Moult, Eggs and Garden

The Welsummers have headed into their first moult. One hen has already lost a lot of her wing and breast feathers.  The others are looking pretty fluffy (a lot of down feathers are being exposed). Time to take the oyster shell away and we will need to switch over to starter/developer feed for higher protein content.  Rhodies will not moult this year as this is their first year. This means that the Welsummers probably won't be back to laying until December or January.

The Freedom Rangers are doing well outside.  They are foraging (like heritage chicks) and seem comfortable outside. They don't seem too flightly with the sounds. We do have to round them up after dark as they are not inclined to want to go inside at night. That's good though, as that means that they are foraging well into the evening.  

The first few weeks of September have been excellent fall temps, high 60s and low 70s.  Greenhouse lettuce is growing well, the outdoor plants, cilantro, carrots and spinach are loving these temps. 

Picked up garlic starts today. I'm soaking them overnight and will get them in the dirt tomorrow.  I picked up some different organic fertilizer, Bio-Live.  I can work this into the dirt tonight for tomorrow's planting. Should be great for a lot of our under the soil growth, i.e. carrots, garlic, onion and potatoes. Time will tell.  

No Photos today.

Outdoors a Week Early

While the clucks are not fully feathered at five weeks, the day time temps are above 65 this week, and, as such, should be fine outside for the chicks.  We have a little heat lamp inside the coop for warmth at night. If it gets too cool at night, we can close up the coop tighter for added warmth for them.

One of the six cluck clucks is rather smallish in comparison, but is eating hearty, so it may just be a smaller chicken.  The others are quite a bit larger, which is a good sign. The smaller one is at the feed trough in the first photo with black spots on its back. But, in truth, they are still small compared to the Cornish Cross, at this age. Even the larger ones have to stretch to get to their water. Their eyes are an interesting color of grey with speckles of blue.  The photos do not do it justice.

Little Cluck at the Feed Trough	Swollowing that drink
Little Peep standing next to the bigger peeps.	Checking on the Feed

September Time, Squawk Flock & Fall Plants

The Freedom Ranger chicks are three weeks now, with most of them having their long necks established. Although the chicks are growing faster than layers seem to grow, they are not quite the equivalence of the Cornish Cross, especially in the legs and breast areas.  The pecking order happens quickly with these chicks.

Natural Lighting	Squawk Flock with Flash for Light
The Long Necks are Here	Two Roo Face Off?

The garden is winding down.  I did harvest the last of the carrots out of the garden space. I cut back the basil and cut half of the dill.  One has gone to seed, so we may save those seeds for next year. The few remaining onions were toast.  I ended up putting a lot into the compost bin. The corn is on its final stand.  The nights are getting too cool and the few remaining ears of corn are not in the best shape. The final tomatoes are getting red. The bell peppers are blooming again and we have a few small peppers developing.  We will keep them in the greenhouse for protecting and warmth at night. 

Fall plantings are kicking in. I planted another row of spinach today.  The center row is leafing already. The cilantro is looking better. The fall planting of carrots is in a deep planting bed that is movable, if we need to haul it into the green house. I have two new buckets of leaf lettuce planted.  I planted them about two weeks apart so that we are not so wasteful with it. I hate when I have to throw out plants that rotted. It is one thing if it is because of bugs, but a whole different feeling when we had too much and could not harvest it in time. Oregano is popping up with gusto. 

Carrots	Cilantro
Leaf Lettuce	Oregano
September 1 Leaves	Fall is near