Catching up

Gosh, I’ve really been very slack at keeping my blog updated but I can only say it is not because I didn’t think about posting. I’ve had a very busy Summer so far what with raising my little (not so little anymore) hatchlings, chicken sitting 8 hens for a friend who was away on vacation, and studying a Summer smemester of College. I’ve also been doing some reading, and have read a few good books which I will add to my reading list page as soon as I get a moment to scratch out my thoughts on them.

Added to all of that, the monsoonal weather we’re having has kept me on my toes as well. Our chicken coops are on the upper part of our sloping land, but they do still get a bit wet when the rain is heavy. I had to move the chicks last night as their grower pen is swamped in the front area where they spend their days and I was cooncerned about them standing around in mud all day. We put them into a pen that had the ‘guest’ hens in it up until last Sunday, so it had only rested for four days, but I considered it the best of a bad lot. It is at least dry and fully roofed so they will be out of the damp.

The chicks have grown so big, it’s hard to imagine they were ever the little fluffy pompoms that emerged from the eggs back in November. Two of them are cockerels. One, a very handsome blue boy, the other black and we have one little pullet. The little cockerels are making their first attempts at crowing which I am told is quite early as usually roosters don’t crow until they reach sexual maturity around 6 months of age. They sound very funny as they try to work out the proper sound they should be making. With no adult roosters around to copy, I guess they just need to go by trial and error.

Bond Brown Laying Hen

We are looking to add another two hens to our laying flock and I am thinking that I will buy Bond browns. I like the large brown eggs that Rosie, our ISA brown lays, and I believe Bond browns lay a similar egg.
They are a nice looking hen, too and one of the eight I was chicken sitting was a Bond Brown. She was a reliable layer and a friendly little bird as well.

Well, I think that catches you up with all the news from Hensington Palace. Whew, reading back over this, I can understand now, why I have been feeling so tired!

I hope all of my readers have had a happy and safe holiday period and wish you all a very prosperous and peaceful 2012!