This triple daylily and flamboyant insect reminds me of Fourth of July fireworks, but are calm and quiet. I’m a big fan of calm and quiet. But fiercely protective of my independence! Party on dudes, but quietly after bedtime if you please.
11 pounds of freeze dried meal worms is a BIG bag.
Our darkling beetles are getting busy, but we haven’t seen any hatched meal worms yet. So on the advice of my Mom, who orders the same for her chickens, I ordered a bag from Amazon, and it fits well in a 10 gallon steel can. We will have happy chickens.
My friend was kind to offer me an old toy organizer (with plastic bins on a wooden stand). At first I wasn’t sure where I was going to put it, and then I thought: I need it for the chickens! The small bins work well to make super-sized ice cubes, and I think the larger bins will work for the base of nesting boxes.
I put peas and carrots and herbs into a small bin, added some water, and froze it overnight. A little hot water on the base and the cube popped out. The chickens were wary (as usual with a new treat), so we put some meal worms on top. They loved that; the veggies not so much.
I think next time I will try a fruit ice block.
I took a gallon water jug, stuck it in the freezer, then put the frozen jug in the foot bath. There is still room for one chicken to get both feet in, and they all enjoy laying around the foot bath. And the ice lasted for hours, then I used the cool water to rinse refill the foot baths (because, ew, they get dirty fast).
What with the ice cubes, ice packs for the cooler AC, and jugs, we had to start up the large freezer in the garage.
When we opened the third run, I put long sticks through the wire (no swings in this run). The chickens approve!
And because my youngest is getting the AI assistant to tell her jokes, I leave you with this:
I’m thinking of starting a social media network for chickens. But not as a full-time job, just as a way to make hens meet.
