First, there was the discovery of wet sand and damp straw in the bird pens. I guess the ground didn’t thaw quickly enough to absorb the melting snow piles. I fluffed up the straw to get to today, and put fresh, dry sand in cat boxes for the birds with the wet sand. They took to it right away, and did their lil’ happy shuffle. There are starting to be eggs in that small, original pen.
Then, there was the scalped hen. I mean, terribly scalped. The skin from the top of her head was draped over one of her eyes. And thank the gods she has both of her eyes. It breaks my heart, because she is one of my two super friendly hens. There isn’t much I can do besides keep her inside, keep the wound clean, and use an antibacterial. The wait is on to see if she will pull through. She’s eating and drinking.
One of my roosters in that pen had been picked on the day before. He also was pretty rough around the hens. That’s the one that went to freezer camp. Lesson learned. There’s only one rooster in each pen but one now. I did keep the giant, pretty, gentle one in the aviary.
And right after that, there were two eggs in that pen. And my injured hen laid one in the house, once she calmed down.
Yep. One rooster per pen, no matter how many hens.
During the scuff, I noticed a wasp queen exploring the yard. Horrible timing. There is a suspected deadout that I need to deal with in the bee yard. The new bee package will go in that hive, and start with any resources I can keep from pests and the other bees. My split was finally out and about.
I set out a couple of Terro fly and wasp traps, and two W.H.Y. traps. The latter is supposed to attract pretty much any type of wasp or hornet. It seems fancy enough, with chambers for three different types of bait. I’m on high alert for any raiding activity at the hives.
I’m also on high alert at the incubator. Here is how one corner of the incubator looks today. There are pipped eggs throughout.
Maybe none will actually hatch. Maybe they all will. The brooder is ready. I’m excited.
And today needs to not be as clunky.
