OK, so it's been nearly a month since I posted. Whole lot of shtuff going on, just not typing away here on the blog.
- Dad and Tammy visited right before the chicks hatched, and both thought the house and property and chickens were cool. Tammy got a picture of every bird on the property! LOL Dad kept cocking his head and looking at the Silkies, commenting they look furry. Tammy's best comment was about the Wyandottes, saying: "I always thought chickens were just ... chickens. I never realized some could be so pretty!" When the slips were let out, even more entertainment and comparisons to Jurassic Park.
- Hubby's grandmother died right before Halloween. She had been bouncing between the hospital and the rehab wing of a nursing home for a little over a week. The funeral was last week Thursday. She'll be missed, and remembered fondly here, as she was our #1 fan of our chickens. Not just watching them, she said our meat birds were the best she'd ever tasted.
- I finally saw a couple sprouts from all those seeds I planted last month - but only marigolds. Everything else in the garden boxes are transplanted starts.
- A majority of those transplants are doing good! The broccoli is going great guns, and the Greek oregano start I planted last spring is running riot and now takes up almost a sixth of the box it's in. I found some curled parsley and fernleaf dill starts, and those are settling in nicely, although the three different varieties of basil are trying to stay alive. One Swiss chard start from the spring is not only still alive, but thriving. A nice big leaf that broke off last week made some tasty omelettes. Most of the spinach starts are making an honest effort, despite insect damage that also hit the green sweet basil pretty hard. The purple and spicy globe basil plants are untouched so far (knock on wood!).
- It is official: I am hosting Thanksgiving this year. Just the in-laws, as brother-in-law is over in Korea, his wife and their two sons are down with her family, and Grandma will not be dining. Since Uno the GLW full capon is not inclined to nanny chicks, he'll be the bird of honor for the meal. I'll even be sure to serve him on the china platter I picked up last year at Pomona Park's "Everyone's Having a Yard Sale" weekend (which I skipped this year).
- We planned to move Uno to the isolation crate, but that was quickly changed when I saw one of the pied guineas getting pecked. Neither of us know what started it, but the poor thing has lost feathers on its back and right wing. I tried putting Blu-Kote on it, but then the little stinker got loose and we both had to chase it into the iso crate, so I'll try again after dark.
- We have a nice cool spell, and all I can think is, "Man if I still had my good pain pill, I could get SO MUCH done!" As it is, VA took them from nearly everyone, and it's a high bar to get them back, so I'll just have to be content with what I can do without it.
- Two cockerels slaughtered this morning, another two tomorrow morning, then the last two from Luanne hopefully Friday, leaving Nipper and Brother, Feyd's test-breeding sons - for the weekend. I need grow-out space now.
- Did the 4-week weigh-in for the Wyandotte chicks. One pullet is lagging that far behind, and either had an injury or a neurological defect, and so needs to be culled. I need to crunch numbers and play with basic statistical functions, not only because it is the geek thing to do, but because I would like to establish a baseline norm and also a cutoff point at four week intervals so I can compare among different batches of chicks.
For the upcoming rainy days, I have canning and baking planned. Here's hoping.
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