Stay of execution

My housemate took the cream brabanter rooster to her farm property. There is one other rooster there but no hens, and they have plenty of space, so they should get along. He left yesterday. He crowed a handful of times during the drive, but otherwise the move was easy and he's settling in quickly.

Last meal with his girls.

He'll be handsome when he's full grown!

Bye bye, little guy.

The caretaker of the farm property has named him Ringo.

Chickens and rabbits and gardening

It was a busy homesteading day. I gave the plants fertilizer (which I don't remember to do often enough) and water. I pulled most of the kale plants because they were getting infested with aphids and neither I nor the chickens like this variety. (Stupid picky chickens.)

I borrowed a jigsaw from the Oakland Tool Lending Library and cut a new door into the wall of the chicken coop. I moved the heavy metal feeder to sit on the other side of the door. It will now be easier to refill, and it's completely covered by the shelf of nesting boxes above it.

The water bucket got moved from one end of the roosting bar to the middle, since the chickens always squeeze themselves to either side of the bar.

And I raked out the old, thick layer of straw and put down fresh bedding. I put the compost pile at the opposite end of the chicken run, and of course the girls (and the brabanter) immediately started scratching and pecking at it in delight.

I then hung up and skinned three rabbits, which I'd purchased whole and frozen from a local rabbit supplier. (Don't worry, no pictures.) The first one took SO long. It felt like the skin was adhering more strongly to the meat compared the rabbit we'd skinned at the IUH workshop. Different age, different breed? I became more efficient with each one. The pelts are now curing in a bucket until the weekend. The meat is cut and in the freezer. I'd thought that I might cook some up tonight, but I was too tired by the end. I still had to walk the dogs and shower. Now, a scant 30 minutes to decompress and crochet before going to bed and a regular workday tomorrow...

Correction

The cream brabanter is, in fact, a rooster. I just hadn't looked closely enough before. (He's rather flighty.) I sent out feelers for rehoming or for help culling him. I haven't had a chance to learn about chicken slaughter yet, so I'd need guidance. Sure, there are tutorials and videos online, but an experienced hand will make the process more efficient.

Rooster wannabe

Someone was crowing in the coop today. I'm pretty sure it was the cream brabanter. Sometimes in a flock of all hens, one of them will start acting like a rooster - crowing, protecting the flock, and even mounting the other hens. If she gets to be too loud, or she's crowing at inappropriate hours, I'll need to cull or rehome her. I'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't come to that.

Crochet projects update

I've been steadily crocheting away! Here's everything new:

Cat ear-warmers:

Lamb bonnet:

Dragon Tail neck warmer (I should have make it longer so that there would be overlap. I think I'm going to make a second one with different colors):

And the updated army cap with buttons:

Chicken therapy

The homestead doesn't pause just because the farmer is sick. I had planned to do a deep cleaning of the coop today, but ended up just squeezing in a visit at dusk to refill the water, food, and grit, and put down a flake of straw. Yet the visit perked me up immensely.

I had anticipated that I would enjoy having chickens around to take care of - if not, I wouldn't have bothered with getting multiple heritage breeds, and would have simply gotten a flock of leghorn pullets. I underestimated just how much I would enjoy them, though! The time flies as I watch them scratching and clucking in their run. I buy them a melon or two at every run to the grocery store because it's their favorite treat. I still have a couple last upgrades to make to their coop to make their layout even better.

The older girls are possibly just two weeks from laying their first eggs. I just bought them layer feed and adult-sized grit to replace the chick-sized bags. Counting down...

Sunbathing chickens

They never fail to amuse me. They LOVE the sunshine.

The Ameraucana was totally blissed out - her eyes were even closed.