Wild Moon Cottage is a small working homestead in the pristine Ozark Mountains. We have dairy goats, poultry, organic herb and vegetable gardens, a start of a tiny fruit orchard, several black walnut trees, wild berries and fields of wildcrafting goodness. We raise our own milk, our own eggs, much of our own medicine and food. I do laundry by hand, make my own vinegar, candles, soap, bread, cheese ........ For a living I am an artist and herbalist. My goal for myself and our homestead is to be as self sufficient and self sustaining as possible.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

8.5.08


Chicken salad for 1st breakfast, we've not been hungry for second breakfast because it's been so hot so I've been making a larger 1st breakfast.

I want to try and get some mowing done this morning because it may rain for the next several days. Also a little more painting and maybe a little work in the garden. It's been so hot that after just 30 minutes in the garden and I was soaked thru with sweat. It is bloody hot but it's the humidity for me. I'll either have Nik paint in the shade or weed-eat on the shaded slope. Lots of water for me, gatorade for him.

The Araucana chicks are getting big very quickly and the others, which are now all hens, are getting huge. I think I may should have gotten bantys afterall. My thinking was that we will likely eventually take some to the packinghouse to turn into meat and the larger ones that are best for meat and eggs would be best for us. But 33 big fat hens are going to need a lot more room. The crazy part is that I started out to only get 10 or so, then 15 because it was still cool out, then we came home with 20. And were given 15 more as a gift *o*

Now we have 9 Buff Orpingtons, 5 Rhode Island Reds, 5 Barred Rocks, 14 Araucanas and an old fat Hen who doesn't lay eggs anymore. 34 chickens *o* 1 Red may be a rooster tho it hasn't crowed yet at all. I thought it might be an older banty hen at first but it's still growing so now I think it might be a he. Regardless, we're going to need a lot more nest boxes. Right now we have 8 total tho they're big and sometime 2 hens get in one. But there's now enough room for everyone to get in out of the weather comfortably so I need to get to work on it very soon.

I thought we had found some of the ducks a good home but the guy hasn't replied back so he may have changed his mind. We've decided to keep two because they make excellent alarms when something odd gets near the pen at all. Odd being anyone they don't know or us with a compost bucket.

Here's to a bountiful day for each and every one of us :)

1 comment:

Peggy said...

Juli we have 35 hens and though we have 12 laying boxes they all choose to use the same 4 all the time. They either wait in line or sit on each other. The roosting posts are a different story. They each go to their own spot every night. One post only has one chicken, the others are spread out on the rest except for one that is kinda full as they like roosting next to the turkey.