She seems to be tasting it like a very fine vintage !
Wonderful update. And puzzles!It's early morning with a bright cold sunrise and I've got tea handy.
Some time ago, the hens started adapting from nighttime dinners to early breakfasts, with grazing and pellets all day, as always. The change was inevitable under this year's commitments which involve some evening work. They took to it quite well, with the youngsters leading the way and Mary coming around to it in due course.
At the same time, due to mice making their presence clear, I started removing all food overnight, except for the treadle feeders. This appears to have been successful with no trace of mice since then.
However, the sparrow. When I go to work, the hens are are given treats in the run so I can shut them in safely (a Peregrine falcon has been hunting in the neighbourhood). Every time I get home from work and go check on the hens, there's always one sparrow in the run. Sometimes, it's 9pm and fully dark when I check on the hens and the poor sparrow is always upset because it hasn't been able to go roost with its friends. So, I need to recommence sparrow-proofing efforts.
View attachment 3812788
The new roost box is working great, with Ivy and Peggy both preferring to roost on the end of the perch, which juts out beyond the floor. I assume they like the airflow on their bellies. Mary prefers the far end of the perch, against the back wall, which would be the snug spot. The other three jostle in the middle. One issue I have with the roost box is condensate on cold mornings. There's no hint of it dripping on the hens, but it sometimes drips from the central beam and might drip onto the hens it it gets extremely heavy. I may drill some vents at the top of the side wall to create a little more airflow along and up the ceiling.
View attachment 3812791
This old photo shows where the ventilation holes would be (top left) but it doesn't show recent roosting arrangements.
It seems most of the moulting has concluded, with only Christa still dropping feathers. Everyone has excellent appetite and energy, even Mary has been celebrating life lately, with many flappy stand-talls, which is not like her, she's usually quieter. I'm glad she's feeling a little joie de vivre. I still worry about her vision but she has no trouble picking up treats, so that's good. Only Katie is laying and not too often, 4-5 a week. I'm almost out of eggs, which means it's almost time to start going out for weekend breakfasts again
I'm off to a wedding this afternoon, can't wait! So the hens will have 3-4 hours to roam around, then they'll have to be enclosed until tomorrow morning. They'll be ok, the run is extremely spacious for six hens.
Here are a couple of jigsaw puzzles. Easy and harder.
Thank you - that was perfect for the 'wake up at 2am with jetlag' moment!It's early morning with a bright cold sunrise and I've got tea handy.
Some time ago, the hens started adapting from nighttime dinners to early breakfasts, with grazing and pellets all day, as always. The change was inevitable under this year's commitments which involve some evening work. They took to it quite well, with the youngsters leading the way and Mary coming around to it in due course.
At the same time, due to mice making their presence clear, I started removing all food overnight, except for the treadle feeders. This appears to have been successful with no trace of mice since then.
However, the sparrow. When I go to work, the hens are are given treats in the run so I can shut them in safely (a Peregrine falcon has been hunting in the neighbourhood). Every time I get home from work and go check on the hens, there's always one sparrow in the run. Sometimes, it's 9pm and fully dark when I check on the hens and the poor sparrow is always upset because it hasn't been able to go roost with its friends. So, I need to recommence sparrow-proofing efforts.
View attachment 3812788
The new roost box is working great, with Ivy and Peggy both preferring to roost on the end of the perch, which juts out beyond the floor. I assume they like the airflow on their bellies. Mary prefers the far end of the perch, against the back wall, which would be the snug spot. The other three jostle in the middle. One issue I have with the roost box is condensate on cold mornings. There's no hint of it dripping on the hens, but it sometimes drips from the central beam and might drip onto the hens it it gets extremely heavy. I may drill some vents at the top of the side wall to create a little more airflow along and up the ceiling.
View attachment 3812791
This old photo shows where the ventilation holes would be (top left) but it doesn't show recent roosting arrangements.
It seems most of the moulting has concluded, with only Christa still dropping feathers. Everyone has excellent appetite and energy, even Mary has been celebrating life lately, with many flappy stand-talls, which is not like her, she's usually quieter. I'm glad she's feeling a little joie de vivre. I still worry about her vision but she has no trouble picking up treats, so that's good. Only Katie is laying and not too often, 4-5 a week. I'm almost out of eggs, which means it's almost time to start going out for weekend breakfasts again
I'm off to a wedding this afternoon, can't wait! So the hens will have 3-4 hours to roam around, then they'll have to be enclosed until tomorrow morning. They'll be ok, the run is extremely spacious for six hens.
Here are a couple of jigsaw puzzles. Easy and harder.
The hens rarely have an opportunity to drink from a puddle, so she was really lapping it up (so to speak)
That would make quite a breeze across the hens' faces/butts.
I'll try to give him a more challenging puzzle to spoil this weekend.Thank you - that was perfect for the 'wake up at 2am with jetlag' moment!
It seemed like it was an easier puzzle than prior hard puzzles. Partly fewer pieces and also I figured out what the picture was very early on.
But no worries, Nightshade put in his absolute best efforts to make it as hard as possible. He was so excited I was home to do puzzles with him that he even managed to delete the whole thing. Twice.
It is a lovely picture and I really love the colour.
Any hole you decide to make can easily be temporarily blocked if it's not hard to reach- even a piece of cardboard works.
