Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[BlindLemonChicken]

lot of people don't realize that bees drink water as well. They need shallow places of still or dripping water.

Yes! And this is why I find them floundering in the dog’s outside water bowl all the time. I rescued two yesterday. I have to dump the bowl out when I bring the dog in.

 

[Sally PB]

Does nectar contain anything but sugars?

I'm not sure. Some minerals, maybe?

I do know that not all pollen is equal. At a bee meeting, the lecturer told us that early blooming trees, like maples, had what the bees were looking for. Other trees' pollen was eaten only in case of extreme emergency and had as much nutrition for honeybees as sawdust would have for us.

Trees can have as much forage for bees as an acre of wildflowers. For urban beekeepers, a flowering tree is a huge asset.

 

[Skyeknight]

At a bee meeting, the lecturer told us that early blooming trees, like maples, had what the bees were looking for.

This is why I am planting native male willows. The males should have nectar earlier in the year than other plant/tree species. Which is a good thing for a lot of native insects. Furthermore the bark has medical properties and can be eaten by sheep, while the leaves can be eaten by pretty much any herbivorous animal (including chickens I think ).

 

[Molpet]

the bark has medical properties

Aspirin

 

[SimpleJenn]

How old is he? Seven or eight months?

He is 4 months, surprisingly.

 

[fuzzi]

Yes! And this is why I find them floundering in the dog’s outside water bowl all the time. I rescued two yesterday. I have to dump the bowl out when I bring the dog in.

I put a flat stone in birdbaths so insects can drink without drowning.

Also, I see wasps land on my ponds' lily pads, then drink at the edge.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I put a flat stone in birdbaths so insects can drink without drowning.

Also, I see wasps land on my ponds' lily pads, then drink at the edge.

That’s a good idea. The dog probably wouldn’t appreciate it though. Honestly I shouldn’t leave water in it because it grows algae very quickly when I do. The bees are just reminding me of that

 

[Shadrach]

That's really interesting because the chickens here (mainland Orkney) absolutely love the long clumps of cocksfoot. They graze them right down to lumpy stubble, scratch around the base of those once they're bare, and the free range flock of Hylines where I used to live on one of the Orkney isles would often choose to lay in nests in the middle of a few dense clumps that were still standing.

For seed they seem to like rough meadowgrass the best but I'm not sure how much of that is because the smaller seeds are easy to strip off the more openly structured flowering spike.

Definitely noticed them nibbling on some pollen recently too but I can't remember what plant.

I must put some effort into identifying the grass types at the field.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I must put some effort into identifying the grass types at the field.

Good luck with that! Grasses are almost as hard to ID as asters.

 

[Shadrach]

I've got one of those plant identifier things on my phone...It's hopeless.
I've done better with google lens which also gives an immediate answer.
A book might be better with good illustrations.