The Barn Birds

After everyone went in to roost this evening, I stepped out with my camera to catch up.  Here's Spot looking for all the world like a grown up, gulp, rooster.  Isn't he beautiful?  And here's why he's called Spot:

That's not dirt on his side.  He has about three feathers there that are tipped in black.  By the way, he has feathers as soft as my Black Australorp Eartha -- perhaps she's his mother!

Elsewhere in the barn, this apricot girl is one of the Easter Eggers I bought this spring.  Notice her bluish legs and Amish beard!  I can't wait to see what color eggs she lays.

I'm starting to refer to these two as "The Wacky Quackies"!  They talk more and more.  And look how tall they are!

And how skinny!

Domestic birds aren't the only ones in the barn.  There's been a lot of racket lately as the barn swallows begin to fledge.  I was startled last weekend to discover one nest's babies all perching together --

-- that's right -- all FIVE perching together!  The nest is on the other side of that beam.  No way can they all fit in it any more.

Look at their beautiful reddish bellies, and their beaks all lined up.  They remind me of gangsters, all huddled around plotting their next heist.  All they need is a cigar and one of those gangster hats!

Hope they don't blow up the barn!

Heavy Weather

Heavy, heavy hangs over my head!  This huge branch hangs over my barn, and with each big storm I fear coming outside to discover it's cracked.

Not this time!  Some big willow branches did come down, however.  It's a magnificent old tree, look how huge the trunk is (below).  But willow branches are notoriously weak.  Any big wind and snap snap snap!  Last night once again we were visited with a 80 mph sustained gust.  That's hurricane force.

The storm scared the pets.  Oskar cuddled with me on the couch, and I got to do a good deal of brushing on him in preparation for his surgery today.  But we'd all rather have skipped it!

When will things dry up so that my vegetable garden can grow as lush as the window boxes?!

Like reading about chickens?

We are delighted to be included in Dobbies Garden Center's list of chicken keeping blogs! It's a great list, I've visited most of them myself, but I want to put it out there in case you have not seen them.

Thanks Andrew & Ian!

Comfort Care

For the past week, one of the Ameraucana hens has been punky.  Her feathers look as if she's moulting, she's avoided crowd scenes.

In the barn this happens from time to time.  My oldest chickens are now four years old.  While a chicken lifespan is reported to be 10 years, I don't know many people whose flocks make it that long.  Predators get them, pests get them, age takes its toll.  A hen might be a little off one day and dead the next; a hen might withdraw for a few days and rally back to good health.

Yesterday morning I heard a cry from behind me as I scattered scratch.  Upon turning around I discovered the punky hen with the young rooster on top of her, as she cried for help.  I pushed him off and she lay there with one wing outstretched.  Pitiful.  So I picked her up and set her in the dog kennel where she can be protected from other chickens.  Set her up with her own food and water, and expected to come back in an hour and discover her dead.

But when I returned mid morning, she was sitting upright, a bit perkier than I've seen her.  And this morning she seems to be gaining strength.  Will the rally last?  Can't say, but I am encouraged that I was able to give her comfort in her difficult time.

Storm Coming

Storm approaching from the west.  Five minutes later:

Then it began to pour.  Which effectively ended my gardening day.  Once again.  Hope I can get more things in the ground before July or I'll never have a harvest!