Yay! They are here!
This is a brilliant little Biography Ribh. And what a beautiful photo, even modestly hiding her bald patch!This is Morrigu.
She is odd ~ even for a Campine.
She's a screamer ~ but relatively calm ~ for a Campine.
View attachment 2115176
There is a fair bit of jockeying @ dinner time. Those @ the top of the pecking order move leisurely between the available feeding stations. Those lower down flock round me, though even so the pecking order determines who can eat from my hand first.
Morrigu has a problem. She came into the flock as an established laying hen, though I have no idea how old she actually is. She was also a top order hen in some previous life. However she is a very small hen, smaller & lighter than my bantams, who are little roly~polys. She came into the flock thinking herself a top order hen & claiming a top bird's rights & position. It went down like a led balloon & she was very firmly put in her place. Hepzibah was so miffed to find Morrigu in her nesting box there was a serious barney & it will be some time before Morrigu grows her breast feathers back but I appreciate her. She's not one of my chronic fence hoppers. Aoife, who could be a serious contender for a lead bird some day, holds that dubious honour.
But she has some odd quirks. Today she grabbed Medh's tail & hung on for dear life so that the food stayed just out of Medh's reach!Poor Medh couldn't gain traction no matter how hard she tried. She doesn't like the Aracaunas & they stay well out of her reach. The big girls tend to bully her off her dust or sun bath for no other reason than that they can & for a long time it took her ages to roost because the pecking was vicious Morrigu was not only last into the coop but getting frantic as well~ but flocks are very adaptable. She is almost always on the top roost these days. Patricia, who is lowest of the big girls, is often forced to roost alone on the 2nd bar. She is too big to squeeze into no space @ all the way the Campines all do. Lavender seems happy to tuck smaller birds under her wings. Morrigu is sometimes there. But her size & attitude seems to be causing some confusion about her status.
She looks bantam sized ~ but is not a bantam. I suspect she is molting, so is probably a more mature hen. Her eggs are small ~ bantam sized. As a laying hen she does have extra status. The other Campines don't seem to consider her a Campine. They are all bigger than her. Ha'penny could easily make 2 of her & the silvers are developing into bigger birds. For a while I thought she wasn't going to fit into the flock & be accepted but happily the flock seems prepared to tolerate her oddities.
One thing I do know, & I don't know what her previous daily life was like, is that she loves her life here. She is a deeply content & grateful bird. That she is happy to stay within the confines of the run foraging suggests she has more freedom now than she did & she makes the most of every moment!
I know there are native bees specific to various regions of Australia ~ so there will be one for the colder mountain climate. It's nectar as well as pollen they feed on with a range of about 500m ~ which isn't a huge area.Yay! They are here!
I'd love to have a hive but when I looked into it it seems that the mountains is too cold for the native bees that are available commercially.
About how far do they range Ribh? How do you know if you have enough flowering plants to support a hive year round?
Those dark eyes are partly what attracted me to Campines in the first place ~ & Australorps. The orange eyes can be really freaky.This is a brilliant little Biography Ribh. And what a beautiful photo, even modestly hiding her bald patch!
I love the liquid dark eyes. All mine are angry orange (sigh)
Those dark eyes are partly what attracted me to Campines in the first place ~ & Australorps. The orange eyes can be really freaky.
Do you have a local club? I know one way the pros get hives is by taking old stumps that have a hive in them that farmers want to get rid of. Might be worth asking around.Hmmmm
I've just been browsing the bee website you linked Ribh. I might look into attracting and trapping a local swarm. I know we have them locally because I saw a swarm once a few years ago on a nearby fire trail. I wonder what the best time of year is for swarming...
Another good idea! I'll look into it
