The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Nice looking girls, both of you. Love the flannel shirt too.

 

[speckledhen]

Nice looking girls, both of you. Love the flannel shirt too.

Thanks, but Wynette is the looker here, not moi. You see my garden season haircut I got today? Tom took the picture from his hammock. I live all winter in sweats and flannel. I love my flannel. I miss it in the warm season.

We planted some tomato, bell pepper, and crookneck squash plants and some crowder peas today. I need to find my honeydew and cantaloupe seeds from last year, too. Not doing a huge garden this year. We sold our big 15 year old Scotts tiller that was giving us trouble yesterday. The new one is nowhere as big, but it weighs so much less. Tom hurt himself trying to crank the old tiller and I said no more! Told him to get a smaller one he could handle better (and I can, too). It can get in and out of chicken pens to churn those up, too.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

The haircut looks great. I need one too. I haven't tilled a garden in years, I do lazy no till gardening. Using it in the chicken area is a great use for one. We got rid of ours many years ago.

 

[speckledhen]

When we moved here, it was virgin territory, no actual garden space other than a lame attempt by the original owner, but he wouldn't cut down trees to get sunlight so it never worked well. The new space used to be all woods so we needed that heavy duty tiller to get through it all. Now that it's been "conditioned" for years by chicken litter/shavings from the coops, the smaller one is adequate for what we do. We still have some of that Georgia clay in spots that can pack down badly so we really need a tiller of some sort in the pens to loosen up the poopy brick that it becomes.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My husband built me some wonderful raised boxes 2 years ago when I got my first knee replaced. It was wonderful gardening in them last year. I'm looking forward to it again. My body doesn't go to the ground anymore except when I fall, than it doesn't get up very well.

We have clay soil too. I used to just pile all my amendments on top, still do with my boxes. Took me years to develop wonderful soil, and a good worm crop to do some of the work for me.

 

[speckledhen]

My husband built me some wonderful raised boxes 2 years ago when I got my first knee replaced. It was wonderful gardening in them last year. I'm looking forward to it again. My body doesn't go to the ground anymore except when I fall, than it doesn't get up very well.

We have clay soil too. I used to just pile all my amendments on top, still do with my boxes. Took me years to develop wonderful soil, and a good worm crop to do some of the work for me.

It can take a few years to get great soil. We made something out of nothing (well, roots and rocks, LOL) and now, the soil is dark and rich and soft. Great that your husband made you those boxes!

 

[kitkat5505]

Here’s me with one of our chicks. This is the one I’m pretty sure is a boy, especially with his attitude lately. Slow feathering, redder comb. Which means I’ll have to find a home for him at some point. Not sure anyone will want a leghorn for meat, and most cities here don’t allow roosters, so we’ll see what happens.

I have raised garden boxes too, and I love it.

 

[speckledhen]

Here’s me with one of our chicks. This is the one I’m pretty sure is a boy, especially with his attitude lately. Slow feathering, redder comb. Which means I’ll have to find a home for him at some point. Not sure anyone will want a leghorn for meat, and most cities here don’t allow roosters, so we’ll see what happens.

I have raised garden boxes too, and I love it.

No question, it's a boy! Thanks for the picture, Kara. Need more peeps and their peeps pics. I'm awful about showing pictures of myself, have to approve them before I can allow them to be seen, so I get it, but you can put one in front of your face, lol.

 

[aquila]

Here's me and one of our wyandotte pullets! I had just got home from work so it was a good opportunity for a nice selfie + chicken. She seemed a little too interested in my earrings though.

I've been starting to work on our garden this year too. This will only be our second year here so the ground is still fairly freshly reclaimed pasture with the grass sod removed. I try to keep tilling and digging to a minimum as well as adding leaf mulch, bunny and chicken litter, and whatever I can. The chickens are great garden helpers but sometimes (like when getting started for the season) I have to lock down the garden to keep them out or they'd dig everything up.

Here they are dustbathing in the squash patch last summer:

 

[speckledhen]

@aquila great picture! Pretty pullet (and you), too! My high school album was called The Aquila, had forgotten that.

Oh, I see a single combed Wyandotte! I had one in my original flock, my Lorelei! What a great hen she was.