Around The Farm

I thought the fox problem was solved until one day I lost yet another hen, leaving me with only eight. I began keeping them locked up both day and night. Three days later, I found a chicken wing (again!) on the concrete floor of my barn. This could only mean that the fox had come back inside the barn and finished off the chicken it had killed earlier. I knew I had a problem then, but a day or two later I actually saw the fox in the barn. Neighbors are also having problems, so I'm hoping that someone will find a solution:

I was just about to mow along the edge of the gravel road when I saw these tiny flowers. I stopped and photographed them so I could look them up when I got back inside the house. It turned out to be Centaury, a naturally miniature plant and not just a product of being mowed over:

The weasels have mostly taken care of any small rodents on my property but I did find this friendly chipmunk eating crab apples on the apartment stairs. I hope he or she can avoid the weasels:

Another miniature plant turned out to be Dwarf Cinquefoil:

The fantail pigeons got their windows opened all through our hot spell even though I worried about the foxes. The baby chicks in the brooder are in with the pigeons and I didn't want them to get overheated, so I kept the window opened whenever I could during the day:

White Clover bloomed first, but the Red Clover, which began a few weeks later, was bigger and more colorful:

And Queen Anne's Lace began appearing all along the roadsides:

The baby chicks at 15 days old. They've easily doubled in size and and still growing rapidly:

The local teen came back to finish painting the barn trim:

The fantail pigeons continued to make nests and lay eggs but there has not yet been even a single baby:

But they seem happy as childless couples. Maybe it's a blessing for them and it's certainly less work for them:

One of my clearance sale roses began blooming. It's doing well although the other one is still struggling. The big question is - will they live over the winter? I'll just have to wait and see: