We have had a few light showers here and there over the last few days, all very welcome and appreciated as they were light and watered the plants well. Did I tell you all about the fake “Topsey Turvey” bags that I made? I’ll have to go and check, I think I’m way behind updating my gardens page. Well.. I made 3 bags and they are doing SO well that they are all flowering; Bell Peppers, Tomatoes and Pickles! Some of my winter squash is flowering and so are the cantelope, albeit a big early as the plants have not really grown very much since they were planted in the ground. I’ve been pinching flowers as I read this will encourage plant growth and delay fruiting. I hope that is correct. Our first planting of sweet corn is growing nicely and the bush beans that have survived the dogs, cat & chickens are growing well. The strawberries are just going crazy! I’ve managed to freeze about a quart ziplock bags worth, mostly because we can’t hardly stop eating them while picking! Plus, strawberries have a short window of opportunity… within 12 hours they can go from not ripe yet to too ripe! We have to pick twice per day and we still miss a few. Lucky for the chickens though as most of them LOVE strawberries!
On Monday we started another addition onto our Hen House…following the same technique as we used for the Aviary addition. We built 2 more coops/pens off of that. Each pen is 7X9 = 63sf and is large enough for a small breeding flock of 5-6 hens and 1 rooster. They are really fantastic as we followed the roofline from the Aviary on down 14 more feet and it looks just great! This is also a benefit as the roof now stops right at our back garden which will make rain collection SO MUCH EASIER!
I placed another order with Murry McMurray Hatchery for 15 Black Australorp Pullets and 10 Red Cochin Bantams. The Aussies are for me and the Bantams are for my daughter. She has picked the little cochins as her own breed to work with and I’m very excited for her. School is almost out and then she’ll have time to get her site updated properly. I think she’s way behind as she still hasn’t added her prize winning Buff Orpington Rooster ‘Steve’ to the site yet. He’s a lovely boy, and will be used in our Buff Orpington breeding plan. The 25 white orps growing out from McMurry are a week and a half old and will be moving outside before the end of this week I suspect as the weather is stable and they are living happily without additional heat.
Clutch #3 was set late Saturday night, and within 12 hours I found 2 additional lovely fresh eggs so I added them too. I didn’t actually have the incubator pre-set, it was a last minute decision, so I let the eggs warm up with the bator, so all in all they should only be a few hours behind and I have on them marked. On Memorial Day I have planned to set Clutch #4 for this year, which will include the Black Orpington Chicks I have already sold.
My Turkey hens have moved to a friends farm in Knoxville, TN. They are only a couple hours away, but there is a Tom there named “Jake” and he recently lost his girls to a mean old fox! So, my ladies have gone to stay with Jake for a while, perhaps forever, where they have acres and acres plus the man they so desperately want. I plan to get some of their fertile eggs when they all make nice with eachother. Jake is a Burbon Red and so this will make the cross that I had hoped to make without actually having to aquire a Burbon Red to do it. My poults from Sandhill will arrive in approximately 3 weeks and I can’t wait to have more of those little tiny peepers around here.
Well.. I must go finish putting the final touches on our new coops and get everyone moved in to their new places. Of course I’ll post photos, as soon as we’re done