New Rooster Arrived Today

Our girls are in need of a leader.  Ever since Rex's demise they act as if they don't know what to do.  They prefer to take refuge in the hen house rather than scratch around the chicken yard.  With the addition of the new red hens, everything is truly topsy turvy.  Quick!  Introduce some structure back into the flock!

After we lost Rex, my friend and fellow yogini, Catherine, let me know that she had an extra Ameraucana rooster.  Extra roosters are undesirable.  They're not conducive to peace in the chicken yard. The birds at the bottom of the pecking order suffer relentless abuse compliments of the Big Bird, while the hens are accosted at every turn by each and every rooster that can get away with it.

So we have a win-win situation.  Catherine's extra rooster joins my flock.  Catherine's chicken yard calms down.  My chickens acquire a new master to watch over them.

The new boy arrived today and is getting acclimated.  He's currently separated from the rest of the flock, but in full view of the hens.  And let me tell you, there has been a lot of interest shown on both sides of the dividing fence!

Fava Bean Sprouts

The broad beans have sprouted and are ready to take off!

Six Red Sex-Linked Hens Join the Flock

Today our flock grew by six!  Our friend, Andy, had arranged to purchase a dozen-and-a-half birds from a local farm.  He didn't need that many, so we agreed to take some.  We lost two hens last spring to hawk attack, and several of the hens are getting old.  The egg production has decreased.  We could use a few more good layers.

These are 18-week-old Red Sex-Links, known to be prolific layers of brown eggs.  By prolific, I mean 300 eggs per year!

The new chickens settled in to the coop nicely, but haven't ventured out into the chicken yard.  The older hens are keeping them at bay. Those old girls are in the midst of reestablishing pecking order after the death of their beloved boss, Rex.  These young pullets add another level of complexity.  They're sure to be at the bottom for awhile.

One interesting characteristic of these birds ... they arrived with trimmed beaks.  Beak trimming is often performed on egg-laying breeds for the purpose of preventing damage caused by injurious pecking ... cannibalism, feather pecking, and vent pecking.  I have never trimmed my girls' beaks, and have never had an issue with pecking.

RIP Rex

I'm sorry to report that Rex the Rooster's life has been cut short. I found him dead in the chicken yard this morning, amid a flutter of feathers, his head missing.  Apparently, he never made it to the roost last night.  We didn't notice because of life circumstances.

Daylight Savings Time ended this past weekend.  Yesterday, everyone - including our son and yard-man, Andrew - was working at the office until early evening.  We arrived home after dark.

Andrew was out at the barn, unloading the lawn maintenance equipment.  I shouted out a request for him to close up the chicken yard.  Of course, the chickens had gone to roost for the night as they always do.  Nobody looked in on them.

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There was a little foreshadowing of disaster this morning.  As Rouse the Spouse left for work he announced, "I don't know what this means, but there's a big red-tailed hawk sitting in a tree above the chicken yard."

I went out to dump the yuck bucket and throw out scratch.  The chickens didn't come running in anticipation as they usually do in the morning.  In fact, several of them were peeking their heads out of their little access door between the coop and the safe zone.  I had the distinct feeling they didn't know what to do.  Then I realized how quiet it was ... no rooster crowing and clucking and cooing to his girls.  Uh, oh.  I opened up the coop.  No rooster.  Big time uh, oh.  I searched the chicken yard and found him in the corner of the chicken yard behind the coop.  It was not a pretty sight.

What killed my chicken?  I referred to to this handy chart that lists clues and probable culprits:
Chicken Predators

The hawk, spotted by Rouse, is the number one suspect.  I like to believe Rex was killed while trying to protect his flock from the big, bad hawk which probably entered the chicken yard Monday afternoon.  The hens fled to the safety of the coop.  Rex was murdered.  The predator returned the next morning to continue his feast.  I buried Rex in the woods out back.  RIP Rex.

Better Cultural Practices Needed in Berries

2012 was not a happy year in the wineberry patch.  The weather turned cold and rainy at the time pollination needed to take place. Consequently, fruit was incompletely formed.  On top of that, the bed had become too crowded, resulting in poor circulation.  Cool, damp, crowded ... these conditions can (and did) lead to leaf spot, a fungal problem.

The guilty fungus overwinters in dead plant debris and on infected canes.  Splashing or wind-driven rain releases spores in high numbers and carries them to young susceptible leaves and canes. While I have no control over the weather, I can adopt better cultural practices for a healthy garden.  In this case, it's going to require drastic steps ... cutting back ALL canes, decreasing the number of plants in the bed, and removing dead plant debris.  Basically, I'm starting over in the wineberry patch.

This is the time of year to do the job.  The thorns are sharp, but the canes are bare, and the old ones are dead.  I cut back every cane, revealing each plant.  I removed all but 10 healthy plants, distributing them evenly throughout the bed.  Unfortunately, there'll be no berries this year, as fruit grows on year-old canes.  But I have set myself up for a healthier crop in the not-too-distant future.