Our Newest Pen is Finished

We finished work on our newest pen this morning, and we're picking up the residents in a few hours! We are lucky to have been able to build/assemble this almost entirely out of things we already had: the shed attached to our garage, an animal pen I've had for years, bricks and a piece of plywood from around the house and yard, and I made a waterer out of an old plastic storage tub (picture coming later). The only newly purchased items were sand (and I still need a ton more) and the plastic edging.

What do you think is coming to the homestead?

Check back later!!
Lauren

Summer Dinner

Fettucine, basil, grape tomatoes, garlic, butter, squeeze of fresh lemon juice...YUM!

Big Day for the Birdies!

The quail have moved into their outdoor pen! They are fully feathered and almost fully grown at 4 weeks. They look so big to me now, but I know they have more filling out to do.

The boys are beginning to distinguish themselves by practicing their crowing. It is a hysterical and startling sound!  I'll try to get a video of it to share.

Here are the birds in their new digs. Nothing fancy, just a handmade run of reused materials and a coop made from a kitchen cabinet I purchased for $1 at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
I gathered bricks from around the yard to line the outside of the pen so raccoons can't dig underneath, a clever trick I found on Pinterest.

What's Growing in the Garden After 3 Months

A flourishing grouping of a tomato plant, calendula, marigolds, green beans, and red and green leaf lettuce

Snap peas growing up their trellis - we're harvesting them every morning now

Red basil and sweet basil and a cluster of green beans, just setting out flowers

Swiss chard peeking out from around the edges of the snap peas

The second row is only half dug

In the second row you see romaine lettuce, spinach, green beans, a bell pepper plant, more green beans, more spinach, two tomato plants, then a trellis for the cucumbers

Before (May)

After (July)

Yellow squash, just staked up to get the leaves off the ground.  They were beginning to get powdery mildew

Snap peas forming

One of the first tomatoes

Green bean flower

The lettuce that just keeps giving - it has been harvested half a dozen times already

My attempt at ornamental gardening!  

Quail Update

Brown/wild-type quail

The quail chicks we brought home at 4 days old have now been with us for two weeks.  They've gone from tiny, fluffy chicks to almost adult birds in such a short time.  They now have mostly adult feathers and look like small versions of their full-grown counterparts. 

They've already been upgraded to a new home, since by the end of the first week their brooder was getting too cramped.  By two weeks old they were testing out their wings, so I had to add a wire cover.  

They still have their heat lamp, but I have been gradually raising its height.  Now that they have their feathers in, they shouldn't need it much longer.  The days are also getting warmer, so I will start turning it on only for the night. 

This was my first experience with chicks and a brooder, so I learned quite a lot (and I'm sure I'm not done!).  

1) Chicks are MESSY!  

2) They grow so fast

3) You better be prepared to move them into larger and larger quarters

4) They will find ways to spill their water

5) They will poop in their water and food every chance they get

6) They are practically born with a full range of adult behaviors (preening, dust bathing, pecking, scratching...)

Some things I changed as I went along:

1) Switched to pine shavings.  A website I read advocated paper towels for the floor of the brooder.  He said he cleaned them every few days.  WHAT!?!  I tried that and changed them out three times a day for the first few days.  It was insane.  Every time they got wet it spread through the entire floor.  The birds were constantly on wet ground.  Disgusting and unhealthy.  A deep layer of shavings effectively keeps them clean and every other day I can add new shavings on top, then clean it all out when needed.  For a while, as I was digging out my garden bed, I even gave them pieces of sod.  They loved it!  They explored the tall blades, pecked at them, and found the occasional insect.  

  

2) I moved them to a larger brooder after two weeks.  I could have started with the larger one in the first place.  Now I know!

3) After switching to shavings I had a problem with the water seeping out into the shavings, and recreating the paper towel problem.  When shavings get kicked up into the waterer it soaks up all the water - the chicks can't drink and the floor gets soggy.  So I put the waterer up on a brick.  They have to take a step up, and most of the shavings stay down.  Everyone stays clean. 

4) The birds are not discriminate about where they poop - not that I thought they would be, but that means I had to set up their brooder to keep things as clean as possible.  One DUH mistake I made at first was putting the feeder too close to the waterer.  When the birds were eating, they would poop with their bottoms right over the water... OOPS!  Figured that out quick and made sure they had enough distance between them!!  

5) It is amazing how much behavior the birds are born with.  When I added shavings they immediately freaked out and starting dust bathing!  It is adorable!!  They fluff out their feathers and shake their whole bodies to get the shavings running through their feathers.  I don't think shavings will really help them clean themselves like sand or loose dirt, but it still allowed them to express this natural behavior (they will have a sand box for bathing in their outdoor pen when they graduate up!).  They also began scratching and pecking through it like maniacs.  It was like watching someone whose hands have been tied behind their backs finally get to scratch that itch!  Watching them made me grieve for the millions of intensively housed birds raised on wire mesh floors who never, ever get to dust bathe, scratch, or flap their wings.  They are not fully birds without those basic bird needs being met. 

6) I added sticks, a "log" (big stick) for them to hide under, and hanging greens.  They interactive environment stimulates all their birdy instincts, gives them something to do, and keeps them active. Enjoy some pictures of their set up!

Exploring their sticks (collected by the boys).  A natural and stimulating environment is important for health.  Bored birds can develop abnormal behavior, including feather plucking, fighting, and even cannabalism. 

You can see the blurry head as one pecks at the hanging lettuce leaf.  This offers a nutritional boost as well as stimulating entertainment and exercise. 

You can see two color varieties here: the one center top with its eye on the camera is the wild-type brown, while to the back and slightly left is the tuxedo, with dark brown feathers and a white chest.  The one on the sticks is also a tuxedo, from the dark feathers and bit of white you can see near the eyes and chest.  

Daily Pickings: Enough to Share

My lettuce is growing like crazy!  I started with just two packs of lettuce starts: one red, one green.  Total cost was $4.  I've already picked about 5 grocery-store-sized bags of lettuce from them and the end is no where in sight.  With the mild weather we have here I don't think it will ever bolt or become bitter.  Woo hoo for garden investments paying off!

I picked so much this morning that I was able to knock on my neighbor's door and offer her as much as she wanted.  She took a big handful for a lunch salad.  

A separate, but related gardening update for today... I noticed the neighbor's fruit trees are starting to put out cherries, apples, and peaches, so I hope that we can arrange a trade: my veggies and greens for her fruit!  I don't think she and her husband do much with the fruit; they told me they bought the property with the mature trees already in place.  Perhaps we can make a neighborly deal and share the bounty :)   I wouldn't mind climbing up to the top of her huge cherry tree to get the ones no one can reach!

Welcome, quail chicks!

Today we picked up 16 four-day-old quail chicks! They are settling into their brooders. My boys absolutely love them. Hopefully half or more will be females and we will keep them to lay eggs. The males... well, we'll talk about that later when they're not quite so adorable.