it was hot ... well, 89* here in the loft, considerably cooler outdoors under the oaks
chicks were hanging around with their beaks open, drinking water like crazy then snuggling in the cooler loose dusty dirt under the shade of the tarp over the run
I let them out to truly free-range (supervised by DH and me, watched carefully but apprehensively by Krispy-the-cat) a couple times today -- cannot stay out there with them that long (about 45 minutes max) .. but I felt any aerial predators would be at much higher altitudes, and the ground-bound ones would be staying in the coolest spots they could find
did not hear any hawk screams ... usually they are a counterpoint to all the neighborhood noises
tomorrow if it's this hot again, I'm putting ice cubes in their waterer
***
oh, I got another BLUE egg today ! I think from Anitra but could have been Phoebe ... Dierdre spent some time in the nest box but no egg from her (hers are green) ... at least not yet and I don't think they lay eggs this late in the evening
eggs seem to show up around 3 to 5 PM so far ....
Dierdre was waddling in an awkward way and looked "fat", but I couldn't feel any mass or bulging to her under side nor sides, so I'm not sure what's happening, could be another double yolker under way
chicks were hanging around with their beaks open, drinking water like crazy then snuggling in the cooler loose dusty dirt under the shade of the tarp over the run
I let them out to truly free-range (supervised by DH and me, watched carefully but apprehensively by Krispy-the-cat) a couple times today -- cannot stay out there with them that long (about 45 minutes max) .. but I felt any aerial predators would be at much higher altitudes, and the ground-bound ones would be staying in the coolest spots they could find
did not hear any hawk screams ... usually they are a counterpoint to all the neighborhood noises
tomorrow if it's this hot again, I'm putting ice cubes in their waterer
***
oh, I got another BLUE egg today ! I think from Anitra but could have been Phoebe ... Dierdre spent some time in the nest box but no egg from her (hers are green) ... at least not yet and I don't think they lay eggs this late in the evening
eggs seem to show up around 3 to 5 PM so far ....
Dierdre was waddling in an awkward way and looked "fat", but I couldn't feel any mass or bulging to her under side nor sides, so I'm not sure what's happening, could be another double yolker under way