I am sitting in my back yard trying to transfer a picture of my hens in the backyard sent to me on my phone by my husband. He arrived home early this afternoon and put three of our hens, Frizzle, Pepe and Canella into the herb and tomato garden to clean up the last bits of tomatoes and many, many small crawly creatures. When I arrived home all hens seemed happy and healthy. We have been struggling with our egg production as of late. Both Prezzemollo and Dragoncello are molting, which means no laying. I think Frizzle has finally tired out and has decided to leave the egg laying to the younger hens. This means only Anicia, Pepe and Canella are laying right now. We are getting only one or two eggs a day. Anicia is coming into her own and giving Canella a run for her money with being queen hen but Frizzle still pecks the heck out of her younger friends when food is involved. Frizz is still fast at the live critter catching. I am hoping to grow my flock to fifteen hens, but that would require a few life changes that my husband and I are thinking about... hopefully it will work and we will have a larger flock next summer. Our pond now has about 18 residents. We have had a few rounds of spawning because of our up and down temperatures this summer... but I am trying not to count my fish before the pond thaws next spring. It has been pretty fun watching the little frys turn colors. I think peach is a dominant color trait for goldfish and blue is recessive... or my blue guys just aren't mating because it seems as if all of our little frys are either peach or gold. It will be interesting to see their final colors. I will post the picture when it arrives. Until then, I hope your backyard adventures are as peaceful and adventurous as mine!
I love seeing the picture of your hens. I only have wildlife in my backyard...some of it I'd rather not have quite so close to home. Yesterday as I was walking towards my back door a fat rat ran across my path!