One Last Chicken and Garden Post

I PROMISE I am going to find something else to write about than chickens and gardens every night! 

But.... here we go again for tonight...

This little guy, my favorite red cockerel.... is not feeling good.  I am afraid he is showing signs of the upper respiratory that was going around a month ago... so I isolated him in the nursing cage.  He is not having the severe breathing difficulties with the rawls in his chest like the brassy back did, so I have some hope for him.  When I put him in the cage fifteen minutes or so ago.... he drank the cool water from the waterer as fast as he could  I am wondering if he spent the afternoon on the roost in the juvenile pen, and if so, it was an indication.  I left some food in there with him, and left him quietly, since I think darkness and quiet do as much to heal as anything.

The cochin and welsummer cockerels in the little henhouse are doing fine today, and I was glad to see that.  Handsome, the cochin, was outside running around with the other birds as if he had been there all along.  The porcelains still stay to themselves, though, away from the other birds.  They are the smallest, and I am still keeping them in the rabbit hutch at night.  

Here are two of the Ameracauna chicks on the left... they and the porcelains were the youngest chicks we have right now.  These are big girls, though, and are going to be big hens.  There is a third that was on the ground.  Next to them is the red cockerel I pulled, then a buff cochin pullet, and two mille fleur cockerels.  I'm keeping both milles.  I am probably going to pull the Ameracaunas tonight or tomorrow night and put them in the little henhouse, to lessen the crowd in this 4 x 4 pen. 

This is bee balm in the garden, and I only wish I could have gotten a picture of the sun on it... it was full of bumble bees and absolutely gorgeous.

I stepped back so you could see how tall it is... it HAS to be moved this fall. 

And here is yet another daylily beginning to bloom... a double yellow.

And last.... I thought you might all get a laugh when you see how I get the eggs from the little henhouse, which was made too wide to reach the corners (we learn from our mistakes here).

Yes, it's a kitchen mop.  I'd be lost without it.  I "mop" the eggs to me daily.  I actually gently pull hens in the corners off their eggs so I can get the eggs.  The girls don't like to see it coming! The alternative is to crawl in and get them.

If any of you have ever looked at Boonedocks Wilcox , one of the blogs I feature on my page... you would know that Joanna has lots of nice little Nigerian goats.  Recently, she has had quadruplets born, and if you ever want to see something so cute it is almost sickening, go look at the videos she has been posting in the last week about the babies... yes... it's as cute as cute can be! I highly recommend viewing these videos as an antidote to the daily slog!

We are expecting terrible heat here on Thursday.  I had already requested Friday as a vacation day, and may take half of Thursday to come home and check on the birds.  We keep the dogs in when it is so hot, and the llamas have been sheared and have water in their swimming pool to lay in.  I still like to check on things, as Keith usually does this during the day in a swing-by for lunch, but with the flooding going on here these next few days, he will be helping the cities being affected, and won't have time.  Please pray with us for all those affected by this flooding... some have already been away from their homes for several weeks, and some will not have a home to move back to.  It's very sad. 

I PROMISE to write about something else entirely tomorrow!