Chickens: 15 Weeks

    The chickens seem to be thriving in their custom coop. The weather has been very cool lately so I haven't had to worry about the extreme heat yet.  I've been using the deep litter method for coop bedding and so far it's working quite well. I don't notice any type of bad odor at all. We even have had a backyard party that was very close to the coop and most of the guests didn't realize they were there. Sweet!! I use pine shavings and DE (Diatomaceous Earth-which I've mentioned in a past post) and let it pile up. Once or twice a year I'll clean out the entire coop and use it in the compost.  Once a week I mix everything around and add a bit of pine shavings to the top along with a little alfalfa hay and chicken scratch. I take a scoop or two and throw it in the compost now and then for good measure. I get the alfalfa at the local feedstore. They keep a large barrel of it in the back and you can freely take what you can carry. The chickens love it and it's good nitrogen when it breaks down. And I love the smell. I throw in fresh herbs and garden scraps randomly and let them eat and scratch and break it down. This week I gave them a whole tomato and they ate that up along with canteloupe, strawberries, lettuce, and stale bread. A grub here and there is a cool treat too.
    Somedays I open the coop and let them scamper into the yard. I keep a watchful eye on Eleanor, our dog who loves to munch on doves. They seem to understand that she is not their friend and are happy to go into their playpen.  I move it around the yard and let them scratch, eat bugs and fertilize. When it's time to go back into their coop, I just lift it up and tell them to "go home" and they scoot right back into their coop. Good girls for sure. Fun to watch them jump for flying bugs.
    They each have their own personalities with Nuggets (black and white Barred Rock) as the leader, most inquisitive and social. She tries to peck my wedding ring every time I go near her. Red (Rhode Island Red) is next in the pecking order and is confident and laid back. Lucy (White leghorn) is a wimp. She is the smallest and seems to play dead when she gets scared. Weird.  It's like she's narcoleptic. Both Red and Nuggets start "talking" when I am near and rush to greet me and look for food.  Lucy hides. Funny birds.
    From what I read the chickens should start laying eggs soon. Some say as early as 16-18 weeks which is in a few weeks. The nesting boxes are in place and I'll let them have access to them soon. I'll switch from grower feed to layer feed soon and start giving them calcium.  At least that's what the lady at the feed store and http://www.backyardchickens.com/f/ said to do. I will certainly be super excited to see that first egg that's for sure. For now, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and wait for 100+ weather.  I'll have to figure our how to keep the girls cool in the coop. Mister system tied to the garden's auto drip perhaps? I'll keep you posted.

We got spirit yes we do......



Backyard bug hunting.



Chicks with chicks

15 weeks old

 

Garden: Update May 8, 2013

  The garden is looking full and lush with flowers and veggies popping up everywhere. The green beans are climbing and I am seeing lots of beans forming. The snap peas are looking good, tomatoes (Solar Fire, Sun Sugar, Roma, Husky cherry, Black cherry, Ace 55 VF, Heatmaster and a couple of other surprise varieties) are green but will be ripe soon, and the cucumbers are flowering. The squash never cease to amaze me with their large beautiful leaves and yellow flowers. I look at them every day but always seem to miss something. Yesterday I found a 6 inch long fat grey zucchini underneath the big leaves. How did I miss that? Cool. This year I haven't had to pollinate the squash myself as there are lots of bees buzzing. I attribute that to the plethera of flowers that I planted throughout the garden.  There was even a bee stuck in a squash flower and couldn't get out. Other than fertilizing with Fish Emulsion, Liquid Seaweed and Epsom Salt every 2 weeks, I'm just letting the garden do it's own thing this year. I like the surprises. The sunflowers are opening and I've been cutting them and have fresh flowers in the house daily. I absolutely love that! There is cilantro and dill growing everywhere in the gardens and they smell fabulous. The cilantro I planted in Feb. has bolted with tall pretty white small flowers. I use those in my flower arrangements too. My house smells like a Mexican restaurant and I like it. 
  One thing that's not growing well right now are the peppers. They seem to be stuck in this small no-grow mode. Not sure if I planted the wrong things too close to them or what, but I'll wait and see what happens with them. That happened last year but they finally took off and produced pretty well.  I am hoping for the same results this year.
   I'm going to keep planting sunflowers every week or two.  They just seem to make things better and brighter.  


Flower arrangement: Sunflower, Cilantro and mystery flowers.





Grey Zucchini--Surprise!



Green Bean (Kentucky Pole)

 

Raised Bed: Green bean trellis, leeks, nasturtiums, sunflowers. There's also, peppers, dill, cilantro, red cabbage, chives, garlic and corn in that bed.




Solar Fire



Ace 55 VF



Roma

Carrots

Tomatillos