After some disruption and schedule shuffling, I am finally easing back into my normal Sunday routine with the chickens. I find it comforting to be back on track, and I will anthropomorphize enough to say that the chickens do, too.
I still have 20 chickens, but the rooster, Mary, has been gone for a while now. He moved on to a small homestead with someone much more experienced in dealing with an aggressive rooster. There are three other roosters there to help keep him in line, and he's adjusted well to his new life. The Cottage chickens are a lot happier and more mellow now that he's gone.
In a funny twist that amuses and frustrates me, since his departure more of the ladies have gone broody than ever before. First Bree, then Bree and Gussie, then a break, then (surprisingly!) Jazz who is the oldest, then Jazz and Mae, then Gussie and Elke at the same time as J and M. There are currently four chickens sitting broody, with two of them hogging the nest box. What the ever-loving fluff, girls? Get over it. Jazz sits in there and purrs like a dinosaur from the first Jurassic Park.
The new watering system is great, and I am glad I made that change. This morning I added supplements to the system and it was so easy to do. I just turned off the water feed from the rain barrel, then drained the pvc system which holds about two gallons of water.
I added Hydro Hen (2 scoops) and Poultry Booster (2 teaspoons) to a gallon of water, poured it and one more gallon of plain water into the pvc pipe, and turned the system back on. Easy peasy.
They seem to like the flavor of this Kool-Aid mixture, as there is a lot of talk among them while they are drinking.
Greens from the gardens - both wild growth and things I've planted - are a great addition to their diet this time of year. This morning I pulled redroot pigweed, which is a species of amaranth, out of the south yard for them. I haven't seen it here before, so it must be a gift from some visiting birds. I also give them comfrey, nutsedge, lambs quarters, roses, bee balm, yarrow, salvia, and whatever else I find that they can have.
Egg production has slowed down, probably because of brooding behavior. They get occasional production quota talks, but don't seem to care. Right now they are laying 8-9 eggs a day.
Best part of the Sunday chicken routine - time on the swing, watching the chickens be chickens.
Peace out.
