Ugh. There are cockroaches in the coop. I saw a couple when I opened the cabinet doors, then I found some in the chickens feeder that got stuck and couldn’t get out of the smooth curved walls of the feeder. I captured them and fed them to the chicks (yes! I did!). I spread some diatomaceous earth on the floor of the food cabinet and some more throughout the coop, then started researching what to do about cockroaches.

A couple different bloggers capture the cockroaches in glass jars and then in the morning, let them loose for the chickens. Rather than spray pesticides, we decided to give this a try. We had an empty dog treat jar, plastic instead of glass, but with curved sides at the top of the jar. We put some chicken feed in the bottom, and put it on the floor of the coop.

It worked! The next morning there was a trapped cockroach inside the jar.

I took the jar out to the runs (with the chickens close to my heels), turned it loose out in the open, and a chick caught it! Yay! It was incredibly satisfying watching the chicks devour that insect!

The chicks are definitely drawing attention. The trail cam that was only taking pictures of waving plants over a month ago is now capturing images of raccoons, opossums, cats (of course), and even an armadillo.

I have to admit, I forgot to check the camera for a couple weeks. It was quite eye opening when we finally went through the card!

Happy Mother’s day to my mom, my mother-in-law, and all those who mother, whether they birthed or adopted, whether their charges have skin, fur, feathers, or scales!

Update on the nest in our honeysuckle: it is a cardinal! We can actually peek through the window curtains and see her on her nest. Very exciting!

Here is a video of lap chickens. Just because.

Someone is building a nest in our honey suckle! I was weaving in loose ends, and gently avoiding pollinating bees, when I spotted something that was not a product of my weaving. I’m not sure which kind of bird is nesting here, but I will have to check back to see if they complete the nest, or abandoned it (it is rather close to the front door).

Here is a picture of one half of the honey suckle. The smell is wonderful!