Sick Rooster

Yesterday morning I found a mixed roo not up to snuff. He was sitting behind the nest box area and didn't get up to run outside. He also had his eyes closed. I hate when any of my animals get sick, I always feel so helpless. Gingerly I picked him up; I didn't want to hurt him if he had a physical injury. He didn't even bother to try to get away from me, he kept his eyes closed and his head was drooping a bit; not good. The list of 'not goods' is getting longer and longer with this rooster.

I checked him out and could find no wounds on the guy and his bottom looked fine. Holding a rooster upside down to check his netherlands is generally taken as a great affront to roosters. And this guy did convey his displeasure by clucking fairly adamantly. So now I have a bit of a list of good signs, which is also a good sign.

I secluded him and started calling him Micheal Moore, after the directer who makes documentaries including one about the American medicare crisis called "Sicko". Well, I had to call the roo something, and I already have about thirty chickens called "Hey You". I watched him all day and he just sat with his eyes closed. I think he might have drank a little but his food remained untouched. I wasn't feeling all that hopeful. You can never tell with chickens; it could have been something he ate, it could be a number of ailments chickens can get. All I can do is watch and if I find something specific, like wheezing or a wound, I can treat it with home remedies. Basically, I just watched him do nothing and hope he wasn't about to fade away.

At bed check, Micheal Moore had eaten some of his food, but was still really quiet and lying down. This morning when I went in, he was standing up and both eyes were open. His eyes were bright and he had eaten more food. He was also clucking at me. So there is a pretty big improvement. I let him out of the cage. While he did walk around and seem interested in his surroundings, he didn't seem much inclined to go into the main coop area and mix with the other chickens. So I'm going to leaving him walking around in the storage area today, getting a little fresh air and some exercise and see how it goes. Hopefully it was just something he ate. Chickens can get botulism very easily from something as innocuous as a moldy leaf. They do tend to get over it if it's just a mild case. Hopefully that's the case with Micheal Moore.

More Layers

The little chicks hatched out last January have started laying eggs. I recognise the eggs from the new hens because the eggs are so small, just a little bigger than Mandellas'. I found the first one last Sunday. When I went into the coop that morning, I did find a new hen sitting in an actual nest box. At the time,I doubted that she was actually laying an egg. I figured she was practicing for the big event or may-be just pretending to be a big girl. Later in the day, I found a little roundish brown egg where she had been setting. I guess she showed me. I was a little surprised because I didn't expect then to be laying much before June.

Since then, I have been finding the little eggs mostly behind the nest boxes in wee little nests the hens build. It's a very cramped space but I suppose the hens felt secure and comfortable there. As long as they're happy and laying, I'm happy.

The Changing Garden

The weekend, while fairly cool, was sunny and breezy. So, of course, I spent most of it outside doing gardening preparations. I've decided to dismantle my herb garden. Since I'm doing so much companion planting, the herb garden is redundant not to mention quite sparse. One less garden to weed is always a perk. I began work on the herb garden by transplanting the big, bushy mint plants to line the dog pen fence. They look quite nice there, with my moms' peonies nestled in between them. Mint has a habit of overtaking a garden, yard, neighbourhood, etc. Now the lawn mower will be able to keep the invading mint army in check. I've moved my sage, comfrey and oregano into the butterfly garden. With the exception of planting Calendula, the butterfly garden is completely perennial now.

The butterfly garden has a couple of other changes as well. I gave up on the stone path and covered it with wood shavings in the hopes that the weeds will finally give up. Hanging above the garden is a humming bird feeder. Suspended above the garden, it's a bright red beacon bobbing gently on its branch. The hummingbirds are steadfastly ignoring it. I'll give it a bit.

I was very happy to see that my lavender plants made it through the winter again. Lavender is one of my favorite herbs; whenever I weed in my lavender patch, the plants thank me by perfuming the air with a scent that is both calming and reminiscent of my paternal grandmother's house. Nanny liked her lavender. I'm debating whether to put the parsley in the butterfly garden or just plant it in the veggie garden. I will likely do both. Parsley can come back every year but in the veggie garden it is an iffy proposition because of the roto-tilling in the spring. So if I have a bit in the butterfly garden, I know it will survive.

Now to start on the main gardens! Whoot.

Humming Bird

I was out re-filling the wild bird feeders today when I saw a humming bird. It was less than three feet away between the branches of the crab apple tree. I don't know if the bird feeders or the butterfly garden attracted it but I'm sure glad did. It was very tiny and very dark looking. It didn't 'flutter' or 'flit', it hovered and darted on occasion. It was a pretty cheeky little thing, didn't seem at all frightened of me. I have an old humming bird feeder hanging around somewhere, I'm going to root it out and see if I can find out how to make sugar water for humming birds. Can't be that difficult, can it?

Introducing Leah!

I have a new chicken! Yes, I know, I need another chicken like I need a hole in my head, but this is a very special chicken (really). And since I bartered a broody hen for her, it's not like there's one more chicken, it's just a different chicken. The numbers stay the same, never mind if the number is too high to start with.

Leah is about a year old and she is not a dual purpose chicken, she is a layer. When Don first saw her in the coop, he mentioned she wasn't the prettiest looking bird in the world. In the shade, she does look a very plain black. But in the sun, when the rays catch her feathers, beautiful iridescent colours emerge, mostly in different shades of translucent green, from deep grass green to sea foam. She puts a disco ball to shame. She just shines in the sun. Unfortunately, try as I might, I couldn't get the camera to catch the glints of green.

So why did I really want this chicken? Because she lays green eggs. Dr. Seuss has come back to haunt me. Leah is an Ameraucana also known in some circles as an Easter Egger because the eggs come in a variety of colours. While Leah lays green eggs, others will lay blue, violet, etc. eggs. There's a big discussion how true Ameraucanas will lay only blue eggs, all the other colors are from mixed birds but as far as I'm concerned I'll let the purists figure that one out and I'll just enjoy my green egg laying chicken.

Garden Surprise

Last week I finally went off to the garden, hoe and rake in hand. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny. A perfect day that certainly didn't need any extras but I got two.

Nestled under my budding raspberries I found a red leaf lettuce growing. It is just perfect. I have no idea how it survived the winter or if it just sprouted sometime this spring. It seems very well developed for a sprout. My guess is that it didn't completely die and started growing under the warm sun.

I wandered around the garden with a big smile on my face marvelling over my discovery. I looked down and found a whole batch of sunflower sprouts, about 1 - 2 inches high in a perfect circle. They are growing right in the grass just beside the garden. The remains of an old sunflower head, white and dry, can be seen in between the green fresh seedlings. The sunflower head must be a left over from the "Almost Season". Somehow left behind last November as the cold winds and frost chased me from my beloved garden. Likely it had been covered by leaves, saving it from the human urge to clean up the gardens to make them look decent. I am going to leave them there until they get a little bit bigger then transplant them.

I love Spring surprises.

The "Aawww" Factor

I can't help but be charmed when I walk into the coop and see a little chick curious enough to pop his head out to see what's going on. Just gives me a lift to the day. The "Aaww Factor" alone is enough to convince me that this is the best way for me to raise chicks. The joyful peeps from the little ones and the low, contented clucks of the hen pretty much confirms it.

Having hens raise their own broods has other advantages as well. It's a lot less hassle and work because there is no brooder to take care of and clean. It's also a lot cheaper because I'm not running a heat light for weeks on end.

I've learned a lot by watching this hen, Tokyo Rose, raise her chicks. Almost every book I read cautioned about how delicate little chicks are and how they can't get chilled. They need to be in at 100 degrees F, with absolutely no drafts. Yet these little chicks at two days old were running around in a coop that was barely above freezing and no worse for wear. When they got cold, they scooted underneath mom. In the right environment, chicks are pretty hardy, it seems