Category Archives: chickens

Digging up Grubs

Posted on April 28, 2016 by jkmcintyre
[caption id="attachment_2728" align="alignnone" width="2448"]Photo Mar 30, 4 09 14 PM Enter Grubs dug from the overwintered veggie garden[/caption]

Preparing the street beds for spring planting I first pulled the winter plants (kale, cilantro), hoed the weedlets, and mixed in complete organic fertilizer (COF). During this process, I unearthed nearly 40 large grubs of varying designs.

Happy happy day for the hens.

Is there a professional or amateur entomologist out there who can help me identify these guys? What do they become? Continue reading →

Posted in animal behaviour, bugs, chickens, pest control, spring, vegetable garden | Tagged | Leave a comment

From Broody Box to Broody Breaker!

Posted on June 9, 2015 by jkmcintyre

Queen Sheba is broody. We were surprised because our previous Australorp never went broody.  But there she sits – protecting the nest box with the most eggs as if they were her own and as if they would hatch.  *Sigh* But … Continue reading →

Posted in animal behaviour, broody hen, chicken behaviour, chickens, DIY | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Witch, cock, dwarf, luck, wind, fart

Posted on June 7, 2015 by jkmcintyre

What do these words all have in common? Hold those bizarre interpretations – I’ll just tell you. They all have been used to describe a rare, tiny egg laid with little or no yolk. Instead, wind eggs contain albumin (the … Continue reading →

Posted in chickens, geek, Health | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Feeding them Fodder, Slipping them Sprouts

Posted on May 19, 2015 by jkmcintyre

I have been feeding our chickens sprouted grains now for a few weeks.  They are definitely a hit, but it’s not quite what I was expecting. I bought two 50# bags of grain: one barley, one oats.  The barley sprouts … Continue reading →

Posted in chickens, starting seeds | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment