Wow Danz, that is some cage! Those are some lucky little chipmunks! Can you just use some pine shavings in the drawers & then put some dry leaves on top for them to burrow into?
I went down to G.E. at Strother Field where my DH works & when I got out of the car to go into the building to get my flu shot I was hit by this horrific blast of wind. I was trying to get up the stairs to go in & it almost lifted me off my feet & I'm no small person. I finally made it in the door & looked behind me & there was a young couple with a baby trying to fight their way in too. Then when I came back out a few minutes later I was fighting my way down the stairs & this poor guy with a cane was trying to get to the stairs. I told him to watch out up there because it was awful. He did have a lady with him to help him up the stairs fortunately. I came back home & decided I just wasn't up to fighting that wind to clean out my rabbit cages today, so I guess I'll wait till tomorrow & hope it's better. I've got to get that done, so I guess if it's not nice tomorrow I will be doing it anyway.
I have been trying to integrate a new Ameraucana hen into the pen with my Big Blackie rooster that I had hatched this year. She is now old enough to go in with the trio that is in there. I tried putting her in at night one night & the next day she was cowering in the nest box scared to death, so I let her go back to the grow-out pen for a couple more days. Tonight I decided to put her in a crate where the others could see her but not attack her & she was yelling at the rooster & he was carrying on like crazy when I was out there. I sure hope they can get to know each other because she is part of my breeding program for the lavender Ameraucanas for next year. I do have a rooster out in the pen too I noticed, so I will use him also. I will need another pen to put the lavender hens & the new rooster in, but I'll worry about that next spring. If all works out well then I should get some pretty little lavender Ameraucana chicks next spring, I just love that color!
I have been slowly introducing a few new pullets from the grow-out pen into the main flock & so far so good. I have all 3 Welsummers in there now & one lavender Orpington/Isabel pullet I just moved yesterday & one lavender Orpington rooster. At least it is starting to get a little less crowded in that grow-out pen with me moving some birds out. Whenever the new breeder coop is done & the pens most of the Swedish Flower Hens will be moving out there, the Cream Legbars, & the Salmon Favorelles, along with the Speckled Sussex that are now in the main coop. I got some really nice Speckled Sussex pullets this year. KarenS, you would like them because they really have a lot of white spots on them, they're beautiful & I'm going to be using the best two hens for breeding for next spring. So if you need any SS chicks let me know because I should have some. I can't wait to start hatching all of these different kinds of chicks, it should be fun!
My DH didn't work on the new coop today
, he went to the gym but I didn't say anything & won't unless he doesn't work on it the next two days. We will have our granddaughter Sunday so no work will get done that day, but that's OK because we haven't gotten to have her over for about a month. It will be nice to spend the day with her again.
Oh Hawkeye, speaking of goats, I have been working on my DH to get a couple of Boer kids for brush control on the part of our land we don't mow. There is a lady up in Hutchinson that raises bunches of them & that is where I plan to go get some if he says yes, she is a friend of Sunflowerparrot's. We went up there recently & helped feed them while we were there. Those kids are so cute when they're little! I have never eaten goat either, but I know it is a delicacy in some ethnic groups & they sell baby ones at certain times of the year to them. They have been going lately for about $2 a pound live weight I think is what they told me. I know this lady is going to have more babies she said the in November or December. What a great 4H project that would be for your kids!