G'day,
This is just a quick post to say that this blog is "UNDER CONSTRUCTION" at the moment.
It is undergoing some revisions today while we get our head around how we want it to work for us. It is now obvious that we want 'daily diary' pages to document what we do each day, weather and harvesting information, and a separate blog page for the more interesting information, research, thoughts and ideas relevant to running a property that is becoming more and more self sufficient.
As we work though our ideas and develop templates on how to do this, we are changing bits and pieces on the run.
Expect some mess for a day or so!
Sunday 26 January 2014
Thursday 23/01/2014 - Wandering and wondering
Sorry; a really truncated post today - running very short of time.
Today I was out all day at The Community Environment Centre (CEC) where I volunteer once a week. There we found lots of weeding to do after Christmas break. It was surprising even with all the heat wave temperatures how many weeds were thriving. After catching up on everyone's news, we discussed ideas for the 2014 program. Lots of ideas were thrown around. Some centred around innovative ways to build on last year's successes, some were inspired by recent visits to the "Coal Loader" Centre for Sustainability, a wonderful site owned by North Sydney Council and situated overlooking Sydney Harbour. I will do a post devoted to the "Coal Loader" soon.
Today I was out all day at The Community Environment Centre (CEC) where I volunteer once a week. There we found lots of weeding to do after Christmas break. It was surprising even with all the heat wave temperatures how many weeds were thriving. After catching up on everyone's news, we discussed ideas for the 2014 program. Lots of ideas were thrown around. Some centred around innovative ways to build on last year's successes, some were inspired by recent visits to the "Coal Loader" Centre for Sustainability, a wonderful site owned by North Sydney Council and situated overlooking Sydney Harbour. I will do a post devoted to the "Coal Loader" soon.
Chooks all in all day. The Colonel's voice is still crook.
Thoughts about how to manage chooks if we don't free range them all day. Complicated by requirements to keep them out of the veggie patch (VP) - they are eating too much but I don't want ugly barriers everywhere. The VP was unfortunately not designed with chooks in mind and it is not possible to use a chook tractor on most of it.
 |
| The 'upside' of free ranging. Peaceful chickens foraging happily. It warms the heart. |
 |
| The 'downside' of free ranging. A bed full of perpetual spinach was found by the chooks and decimated in no time. The remaining plants have tiny leaves that the chickens keep going back to, ensuring that none grow. |
Saturday 25/01/2014
Horse Manure
Off we go in the morning to load the trailer with 2 cubic metres of free horse manure from nearby.This horse manure was advertised in Gumtree and described as "Suitable for organic planting as our horses are fed with natural horse feed no hormones added."
This is our second load of horse manure from this source. It is fresh, so needs time to compost. The first load (about 2 months ago) went into a 200 litre storage drum and onto the beds in the veggie patch that have nothing growing at the moment. The chooks loved it and have done a lot of work turning those beds over and scratching in the manure.
Our previous source of free horse manure was mixed, and generally better composted. It did have a lot more weed, mainly nettle and chickweed, both of which are ofcourse excellent food for chickens, so we didn't actually mind at all. The property, however has been sold, so was no longer an option for us.
We use today's horse manure as the first layer of mulch in the existing fruit tree area. As it is fresh we keep it away from the trees and out of their drip line. This trailer load does about 1/3 of the existing fruit tree area.
We collect a second trailer load of horse manure to finish the day off.
The Colonel
The Colonel doesn't look any worse today. He is still attempting to crow, so presumably he feels well enough he things he can fend off any intruders. His breathing is, however more noisy and laboured. We gave him another dose of antibiotics and leave him warm and sheltered as per last night.Friday 24/01/2014
 |
| The Colonel, just a little less aggressive than usual. |
The Colonel is still sick. His breathing now seems a little rasping. He wouldn't go into the shed at night so got a little wet from the light showers we had at dusk. Once it was dark he was calm enough that we were able to pick him up and carry him into the shed.
We asked Dr Google what might be wrong with the Colonel:
We asked Dr Google what might be wrong with the Colonel:
- Gape worms are a popular first choice almost always followed by someone commenting that gape worms are actually quite rare. Post mortem diagnosis is the most accurate, or a Q-tip down the throat. We tried the second alternative. Lesley was surprised just how far a 15cm cotton bud on a stick can be put down the Colonel's throat and swirled around. No thread-like red worms, or anything other than mucus. So that seems to eliminate gape worm.
- Infectious Laryngitis Virus or similar is a popular second choice. Give antibiotics, the best of which you can't get without a vet's prescription..
- Fungal infection gets a mention, Whatever you do, do not give antibiotics.
Thursday 23 January 2014
The Colonel Loses His Voice
I heard some strangulated sounds coming from the chook shed yesterday, and thought that maybe one of our young male chooks was finding his voice and having his first attempt at crowing. It always sounds funny when they first start to practice. But upon investigation I saw that it was actually our Coronation Sussex rooster, The Colonel, who was having a hard time getting the right pitch. His eyes, ears, nostrils and vent all looked good and clear so I wasn't too concerned.
Over the day today The Colonel's voice was reduced to a whisper - he definitely has something like laryngitis. Unfortunately we can't easily isolate him because the isolation bay is being used by Princess and the 3 Barnevelder chicks. At least he is still looking fine; his comb is still a brilliant red. So all I could think of doing was to mix up a large brew of eggs, yoghurt, garlic, ginger, bananas and an assortment of greens and herbs from the veggie patch. I put a few bowlsful out so that all the various ages of chooks would have good access to them. Hopefully there will be enough goodness in there to help him recover and prevent the rest of the flock from catching whatever ails him. I'll be getting more garlic tomorrow to make sure I have plenty.
All the chooks stayed in again today due to the showery weather, so no hidden nests to look for. Still only 3 eggs, even though the heatwave has been gone for 3 days now. From 6 laying hens, I thought we would have more laying by now.
Caspa, our friendly CS is now broody, spending all her days under the nesting boxes. She has been there almost a week now. Should we find some fertile eggs for her?
 |
| The Colonel, a couple of days ago. Today he looks very much the same, but has no voice. |
All the chooks stayed in again today due to the showery weather, so no hidden nests to look for. Still only 3 eggs, even though the heatwave has been gone for 3 days now. From 6 laying hens, I thought we would have more laying by now.
Caspa, our friendly CS is now broody, spending all her days under the nesting boxes. She has been there almost a week now. Should we find some fertile eggs for her?
Wednesday 22 January 2014
So Who's the Boss?
It would have been hilarious yesterday to have been a 'fly on the wall' watching me trying to get the chooks back in the shed yesterday. They had spent the entire day inside and when I went to give them their evening feed, 2 or 3 bolted through my legs as I opened the door. Appearing to be excitedly milling around with the rest of the flock, waiting for me and the food I was carrying, these sly little horrors were just waiting for me to let my guard down ... they saw an opportunity for freedom and in the blink of an eye, they were GONE! Aaargh!
Well the young pullets are fairly easy to corner, catch and put back where they belong, but the older birds need to be herded back in. You need to have the door open, stand back so they can go back in unhindered, whilst making sure that none of the other chooks escape. Just when you think they are in, you guessed it, 2 more escape. Then 4. It's a comedy and they are having so much fun, and I am just shrieking with frustration, and Mick is killing himself laughing. (I called him down to help, but the chicks are quicker and nimbler than us, and as I said, he was too busy laughing to be of much use).
Sometimes I find myself wondering if it's the chooks that are in charge. *sigh*.
Well the young pullets are fairly easy to corner, catch and put back where they belong, but the older birds need to be herded back in. You need to have the door open, stand back so they can go back in unhindered, whilst making sure that none of the other chooks escape. Just when you think they are in, you guessed it, 2 more escape. Then 4. It's a comedy and they are having so much fun, and I am just shrieking with frustration, and Mick is killing himself laughing. (I called him down to help, but the chicks are quicker and nimbler than us, and as I said, he was too busy laughing to be of much use).
Sometimes I find myself wondering if it's the chooks that are in charge. *sigh*.
Sunday 19 January 2014
The Week That Was - Photo Journal
I hope you all had a lovely week.
This is just a taste of mine for the week commencing Sunday 12th January 2014.
This is just a taste of mine for the week commencing Sunday 12th January 2014.
 |
| As they are turning from purpley-black to green, I know we are getting close to our first crop of native finger limes (Microcitrus australasica) |
 |
| A new work of art at a local ENT specialist. Hundreds of eucalypt nuts or banksia cones are placed in each square; the final square contains insect-marked driftwood. I thought it was wonderful. |
 |
| Beautiful plumage! One of our pullets going over the mulch pile for grubs. Her mother is a Coronation Sussex (CS) X Australorp hybrid (from our first ever hatch); her father (and grandfather) is our CS rooster. |
 |
| Princess teaches her Barnevelder chicks how to scratch for grubs. Part of the lesson is that they have to learn to move out of Mum's way pretty quickly, or they''ll get pecked, scratched or showered with dirt! |
 |
| Our CS rooster stands guard while the chooks dig for grubs in our huge mulch pile. Esmerelda, an Australorp, is on the right; she hatched the other two hens, Dutch and Moneypenny, both CS-Australorp crosses. |
And my favourite photo of the week:
 |
| Mum watches on with hackles raised while Zoe sniffs out lunch. Mmmm! Yummy! Yummy! The chicks and Princess are actually all very used to Zoe hanging around and usually ignore her, but sometimes she is just too intrusive. |
Till next time, take care
Lesley xx
Saturday 11 January 2014
As Rare as Hen's Teeth
Well the hen may not have teeth, but every chick certainly does! The egg tooth is small and sharp and is found on the tip of the beak of every chick - it is what the chick uses to break out of its shell (a process called "pipping"). It only lasts a day or two, being resorbed into the beak shortly after hatching.
When I saw the egg tooth on my recently hatched Barnevelder chicks, I thought I would try and find out more about them. The egg tooth actually plays a very important role in the entire hatching process, and its not just about breaking out of the shell.
This is what I found:
The incubation period for a chick is 21 days. Around the 15th day, the chick starts to turn so that its head is at the flatter end of the egg, where the air sac is. It is now too large to absorb enough oxygen through the pores of the eggshell, so uses its egg tooth to break through the inner membrane, and the chick's lungs begin to function. The air sac provides it with enough air for the next stage, when the hatching begins in earnest at around the 20th day. With a special muscle in its neck, developed just for this purpose, the chick uses his egg tooth again to peck at the shell repeatedly until the shell cracks. Exhausted, it stops pipping for three to eight hours and rests. During this time, its lungs are functioning fully and are adapting to the outside atmosphere while the chick prepares for the next stage of pipping.
As the chick works away at pipping the shell, it turns slowly inside the egg. Eventually, as it cuts its way around the shell, it begins pushing on the flat end of the egg. After 40 minutes or so of intensive activity, the chick breaks free from the shell with a final burst of energy.
When the chick is freed completely from the shell, it lies still. Its energy has been virtually exhausted, and it is extremely tired. After a while, the chick begins to rise to its feet and gain coordination of its muscles and fluff out its downy covering.
This explains a lot about the process of hatching. The pipping, the struggles, the resting, more pipping and more struggles are integral to the development of the lungs, circulation and muscles of tiny chick and its preparation for entry into the world. It makes it plain how important it is that we don't intervene in the process unless something is clearly going wrong, or if one of the steps is taking too long. For example, on one of our earlier hatches, we had a chick that was the first of the clutch to start pipping, but still hadn't hatched when all the others had. It died inside the shell. I think now that some timely intervention may have saved it.
So there you have it. The incredibly important tooth that every chick has, but you've got to be quick to see it!
Chief source of information: http://chickscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/resources/egg_to_chick/procedures.html
Till next time,
Lesley
 |
| Day of hatching. The egg tooth is the white protuberance with a tiny sharp point on the top side of the beak |
 |
| 2 day old. Pretty much gone. |
 |
| Day old. Going ..... |
When I saw the egg tooth on my recently hatched Barnevelder chicks, I thought I would try and find out more about them. The egg tooth actually plays a very important role in the entire hatching process, and its not just about breaking out of the shell.
This is what I found:
The incubation period for a chick is 21 days. Around the 15th day, the chick starts to turn so that its head is at the flatter end of the egg, where the air sac is. It is now too large to absorb enough oxygen through the pores of the eggshell, so uses its egg tooth to break through the inner membrane, and the chick's lungs begin to function. The air sac provides it with enough air for the next stage, when the hatching begins in earnest at around the 20th day. With a special muscle in its neck, developed just for this purpose, the chick uses his egg tooth again to peck at the shell repeatedly until the shell cracks. Exhausted, it stops pipping for three to eight hours and rests. During this time, its lungs are functioning fully and are adapting to the outside atmosphere while the chick prepares for the next stage of pipping.
As the chick works away at pipping the shell, it turns slowly inside the egg. Eventually, as it cuts its way around the shell, it begins pushing on the flat end of the egg. After 40 minutes or so of intensive activity, the chick breaks free from the shell with a final burst of energy.
When the chick is freed completely from the shell, it lies still. Its energy has been virtually exhausted, and it is extremely tired. After a while, the chick begins to rise to its feet and gain coordination of its muscles and fluff out its downy covering.
 |
| One of our 3 Barnevelder chicks a few hours after hatching |
So there you have it. The incredibly important tooth that every chick has, but you've got to be quick to see it!
Chief source of information: http://chickscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/resources/egg_to_chick/procedures.html
Till next time,
Lesley
Sunday 5 January 2014
Don't count your chickens ...
This post could be called "We learn from our mistakes". Based on this principle we should be geniuses by now.
Amongst our Coronation Sussex, Australorp and cross breed hens we have no shortage of candidates who want to sit on and hatch eggs. So when I felt that I would like brown chickens to liven up our chook colour palette, we didn't have to wait long for a broody hen to appear. Princess was very happy to sit on 10 fertile Barnevelder eggs (chosen 'cos they're brown, of similar size and temperament to our current flock and are good for eggs and for the table. Oh and because we read that the eggs are dark brown, so distinguishable from the other breeds should we want to selectively breed more chooks).
When candled after one week we had 1 infertile egg which was removed, 2 partially developed but not looking quite right and 7 eggs looking good.
Sunday 05 January is hatch date for these Barnevelder eggs.
Saturday 04 January:
We get up late and Mick wanders down to see the chooks, notice that Princess has one of her eggs outside her nesting box and dropped into the hollow of a cement block, it is cold. He puts it back under the hen, hoping it will still be OK.
He then checks the rest of the eggs in her box to find a broken egg (not pipped, the eggshell had been broken at the tail end of the chick), with the chick cold and not moving. There was also a very dead chick buried under the wood shavings in the nest. 6 of the eggs were not yet pipped, 1 egg only had pipped and was looking good.
We were wondering what was going on as it looked like Princess was not doing her job properly. I should add that all through the checking process, Princess was highly agitated. We cleaned up the mess and reset Princess in the nest and let her be.
As we were finishing up in the chook shed, Mick noticed some very slight movement from the chick in the broken shell.
We took it straight to the kitchen, set up a bowl of water at 38°C. The chick is cold, we know it needs to be warmed up. Mick held the chick in the water, supporting its head out of water till it is more active, set up a makeshift brooder box and set the temperature to about 36 to 38°C.
To cut a long story short, what we assume was its navel was protruding and leaving light blood stains on the towel when it is being dried off and on the bedding in the makeshift brooder box, it was more active and breathing deeper for an hour or more, but it never opened its eyes, and eventually died in my hands.
We are left to ponder whether our attempts to help this chick had any hope or whether we only prolonged its misery.
Sunday 05 January:
I found 3 live chicks under Princess (the cold egg that had been found outside the nesting box had come good and hatched), but Princess was again agitated - some of the 9 week old chicks had flown over the 1.2 metre temporary fence between the broody pens and were in her area.
A bit later we found Dutch, the "mother hen" for the 14 chicks from three previous hatchings, who seemed very keen to get back into the shed**. Up till then she had been a devoted mother so she was let in to see what she wanted. After a while she flew over the 1.2 metre fence into Princess's area and became aggressive, wanting to get into the nest box where Princess and the three chicks were. She was quickly shooed away and locked out.
Once it was dark, we candled the 4 remaining eggs, which showed no signs of pipping. They all had 25% - 30% air space, and a watery mass. No signs of anything remotely resembling a chick. We can't help but wonder whether Dutch targeted the live chicks. If so, why did she turn from devoted mother one day to murderous assassin the next? I guess we'll be keeping a close eye on her from now on.
It seems that Princess had not really failed in her duties, but had not been able to adequately defend her clutch of eggs. Sadly we learnt the hard way that we need better fencing between our broody pens.
**Separate story, but some weeks back Dutch was left to "mother hen" her chicks and adopt the chicks of two previous small hatches after the 2 broodies suddenly gave up on their duties. She accepted all chicks as her own. We weren't concerned because this meant the other two mothers could get back to egg laying. Dutch and her 14 chicks lived in the pen next to Princess, separated only by a 1.2 metre fence.
 |
| Princess, the broody chook. Note the puffed up tail and the raised hackles. I was getting too close to her eggs! |
Sunday 05 January is hatch date for these Barnevelder eggs.
Saturday 04 January:
We get up late and Mick wanders down to see the chooks, notice that Princess has one of her eggs outside her nesting box and dropped into the hollow of a cement block, it is cold. He puts it back under the hen, hoping it will still be OK.
He then checks the rest of the eggs in her box to find a broken egg (not pipped, the eggshell had been broken at the tail end of the chick), with the chick cold and not moving. There was also a very dead chick buried under the wood shavings in the nest. 6 of the eggs were not yet pipped, 1 egg only had pipped and was looking good.
We were wondering what was going on as it looked like Princess was not doing her job properly. I should add that all through the checking process, Princess was highly agitated. We cleaned up the mess and reset Princess in the nest and let her be.
As we were finishing up in the chook shed, Mick noticed some very slight movement from the chick in the broken shell.
We took it straight to the kitchen, set up a bowl of water at 38°C. The chick is cold, we know it needs to be warmed up. Mick held the chick in the water, supporting its head out of water till it is more active, set up a makeshift brooder box and set the temperature to about 36 to 38°C.
To cut a long story short, what we assume was its navel was protruding and leaving light blood stains on the towel when it is being dried off and on the bedding in the makeshift brooder box, it was more active and breathing deeper for an hour or more, but it never opened its eyes, and eventually died in my hands.
We are left to ponder whether our attempts to help this chick had any hope or whether we only prolonged its misery.
Sunday 05 January:
I found 3 live chicks under Princess (the cold egg that had been found outside the nesting box had come good and hatched), but Princess was again agitated - some of the 9 week old chicks had flown over the 1.2 metre temporary fence between the broody pens and were in her area.
A bit later we found Dutch, the "mother hen" for the 14 chicks from three previous hatchings, who seemed very keen to get back into the shed**. Up till then she had been a devoted mother so she was let in to see what she wanted. After a while she flew over the 1.2 metre fence into Princess's area and became aggressive, wanting to get into the nest box where Princess and the three chicks were. She was quickly shooed away and locked out.
Once it was dark, we candled the 4 remaining eggs, which showed no signs of pipping. They all had 25% - 30% air space, and a watery mass. No signs of anything remotely resembling a chick. We can't help but wonder whether Dutch targeted the live chicks. If so, why did she turn from devoted mother one day to murderous assassin the next? I guess we'll be keeping a close eye on her from now on.It seems that Princess had not really failed in her duties, but had not been able to adequately defend her clutch of eggs. Sadly we learnt the hard way that we need better fencing between our broody pens.
**Separate story, but some weeks back Dutch was left to "mother hen" her chicks and adopt the chicks of two previous small hatches after the 2 broodies suddenly gave up on their duties. She accepted all chicks as her own. We weren't concerned because this meant the other two mothers could get back to egg laying. Dutch and her 14 chicks lived in the pen next to Princess, separated only by a 1.2 metre fence.
Saturday 4 January 2014
Why am I blogging when I am obviously not really ready?
My header is basic and unillustrated. I have not got a series of posts all ready to publish. I don't really know how to put in photos. I only seem to have a germ of an idea of what I want to do with this blog.
So why is this blog already up and publishing? Aren't newbie bloggers told to hit the ground running with all the preparation done first? Pretty colours, drawings and photos at the ready? A few posts already in the pipeline, just waiting for the "publish" button to be pressed? Well they say that rules are meant to be broken, and I - and this blog - are living proof of that.
The truth is, I am a perfectionist. And just to give you the heads up, that is NOT a good thing. I have been thinking about writing this blog for probably 18 months. I've signed up for and regularly read a ton of blogs that cover all the sort of topics I am interested in. I download or copy-and-save mountains of .doc pages of information on blogging. I dream of the time when I have a blog being published and write amazing posts in my head.
So why haven't I been blogging for oh, say the last 12 months? (Giving myself a generous 6 months of planning). Because I'm not quite ready yet. I have to wait for the perfect first blog subject, or the perfect day when I have plenty of time to write about said perfect subject, or .... ,or ..., ... well you get the idea. I spend so much time thinking about blogging, and waiting for the perfect time, that I haven't been putting the time into all the other things I should be doing. So the end of year comes, and I start thinking about 2014. Through tears, I tell Mick (my husband) that I have been wanting to start a blog for so long now, but it's obviously just not going to happen and anyway, I just haven't got time to do it - that I'm going to have to give up on the whole idea.
Well I have never seen him move so fast. Within a couple of hours he had come up with a name (I had 3 or 4 options, but none of them were quite right. He came up with it after about 10 seconds of thinking about it, and I thought it was just what I wanted), logged into my Google account (I had that at least set up) and started to blog. He wrote some silly nonsense, and then hit 'publish'.
Aaargh! I have a blog! I am terrified!
Of course, once it was public (and I had a few hits from America within minutes - I don't know how) I was spurred into action. Pride in my blog dictated that I had to go through and edit it. Mick, who is much more computer-savvy than me, continued to check up on how to put up graphics and photos while I got a lot of far more concrete ideas on how I want the blog to look and feel.
And the ideas start flowing. And the words start to be written. And I have a blog! Woo-Hoo.
So what have I learnt from this exercise (apart from the fact that Mick is my Action Man hero!).
- Perfect. Safe. Thinking. Dreaming. These are not good words if they stop you from taking action.
- Sometimes being launched into the scary unknown - against your better judgement - works really well in sparking intensive and much needed activity.
- I know I usually need a deadline to spur me into action, so for times like these when there is no deadline, no time I had to get the blog on-line, I need to have an alternative plan to 'trick' me into action. I must build these alternatives into my future projects so I don't get so bogged down in perfectionism.
- Sometimes having a hero at the ready can be a really good alternative :)
Til next time,
Lesley
So why is this blog already up and publishing? Aren't newbie bloggers told to hit the ground running with all the preparation done first? Pretty colours, drawings and photos at the ready? A few posts already in the pipeline, just waiting for the "publish" button to be pressed? Well they say that rules are meant to be broken, and I - and this blog - are living proof of that.
The truth is, I am a perfectionist. And just to give you the heads up, that is NOT a good thing. I have been thinking about writing this blog for probably 18 months. I've signed up for and regularly read a ton of blogs that cover all the sort of topics I am interested in. I download or copy-and-save mountains of .doc pages of information on blogging. I dream of the time when I have a blog being published and write amazing posts in my head.
So why haven't I been blogging for oh, say the last 12 months? (Giving myself a generous 6 months of planning). Because I'm not quite ready yet. I have to wait for the perfect first blog subject, or the perfect day when I have plenty of time to write about said perfect subject, or .... ,or ..., ... well you get the idea. I spend so much time thinking about blogging, and waiting for the perfect time, that I haven't been putting the time into all the other things I should be doing. So the end of year comes, and I start thinking about 2014. Through tears, I tell Mick (my husband) that I have been wanting to start a blog for so long now, but it's obviously just not going to happen and anyway, I just haven't got time to do it - that I'm going to have to give up on the whole idea.
Well I have never seen him move so fast. Within a couple of hours he had come up with a name (I had 3 or 4 options, but none of them were quite right. He came up with it after about 10 seconds of thinking about it, and I thought it was just what I wanted), logged into my Google account (I had that at least set up) and started to blog. He wrote some silly nonsense, and then hit 'publish'.
Aaargh! I have a blog! I am terrified!
Of course, once it was public (and I had a few hits from America within minutes - I don't know how) I was spurred into action. Pride in my blog dictated that I had to go through and edit it. Mick, who is much more computer-savvy than me, continued to check up on how to put up graphics and photos while I got a lot of far more concrete ideas on how I want the blog to look and feel.
And the ideas start flowing. And the words start to be written. And I have a blog! Woo-Hoo.
So what have I learnt from this exercise (apart from the fact that Mick is my Action Man hero!).
- Perfect. Safe. Thinking. Dreaming. These are not good words if they stop you from taking action.
- Sometimes being launched into the scary unknown - against your better judgement - works really well in sparking intensive and much needed activity.
- I know I usually need a deadline to spur me into action, so for times like these when there is no deadline, no time I had to get the blog on-line, I need to have an alternative plan to 'trick' me into action. I must build these alternatives into my future projects so I don't get so bogged down in perfectionism.
- Sometimes having a hero at the ready can be a really good alternative :)
Til next time,
Lesley
Thursday 2 January 2014
What is a chook?
Chook (rhymes with 'look' and 'hook') is a common slang word for chicken. It is used in Australia and I understand that New Zealand also claims it as part of their language.
For those who miss the pun in the blog title, chook can also be used as a sometimes endearing, sometimes mildly derogatory term for a woman who fusses around, apparently for no obvious purpose. But watch a broody chook clucking and fussing around her nest as she is about to sit on her clutch of eggs. She is doing important work caring for her brood and doesn't care who else knows about it.
I guess being a woman of a 'certain age', I think of myself as a 'bit of a chook' who thinks that what I do and experience as I potter around my backyard just might be of interest to others. So here we go ....
For those who miss the pun in the blog title, chook can also be used as a sometimes endearing, sometimes mildly derogatory term for a woman who fusses around, apparently for no obvious purpose. But watch a broody chook clucking and fussing around her nest as she is about to sit on her clutch of eggs. She is doing important work caring for her brood and doesn't care who else knows about it.
I guess being a woman of a 'certain age', I think of myself as a 'bit of a chook' who thinks that what I do and experience as I potter around my backyard just might be of interest to others. So here we go ....
A hot day for the chooks
Obviously, I have only just started blogging. I am still trying to sort out how it all works (including photos, customised headings etc etc), so I am still in amateur hour! Please visit again in a couple of weeks when I am up and running properly!
It's been hot and humid day today, so our chickens are keeping to their well-loved shady spots around the house. It means there will be more poop to clean off the concrete at the end of the day, but I’d rather that than worry about whether they are cool enough. In our first summer with chickens, we had a ridiculously hot 45°C (113°F) day. The chickens were panting like crazy and we were making sure they all had plenty of water. But the day was so hot that the water was very quickly quite warm. What we hadn’t realised was that chickens don’t drink warm water – they would rather die – literally! I guess we were lucky that only 1 chicken succumbed and died of heat stroke that day. So now we are super vigilant that the water is kept COLD – water from the fridge is used to top up the several 2-litre ice-cream containers dotted around the yard in chooks’ favoured hide-outs to keep them drinking.
It's been hot and humid day today, so our chickens are keeping to their well-loved shady spots around the house. It means there will be more poop to clean off the concrete at the end of the day, but I’d rather that than worry about whether they are cool enough. In our first summer with chickens, we had a ridiculously hot 45°C (113°F) day. The chickens were panting like crazy and we were making sure they all had plenty of water. But the day was so hot that the water was very quickly quite warm. What we hadn’t realised was that chickens don’t drink warm water – they would rather die – literally! I guess we were lucky that only 1 chicken succumbed and died of heat stroke that day. So now we are super vigilant that the water is kept COLD – water from the fridge is used to top up the several 2-litre ice-cream containers dotted around the yard in chooks’ favoured hide-outs to keep them drinking.
 |
| The chooks sheltering at the back door with the water bowl |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)