids saw the lifecycle of the darkling beetle, and now I get back the square foot or so of floor space the drawer tower occupied. The price of the freeze dried mealworms doesn’t seem so bad now.
Oh deer
My trail cam has been hanging out in the back of the lot, snapping pictures of (in order of volume) cats, raccoons, opossums, birds, and deer.
I like seeing the deer. I haven’t been seeing any on my walks when I’m in the neighborhood, but I’m glad to see some deer are near.
Opening the extra vents
I am particularly thankful for the extra vents that my husband included along the top of the chicken coop. There are six vents in addition to the vents in the eaves, and it helps with circulation especially in the summer. When I made the vent covers with the simple wooden latch, I was going for very simple just to have something to close the extra ventilation when it was cold. It is always nice when something works out better than planned. Because the latches are large, I can work them with the end of a handle, and don’t have to get a stool or ladder to get up there and close them by hand. So in our Texas “winters” when the temperature reaches up into the 70s, but then drops below freezing, I can open up everything quickly for the day, and close up just as quickly as night approaches.
Ouch
I switched to a silicone wedding ring awhile ago to help prevent injuries. But there is something about the gray band on my finger that is irresistible to the chickens and they frequently try to take it. (Once one even succeeded and I had to chase her down to get it back!) This is the first time I’ve sustained injury from a ring stealing attempt though. I think I will try a different band and see if a different color holds less appeal. Because this HURT.
