Fall is here. I harvested the potatoes, and we turned the chickens loose in the fenced garden. Much excitement. Not only are all 10 together again - with no apparent need to peck one an other to death - but the vast array of greens and bugs and worms kept things (literally) hopping for several days.
The old 6x6' cage is now covered with tarps for shelter; the old house is used mostly for roosting at night and for nesting underneath.
John has discovered a new game for his play dates with Drake: "someone" leaves the gate open, and ALL the chickens escape. (This actually takes a fair amount of effort on John's part: several of them are reluctant to leave the garden...) Then an emergency call summons Drake to help herd them back into their garden. A good time is had by all.
Unintended consequence: the ladies have discovered what fun it is out in the big yard: fresh grass. With only a 4' fence around the garden, escapes have become a daily - sometimes hourly - occurrence.
- Addendum to last post -
While spreading old chicken bedding in the new garden boxes for next year (now that the chickens have the garden) I found another egg. I buried it.
The Chickens Have Landed
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Egg counts
The white chickens – the ones who actually have a chicken coop, with laying baskets – have been short-changing us lately, laying only one every other day or so.
Yesterday I’m changing the straw in the coop, including turning the cardboard liners in the baskets. Whaddaya know, there’s a charming nest on the ground underneath the lower basket, with several eggs in it.
I (carefully) rake the trash pile out from underneath the coop. 13 eggs! I remember from my sailing days that you can test the freshness of eggs by floating them in water. Thank you, Google for the refresher lesson. All of them appear to be edible, although we’re cracking them carefully.
So the whites’ egg count is back to normal. But what the ? I thought chickens preferred up, not down?
Today I finished digging the potatoes, and turned the whites loose in the garden. The browns are quite sure they are missing out. And they’re right!
Yesterday I’m changing the straw in the coop, including turning the cardboard liners in the baskets. Whaddaya know, there’s a charming nest on the ground underneath the lower basket, with several eggs in it.
I (carefully) rake the trash pile out from underneath the coop. 13 eggs! I remember from my sailing days that you can test the freshness of eggs by floating them in water. Thank you, Google for the refresher lesson. All of them appear to be edible, although we’re cracking them carefully.
So the whites’ egg count is back to normal. But what the ? I thought chickens preferred up, not down?
Today I finished digging the potatoes, and turned the whites loose in the garden. The browns are quite sure they are missing out. And they’re right!
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