The Flock Has a New Property Agreement

After some bloody little beaks last week when we left the chicks in the main coop for the day, we decided another arrangement needed to be made. On Chris's day off, he devised a system that seems to work well. He put a collapsable dog kennel gate into the coop to separate the young from the old. This way, they are out of the kitchen and getting used to each other slowly.

Chris decided that the photo above does not show the new living quarters clearly, so we think that this little sketch might help.


We'll let you know when the wall comes down!

Bees are the Buzz on Richmond Boulevard

We met a friend/mentor at last month's county beekeepers meeting: Bee Jeff. We are so grateful to have this expert guidance as we start our hive. Our hive is ready and waiting in a patch of sun that lies on the border of our garden. We know so much about how to care for a hive naturally and without chemicals because of a two-hour lecture we recently went to. Yet we have no idea what it will be like once we have the buzz in our own garden!

On Sunday we visited Jeff's house, where he has four thriving hives (two in his yard and two on his roof!) We learned about how to reduce veromites, collect pollen, and catch a swarm. We got our first up-close-and-personal experience with a hive. We opened one and got to see all the drowsy action on a cold morning. If it's below 65 degrees, you shouldn't open the hive too much. They always keep their hives at 95 degrees all year round to keep the brood nest and queen happy.

The coolest part is that Jeff has collected lots of swarms in the past and the second swarm he captures this spring might be ours! Exciting and terrifying...

Merging the Flocks

Now has come the time to introduce the Araucana chicks to the resident Longhorn chickens: Emmy Lou, Hawking, and Jessie Rosalee (Wildcat Tennessee). They have grown too big for their cage and they squawk so loudly now that we have to put them outside when we watch a movie.

So last weekend, we put their cage next to the adult's coop. And that yielded only a few curious chicken big-eyed-jelly-neck moves (you know what I mean) and a few quick pecks. Apparently, young chicks don't know the social etiquette of avoiding eye contact with superiors, so they learn the rule pretty quickly.

Yesterday, we put them all in a large dog kennel out in the yard - neutral territory - for several hours. The chicks cheeped the whole time, clustered in the corner while the big mamas took violent dust baths that sent dirt spewing everywhere. Later that evening, when the babies were in their own cage and inside, they practiced their own dirt bath moves, which was a totally new behavior for them. Modeling is powerful!



Today is the big day! Now the babies are in their own cage within the coop. They are going to be let out in a few hours. I made a nesting box that they will likely sleep in tonight unless they are kicked out. Cross your fingers...