August Around The Farm

The five Barred Rock Bantam chicks are about half grown but still peeping. I've been advised to keep them apart from the adults until they leave the peeping stage. The one little rooster tries to crow sometimes, but he sure hasn't got the knack of it yet:

One of the fantail pigeons continues to take short trips outside to enjoy the fresh air:

Queen Anne's Lace, also called Wild Carrot, bloomed everywhere during August:

And August gave us not just a full moon, but a "super moon:"

The baby pigeon left its nest but continued to grow rapidly:

Birds in general, and pigeons in particular, grow at an astounding rate:

Both parents tend the eggs and feed the babies. One of the parents was feeding the youngster when I walked in one day, so I snapped a picture. Like all the doves, they feed their babies partially digested food, often called "pigeon milk:"

Just look how quickly that baby has grown!:

There is the above breeding couple which has produced two offspring this summer. Then there is this couple, who sit together in a nest with no hay, no eggs and no baby. One day I saw this alarming and curious scene. One pigeon had its head beneath the other and didn't move. I became concerned and lifted it out of its strange position. It was fine. I guess that even in the pigeon world, some individuals are smarter than others:

The chickens have had the full run of the place for the entire summer and have managed to stay alive, well fed and happy. Each night they collect back inside the barn, where they have food, water and safety from predators:

They peck at bugs and leaves and gravel. They take dust baths and sun baths. They've had a good year:

But I couldn't end a series of farm photos without at least one photo of Rosella. She's already got neighbors watching her and stopping by to see her. And I've had a possible offer to buy any bull calf which is born (I'm still waiting for Jasmine to calve and she's overdue):