I've been wracking my brain for the past month to come up with something to write about, and for the most part I've been drawing a blank. I do have a popsicle recipe I hope to be able to share soon, but other than that, the garden has been mediocre, and dinners have been less than exciting. Third trimester makes me tired!
So when I had a mini adventure this morning, I thought I should take some pictures and share. Lately, our crazy chickens have been laying eggs in the compost bin instead of their nesting box. They've tried to make new nests before, so I wasn't too suprised, but it was a little gross. Husbs and I tried to move the lid to block them from getting in, but it didn't work.
This morning, hubs alarm didn't go off, so I offered to take care of the chickens so he could head off to work. I brought Sirius out with me, and he promptly found a rabbit in the yard and set chase. I was thrilled with this as the stupid cottontails have been eating my tomatoes and peppers and kale and ..... Unfortunately, he chased the rabbit into the chicken yard just as I was getting ready to go in myself. The rabbit was either too terrified to think straight, or possibly not all there in the head. It kept ramming the fence to try and escape, not realising that Sirius couldn't get it from the other side. Finally, I called Sirius away because I couldn't watch it anymore. The rabbit continued to ram the fence, and eventually the chickens got sick of it. They cornered it and pecked at it, and then gave up and left it huddled in the corner. I thought about letting Sirius in to finish it off, but he was so excited I think he may have taken a chicken instead of the rabbit.
Finally, I got inside the coop to give the ladies fresh water and check on their food. This is what I found.
The reason the other girls had been laying in the compost pile, was because someone wouldn't let them at the nesting basket. I have a broody hen! I was a little surprised to find her there, but when she flared up her feathers at my approach, I knew that she was trying to hatch some eggs. This would be great, if we had a rooster. But these eggs will never hatch.
When a hen goes broody, her body temperature rises. One way to break the broodiness is to cool her off. I took the basket outside, glad that I didn't have to actually pick her up and get pecked, and gently dumped her out before giving her a cool spray from the hose. She was NOT happy! This is what an angry chicken sounds like when she is removed from her nest.
Isn't the red clover I planted in the chicken yard pretty?
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