This Post Is For The Birds

This post is about the birds - but not all birds, just the fantail pigeons and bantam hens. I'll begin with the pigeons. They have been prolific this year and, in spite of some deaths from old age, have increased in number to 43:

They began to look unhealthy, so I put anti-bacterial medication in their water for a week. It seemed to help a lot:

Then I cleaned their room, a job I do not look forward to. I now plan to attempt to sell about half of them, but haven't done so yet. Stay tuned:

The little hens seemed as healthy as could be, so they never got medication:

Their egg laying went down to an average of one per day (for the whole flock):

But they were healthy and happy, despite not being allowed to go outside:

But on the day I cleaned the pigeon and chicken rooms, I did let them outside. They seemed ridiculously happy, running and chasing bugs, rolling onto their sides to bask in the sun, strutting and clucking:

Alas, three of them began fighting like roosters. It didn't last, though, and hens don't have spurs like roosters, so I wasn't concerned (although I did break it up). They were soon friends again:

The little Easter Egger bantams went one way:

And ventured too close to the dog fence, where Seamus watched them and dreamed of chicken dinners:

And the Barred Rock bantams went off on their own:

When the cleaning was all done, I went out to bring the hens back inside and found feathers. I began to panic, thinking a fox had gotten another hen, but when I used a leaf rake to herd them all back inside, I learned that they were all there and in fine shape. I may let them out occasionally now that autumn is here:

Beauty As We Move Into Autumn

The little garden where I'd removed the giant stump (well, most of it anyway) was slowing down and the Yarrow appeared to be mostly finished blooming for the year:

 There were a few white flowered plants, but I feared they'd drop their seed and increase in number, so I cut off any remaining white flower stalks, leaving the fancier colors, which I prefer:

 The fantail pigeons have finished nesting and all the babies but one appeared to be on their own, no longer requiring their parents to feed them:

 Alas, they began to look kind of shopworn and unhealthy, so I put medication into their water:

The little hens still look plenty healthy, so I haven't given them any medication:

 Their egg laying has dropped to about one small egg per day. Soon it will be no eggs at all:

 Many flowers are still blooming, so I brought three more vases of them to church. This one included Frans Hals Daylilies, Tree Hydrangea and some of the very smallest sunflowers:

 Green sepals from former Rose Mallows, purple (wild) New England Asters, pink Rose Mallows, Tree Hydrangea and two colors of roses (magenta and orange):

All sunflowers, various sizes and colors:

 Far less attractive was the barn floor, soaked with horse urine and manure. I was able to scoop up most of it with the tractor, but had to fork it into the bucket as I got toward the end:

 A giant puffball appeared beneath the bottom wire of the electric fence alongside the gravel road. It grew rapidly. Last time one grew there, the Amish woman from down the road asked for it (many people love to eat them) but so far this year she hasn't asked. I don't find them edible at all. They look like Styrofoam and I found them to be just about as tasty as Styrofoam:

We've had a lot of Monarch butterflies this year. They are flying everywhere but don't generally hold still long enough for me to get a photo. This one landed on the Frans Hals Daylilies, and held still just long enough for me to get a picture:

August On The Farm

The pure white Morden Snowbeauty was the only rose of the six I planted this spring which had not yet bloomed. It finally began to flower, and right next to the pink Carefree Beauty:

 In the pasture, the wild Butter-And-Eggs began to flower:

 And the white fantail pigeons were having a good year:

 They produced more successful nests and babies this year than ever before:

Newborns in a cake pan nest:

 A newly hatched baby being fed "pigeon milk," which is partially digested food, regurgitated for their babies (by both parents, who share the caretaking):

 Another wildflower bloomed, in the lawn and pasture - Birdfoot Trefoil:

 The Rugosa roses continued to bloom and the wild Bouncing Bet continued to add its white flowers to the extravagant display:

The neighbors' Narragansett Turkeys still roam the county road and strut their stuff for passersby. I imagine their displays will come to an end near Thanksgiving:

 I had left the barn uncleaned for longer than usual and took a picture to illustrate how badly it needed cleaning - but alas, the picture makes it look rather clean. OK then, let's just say I've been keeping an immaculate barn! Really though, I hauled 6 or 7 loads of sodden bedding out of there with the tractor:

 And a heart shaped sunflower appeared, perhaps a good omen:

 Green Elderberries began to form by the millions, and the Wild Cucumber vines began flowering on top of the Elderberries:

35 Pigeons And A Whole Lot Of Poop

After the chickens' room was cleaned (see previous post), I started in on the pigeons' room. I opened their window so they could get out if I bothered them, but they all stayed inside. The litter/poop mix on the floor was mostly about 8" deep and I had to leave islands of it where birds were already nesting:

Apparently I did something which alarmed them, and ten birds flew out the window:

Confused and frightened, they flew too far away and then, exhausted, (fantails are not built for flying) they were stranded out in the field and the lawn. I tried herding them like I did the chickens but it didn't work very well:

I finally got 7 of them atop the milk room roof near their window and two atop the barn roof but on the wrong side. I became so exhausted that I never finished cleaning the pigeon room. I put everything back and left the window open, hoping all the birds would find their way back home:

All but two fantail pigeons went back into the barn but the last two seemed confused and they huddled together on the roof of the milk room, with their open window in sight - but they didn't go in. I was so tired and sore that I would have liked to go to bed early but had to wait until after dark. Then I went out and found the two pigeons still huddled together but low enough for me to grab them, one at a time, and put them inside their room.

The next morning, I was determined to finish the job and once again began hauling totes filled with crap out to the tractor bucket (I left the screen up in the pigeons' window this time so they'd stay inside):

After each load, I'd work again on cleaning up waste hay, exposing even more ice which had been hidden and insulated by the thick layer of hay. Then I'd return to the barn and fill up another tractor bucket with poop:

When their room was clean, I put down sweet smelling pine shavings and some hay for them to use when building nests. I counted and was pleased to discover all 35 birds were still there:

I am contemplating selling a few birds - or even better, trading them for new birds to enlarge the gene pool. This is the time of year to give it a try:

But for now the birds are happy, healthy and clean:

And yet my work was not over. There was yet more waste hay where the bales had been stored, hay which had been frozen and fallen off the bales when I pulled it up out of the snow. I began loading the tractor bucket with that hay and hauling it too to the compost pile. Ah, spring. It's not all sunshine and daffodils:

Cleaning The Chicken Room

The day arrived when I could no longer put off cleaning the chickens' room. I let the little hens out again:

They enjoy their time outdoors, but I can't do it on a regular basis because we have so many ravenous foxes. Also, the hens are kind of ravenous themselves, and attack my seedlings and new plants:

The flock made a break for the front of the house:

  They ran past the car:

And stopped on the lawn, where they searched for edibles:

When I thought I could trust them to stay out of the road, I went into their room and removed the feeder and waterer. This photo doesn't make it clear, but I can tell you that the crap and bedding on the floor was 8" to 24" deep. The 24" part was beneath their roosts, and it was both heavy and stinky:

Other places were more dry, but this was still an unpleasant job:

I had to shovel the poopy mix into a plastic tote and then carry it out through the pigeon room, down an aisle and dump it into the tractor bucket. By the way, the little hens have shown no interest in their xylophone since the first day:

Each time I drove a tractor bucket load out to the compost pile, I also pushed some waste hay to the pile. To my surprise, there was still ice beneath the hay:

Three of the hens got tired of being outside and came back into their room where they felt safe. They're used to me moving around, so it didn't bother them that I was still cleaning:

When I was done with the chicken room, I used a leaf rake to herd the hens back inside. This is a routine we used to follow every day, and they still remember what to do. The dogs would have loved to chase them, but the fence prevented that:

Once all the birds were back in their newly cleaned and comparatively sweet smelling room, I once again locked them safely inside - but left three windows open for ventilation: