And then there were two.

Another chick hatched out yesterday afternoon.

Since Isadora hatched out these chicks in a nesting box nearly two feet off the ground, I've been a little worried about things... The chicks don't need food or water for a day or two, but being a mother hen myself, I wanted to make sure they were available, so I took a little bowl of water out to tuck in a corner of the box this morning. I didn't realize chickens could growl, but Isadora sure did as I edged closer to put the bowl and some scratch in her nesting box. She's a good mama.

I'm a Grandma!

Well, not really. But Isadora hatched one chick out today. Chris managed to get a photo of mother and baby.

Making the Morning Rounds

Every morning after I've managed to get the kids to school, I make the morning rounds to feed the animals and check on things around the farm. It's one of my favorite parts of the day.

 

Usually, my first stop after I feed Jane the rabbit is to check on the three Polish chicks we have in the little coop. I love these little birds. Polish chickens first won my heart when I visited the Seed Savers farm in Decorah, Iowa four years ago. We've had buff-laced and white, but these tan and blacks are probably my favorite.

 Next, I wander over to the chicken coop where the big flock of chickens and ducks assault me. It is imperative that I throw out some scratch for them so that I am not harassed when I try to fill the meat-birds and other chickens' feeders.

That done, I take a peek on top of the chicken coop. Several weeks ago, after replenishing the top with some soil, I threw down some moss rose seed in hopes that I could get some sort of plants established up there. I neglected my green roof last year when we had the dry spell, and most of the sedum I had planted failed to survive the abuse. Happily, the moss rose seeds are taking off, as well as some weed seed that was in the dirt. Below is a (lousy) photo of a section I had just weeded.

Inside the coop, Isadora is sticking to her nest. We might have some baby chicks by the end of the week, although I am not sure how many of her original eggs were fertilized. I candled the one egg I knew was hers, but it was not viable, so I had to throw it out. Also, a few other eggs were laid in the nest by other chickens later when she was taking a break, so I don't know what will happen if some hatch out and others need more time...

 After all the animals are taken care of today, I took a peek inside the house. We have gotten a little over half the wiring pulled on the main level. The electrical feels like a big deal. As soon as it's all pulled in, we can get the rough-in inspection, and from there, it feels like we will be over the hill with the end in sight!

 Out the front of the house and over to the plot that will some day be an amazing perennial garden. My plan is to have dwarf fruit trees in each of the gardens four corners. So far, I only have one peach tree that Mom and I found on clearance at Tractor Supply last fall. We were shocked to see that it already is producing.

Back to the house for a cup of coffee, and then the day really begins.

Let the growing season begin.

Procrastination is not always a bad thing. Last year, I was overly anxious, planted my tomatoes a week before our frost date of April 15th, and lost them. This year, frequent cold snaps and rain has peppered our spring; April 15th flew by with hardly a thought of gardening. The few days we had a of fine weather I spent waiting for the soil to dry out, only to have it rain again. When my brother offered some tomato plants last weekend, I was glad I hadn't been too enthusiastic. He grows some fine tomatoes. And it was a good thing I didn't plant them for a week. We had another frost the night before last.

The forecast has promised a warm up, however, so yesterday I planted tomatoes.

Convenience, Quality, Life.

I am embarrassed to admit it. Sometimes I opt for convenience over quality. I think know when we start to value convenience over quality we often get ourselves in trouble. Frequent indulgence in fast-food leads to health issues. Synthetic fertilizers in your garden or on a corn field might produce a nice, temporary result, but in the long run, the food doesn't contain the same nutrients and the soil suffers. You get the picture.

But the consequences of convenience are not always that harmful. And so today, I opted for the convenience of my new iPhone... Wait, what was that? Is this the same person that several years ago thought she would never text? Is this the same person that just last month swore to herself that she would never own a smart phone? Yes. It's a long story, and the siren, Convenience, has sung her song and lured me into her clutches once again.

So  after taking the photos, instead of digging out the cord to connect the camera to my computer, waiting the minute or two for the camera and computer to acknowledge each other and finally download the photos, I let the iPhone do all that for me.

What's really nice is when the quality of convenience rises, and I can take a decent picture like the one of the calves here.

 Mopey and Meat-Head are still alive, though they still have a cough. I am not sure they will ever be rid of it. One more round of antibiotics, then we will see if they can make it on their own after that. We have stopped the morning bottle feed as they seem to be eating grass and their ration of grain well. They still look for me in the mornings, which made it easy to get this shot. Sometimes, though, they are too busy nosing in the grass to notice me, so I started calling them for their bottle in a falsetto, "Soo(Sue), sooooooooo! Shuck, shuck, shuck...." (I think I learned this from my brother, who used to lend a hand on a cattle ranch. If I remember correctly, this was the way they would call the cows in, offering some grain as a treat.) Anyway, the calves have started to make the connection between the call and the bottle and come running.

The three Polish chicks we got from Co-op were moved out to the little chicken coop recently. They are paranoid, flighty little things.

 Isadora has taken to sitting on some eggs. I didn't have the heart to kick her off the nest, so here she is, a week into it. The second day, she got off for a snack and got back on the wrong nest. I found her a few hours later, and put her back on the right one, so I'm hoping the eggs are still okay. I plan to candle one soon to make sure. I've also been careful to collect the other eggs more often so that she won't make the same mistake again.

 Our other layer chicks are growing up... Still not full size, but it's about time they start venturing out for some sun and fresher air. Hopefully, they will not draw the attention of any hawks.

 And the meat chickens have been relocated to the movable pen. Just a couple more weeks, and they will be relocated to the freezer.