The girls have generated enough in egg sales to help save a decent down payment towards a new truck. I did some calculating, and looking ahead, figured out the optimal number of eggs needed for weekly delivery to the local restaurant I supply.
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| extra large |
Over the winter I ordered additional chicks. This year's crop arrived in April. I raised them up to pullet size, and moved them outside - from the brooder next door to the big girls. The very first night they were slaughtered - I mean bits and pieces strewn about - by a junior raccoon. Bad, bad junior raccoon was trapped and relocated immediately, because he would never stop coming back to the coop.
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| Yep - relocate all coons (a sibling of the slaughterer) |
Started over with another batch in July. They made it safely to adulthood, but unfortunately I was blessed with not one, but two roosters. *sigh* Roosters can be a pain in the ass, and I would have no problem dispatching one if he ever came at me aggressively. Thank goodness, these two were reasonable as well as handsome. All was not well however. After a few tense days of chest bumping, feather pulling and comb-biting, our first man-chicken was beheaded overnight by #1 hen Beulah Montelle, who apparently couldn't tolerate competition.
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| later dude... |
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| Beulah Montelle leads the charge |
Rooster #2 exhibits better coping skills, and has safely slid into the leadership role. He has a rather unique crow, earning him the name Tarzan. He does a good job of protecting the hens, already having alerted me with a predator call, in time for me to run off a Cooper's Hawk.
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Hoping these 12 days of holiday posts can help to balance out what has been a very overwhelming year, personally and globally.
♫♪♬ On the first day of Christmas... ♫♪♬
