Coop clean out

On October 7, 2019 By CarynIn chickens, Coop

We decided to clean out the coop because we haven’t since the chickens took over the whole space.

Carrying of pine shavings by the bucketful

At first the chickens were wary, but as we progressed, carrying more and more things out of the coop, they freaked.

Tigger did something to hurt her feet, probably when she was flying wildly about, so we locked them all in the run so they couldn’t cause themselves more damage. Next time, we will start with them locked in a run! Live and learn.

We swept up all the pine shavings and dust and feathers, put some down as mulch where I am trying to suppress weeds, and the rest went into the compost pile. We then had to do a little rearranging. The metal nest boxes needed to be moved so the back door opened properly (my math missed the perch, sigh). Then we moved the washed and sanitized roost back in. Everything got a good dust of diatomaceous earth, then we put down four bags of pine shavings. Yikes. The chickens eventually calmed down. My youngest made an egg foray into the coop, only to find no eggs. Darn it.

Tigger was struggling still, and just sitting in the back of the coop, so we tried wrapping her right leg. She did not like that at all, but can’t get to the bandage, so we’ll leave it on a bit to see if it helps. We could not identify any obviously broken bones, so we hope rest will help. I put her in the cleaned out isolation ward with the food and water lowered so she could drink and eat while laying down.

In happy news, Navi has gained weight, but her crop is large and squishy again. Sigh.

Patio

On October 6, 2019October 3, 2019 By CarynIn Garden

Awhile ago I set up a sand putting green in the back yard. I hauled in many bags of sand and leveled and raked, and raked and leveled. Putting on it was very slow, but I figured it would improve over time. Until the first rain. The rush of water filled the putting hole (half a peanut butter jar) with sand and dirt and swept away some of the sand. I cleared it out once or twice, then gave up.

Remnants of sand putting green (Sept 2019)

All that work was not in vain, however, since I had need of a place to put a patio. The builder left a cube and a half of bricks on the side of the property. I’ve been using the bricks here and there for various projects (edging for paths, and stabilizing the chicken feeder, for example), but here was an opportunity to use up the rest. There was still enough sand to make a good base for the bricks, so I raked it clean and hauled the bricks over by the wheelbarrow load to place them down.

My in-laws are downsizing, and we are getting their patio table, hence the need for a patio. The bricks went a long way, but I didn’t have quite enough to make an area big enough for the table, so we picked up some pavers from the hardware store and I laid them around the perimeter. My kids and I then swept sand into the crevices.

Not too bad for a project where half the materials were free. And now there is one less eye sore on the property.

Egg color

On October 5, 2019October 4, 2019 By CarynIn eggs

I think I am seeing the result of getting Faverolle pullets from a hatchery. I lucked out that all my chickens have the Faverolle beards and muffs, but Faverolles are supposed to lay slightly tinted pink eggs. These are brown eggs. I compared them to pictures from the Faverolles Chicken Club, and mine are definitely darker, especially the one in the lower right of the picture. That said, these are also from the girls who are laying three months earlier than I expected. I guess we’ll see what coloration we get as the others start laying! The eggs definitely taste fine, and we now sometimes get three a day.

Navi update: Navi has been released from a week of isolation (so she only had access to copper sulfate water and food). Her crop is no longer squishy and has reduced dramatically in size. There is still something in her crop in the morning, but she is eating well and her droppings have returned to normal, so I figured she could use some exercise. What she really wanted was a good dust bath. On another update, the tire dust bath has now been accepted by the flock. Hurray!

Navi checking out the nest box that was added since she went into isolation

In process cucumber

On October 4, 2019October 1, 2019 By CarynIn Garden

Oh my oh my! There is an actual cucumber developing on my cucumber vine!

Cucumber in process between flower and stem

The cucumber vines are happy in their wire enclosure (recycled from the cage we cobbled together for the growing chicks), and are now climbing the wire. I put up the wire the keep the critters out, but I’m happy that the cucumber is up off the ground.

Tiny glints of light

On October 3, 2019October 1, 2019 By CarynIn Wildlife

I checked my chicken cam in the morning and there was a tiny glint of light in the foot bath in the coop. Then the light blinked and became two glints of light in the darkness.

Apparently the coop resident gulf coast toad decided that the inside foot bath was preferable. Or he just got stuck in there when the doors closed for the night and made due with the situation. The back porch toad invited himself in this week. Door opened, he hopped in, in the blink of an eye.