joni
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Posts by joni
The vegetables of our labor
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garden salad
We’ve been getting some nice spinach and lettuce from our garden for a few weeks. The radishes have been disappointing – we’ve had a few, but the rest just didn’t develop. A few days ago we had this beautiful lunch entirely from the garden, including the first peas – yummy. The variety is Miragreen and I think it’s a keeper. The plants need only a short fence and there are lots of pods on each one. We have a lot of onions growing so we started using them, even though they are still small.
first peas
Keets eat stinkbugs
0Just what we were hoping for – the guinea keets LOVE stinkbugs! They are finally running to us instead of running away. I don’t think they will ever be as friendly as the chickens, but I do want them to come to us and take treats from our hands. As much as they love the stinkbugs, I’m thinking we need to get a lot more guineas. If they can keep down the population of stinkbugs around here, they are worth their weight in gold!
Ethel lives!
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feeling fine
Ethel was so sick last week I was sure we were going to lose her, but after a few days of special care in the house, she seemed well enough to go back outside. She was still a little weak and wobbly so I didn’t think she was ready to go back in with the main flock. I didn’t want her to have to deal with the dominant hens and the rooster until she gained more strength, so I put her in with the babies. Well, I guess they really aren’t babies anymore – more like teenagers. She had a nice , safe place outside where she didn’t get picked on. After 2 nights in the nursery coop, she moved back home and seems just fine. She still can’t see very well (time for another face trim), but she’s back to normal. Chickens are tough critters.
Meet the dogs
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Bob & Ellie
Meet our dogs, Bob, a Border Collie mix & Ellie, a German Shepherd. This photo was taken a few years ago at Ellie’s birthday party. She had 6 doggie friends attend the party where everyone enjoyed some social time and treats in the back yard. Bob spent most of the party in the house after he growled at one of the party goers (he is a little lacking in social skills and prefers to spend his time with only us). Ellie, on the other hand loves everyone and enjoys new experiences.
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The keets still go into panic mode whenever we try to interact with them, diving into a corner and trying to crawl underneath each other. I tried offering them some small mealworms and they seemed interested, but weren’t brave enough to take them from my hand. I placed a little bowl with about 8 mealworms in it inside their box. One of the bigger keets tried one and immediately gobbled up every worm. This is the favorite treat of our chickens so I am hoping it will be the same for the guineas and they will start eating them from our hands.
Chicks discover the world of ‘Outside’
0Wow! The chicks are growing so quickly! Their first home was a little plastic bin with a heat lamp in the bathroom and look at them now!
first day out video (YouTube)
When they were a few weeks old we moved them to a what seemed like a huge pen in the basement, but they quickly outgrew that also. At about six weeks of age, we moved them to the ‘nursery’ coop outside. It’s a perfect place for young chickens to romp and play during the day and stay warm at night. They still have some feather growing to do, but with 20 of them to pile up together, they generate plenty of heat. They were as ready to be moved outside as I was to have them out of the house. What a mess they make! Even so, I was really worried about them for the first few nights. We went out to check on them a few times each evening and they seemed a little worried and not quite sure where to sleep so we had to gather up stragglers and put them in the sheltered area for the night. They caught on after a few nights and seem quite content now.
So after a week in the totally secure pen, this is their first outing into the fenced run surrounding the coop. What fun they had! So many new plants and bugs to try eating! They are large enough now that they can’t get through the run fencing and the area is all covered with netting to protect them from hawks. We will herd them back into the coop each evening so they are protected from nighttime predators.
Mail Order Mayhem
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Assorted chicks
The other 14 chicks arrived a few days later, bringing this year’s flock to a total of 20. We have quite a variety – Partridge Rocks, Ameraucanas, Rhode Island Reds, Silver Laced Wyandots and a freebie who turned out to be an Egyptian Fayoumi rooster. There are also some Buff Orpington chicks in this photo that will be going to a friend’s farm.
Maran & Welsummer chicks
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Maran chicks
With plans to build a new chicken coop/palace this year, we ordered some new chicks to expand our flock. We ordered 4 Marans from a local farm, but when we went to pick them up and saw all the baby chicks, it was impossible to leave without 2 extra. We were interested in the Marans because they lay the darkest brown eggs and we really enjoy the range of colors. The extra chicks we picked up are Welsummers, which are another very dark brown egg layer.
Meet the keets
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guinea keets
Last week six cute little guinea keets joined our farm family. We are really hoping that they grow up to LOVE eating ticks and stinkbugs! They are adorable, of course, but they are not taming as quickly as the chicks do. They are still fearful and run to a corner whenever we are changing water or adding food in their little pen, even though we move very slowly and quietly around them. We are trying to handle them several times a day and have found that they do better just allowing them to perch on our hand rather than trying to hold them. My plan is to train them to come when called so we can lock them up at night. I’ve read that the most difficult part of keeping guineas is finding ways to prevent them from becoming fox food. Yikes! We will have a very safe and secure place for them to roost at night but it won’t be worth much if we can’t get them to come back in the evening. I can’t bear the thought of them falling victim to some nighttime predator when they have such a safe place available to them. Well, all that is several months down the road. For now, we will keep working on taming them more and finding the best treats to make them want to come to us.