Monday, August 13, 2012

Harvest Monday 8.13.12

Ah - still not harvesting much. The rains have me down. The heat and the rain make a whole lot of.... ROT.

But, I have high hopes. My harvest will be going up now in one department...

Eggs!
The hen house is no longer in the neighbors yard. She gave up and doesn't want to share any more. :-) That works for me.
Well. It means more work for me... but I'm all right with that. It also means more compost for me, and more eggs for me! Our family will certainly take full advantage of the eggs, and I don't think that they do, really. I think that it was more of a novelty for them. The hens are happy to be here and have settled in nicely. Bug patrol has begun and they seem to like the fact that I bring them our table scraps.
Funny that. I never fed table scraps to any of our other animals and here I spoil chickens... hmmm. *scratches head* This MUST have something to do with the fact that they are the only pets that gives us food back. Yes, that must be it. :-D

Only two eggs this week. The day of the move they decided they were having none of that. You can see here that one of the hens is still giving us very small eggs as compared to this 'large' Egglands Best egg. But they are getting larger now.

The nest is certainly inadequate as is the run, but it will have to wait for another week or two before I can fix that problem. They are given free roam in the evenings so I don't feel too bad except that they don't roost out of the weather. Of course I also want them to learn to lay in the nest box but as I said it isn't right... The coop is good enough, but I want better for these girls and I certainly want them to lay in a nest and roost indoors. I'll have to work on that. They actually roosted ON THE GROUND last night. *shakes head*. That just won't do.

Also harvested this week:
More lady peas, some pink eye purple hulls joined in (not pictured - I was busy with setting up the coop) and I yanked some leeks that were rotting and tossed them to the chickens.

Part of the deal of getting the coop over to our side of the fence was putting in this secondary fence:

This is inside the gate a landing pad area that I put in this weekend. It's a place for the garbage can to go. This way when we open the gate to get the garbage can no one can see into the side yard, we can get the garbage can out without fear of letting a hen out and it also helps stifle any sounds emanating from them. This 5' section beyond the fence you see here?  This runs the entire length of our house and will be where the hens will live... (5' x 20' run + coop) hopefully for the rest of their useful lives. Of course, that is as long as our HOA stays out of it. I've talked to all of our neighbors. Obviously they don't have any problem with it. The hens have been around for 6 months already. They only just started laying so the noise just started and that is the only concern. So we will move them here between the houses where unfortunately we won't see them until we let them out in the evenings - but that is when we would see them anyway.

Guess I should have made that two posts. SORRY!

Linking in to Daphne's Dandelions for Harvest Monday.

'Till next time!

Barbie~


27 comments:

  1. oh how fun! You will enjoy your chickens; toss them all your food scraps, all your weeds, rotty veggies, ect. They will love all of it. They also love bugs, worms, maggots and all such other critters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I definately toss them a lot of stuff. I have to figure out a system to keep the ants out of their pen now... Hmmm....

      Delete
  2. I'm sorry about your rotten weather! Your chickens seem to be handling it well, and that's good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. They are doing pretty well, but I'm worried about them roosting in the rain. :-( MUST fix that, soon!

      Delete
  3. Sorry about all that rain! It would be so nice if everybody got exactly the right amount. Good for you having those chickens! Much nicer eggs for your family. We did chickens many years ago, but I'm afraid I'm not up to them anymore.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rain every other day just enough to water gardens, Ah - that would be LOVELY!

      Delete
  4. I sure hope the HOA stays out of it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You and me, BOTH. I've got my fingers and toes crossed and I'm wishing and praying, and.... Oh good gracious I hope my feathered friends get to stay.

      Delete
  5. Hopefully the HOA stays out of it because backyard chickens are the best! Once your hens are laying more regularly you should start giving your neighbors half or full dozens...fresh eggs seem to smooth over any ruffled feathers the hens might make while laying. If your neighbors are happy about the eggs, the HOA might not ever raise it's ugly head...and if it does, your neighbors might help you shoot them down ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. With only 3 hens and 5 of us there won't be many extras, but I do plan on sharing. Perhaps a half dozen a month rotated around will sooth any ruffles. ;-)

      Delete
  6. Sorry about your soggy weather, hope it is drying up a bit now. Glad your hens are happy and nicely settled in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They sure act happy, but the eggs are not forthcoming yet. But as new layers I kind of expected a few days off.

      Delete
  7. We sure don't have any wasted food or veggie scraps since we got our hens. Glad you have them all to yourself now, I'd have a hard time sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :-) Sharing was nice because we got to play with them and not too much work, but I was missing giving them my scraps and getting to watch their antics.

      Delete
  8. I'm so thankful that I'm not at the mercy of a homeowners' association. I live in a pretty tightknit neighborhood, and give my neighbors honey from my beehives every xmas. So far, the immediate neighbors think we're crazy but sweet, and the next door neighbors are handing us table scraps for our pullets.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bees - now that I would never get away with. Every week our neighborhood SPRAYS! EEEK!

      Delete
  9. Eggs are a beautiful harvest and I like your coop even if they girls don't. We are in the process of building a chicken coop at the moment, and its a sloooooow process.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think they will get used to it. Good luck ont he coop. Can't wait to see it USED! :-)

      Delete
  10. I love our flock of hens and we definitely spoil them. They are such sweet and interesting creatures and yes... they feed us too and feed our garden with their composted manure. The new fencing looks great.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I was afraid it would look funny but I love the way it came out.

      Delete
  11. Envy worthy chicken coop! Are plans from somewhere online?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nope, just from scratch. There are a few things I would do different. I can't wait to make some updates. LOL.

      Delete
  12. How eggciting !! your own hens and hen house. Couldn't imagine anyone complaining about a hen clucking surely?? and if they did what a sad person they must be. Best of luck on the gardening front it can be quite a challenge with so much rain and rot!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's surprising how many people have hens on craigslist because of neighbors. :-(

      Delete
  13. I no longer feel alone in the -my garden actually slows down at the height of summer- club. I've even pulled quite a bit to make way for fall. I am transplanting the fall tom and peppers this weekend. They have been hardening for a while and are about 6" tall now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :-) I am here with you. This weekend I have a project NEXT weekend, back to the garden!

      Delete