State of the flock, October 2019

Stuck in jail, September 2019

After the chicks finished off their last 5 kg bag of growers pellets, it was time to integrate them into the adult flock.  We let them all free range together for a few hours each evening over the course of a week, then that weekend the duck pen came away and the resulting chicken wire was used to make a large yard next to the chicken house.  The chicks and their mothers have gone in (and have escaped a few times, requiring minor adjustments to the wire) and now a week later, everyone is sleeping in the big coop, and there is a fairly peaceful pecking order in place. 

More than half of the chicks are boys and destined for the pot within a few weeks, but until then I admit it's a little crowded, particularly on the roosts at night.  Right now there are 21 chickens, nine of which are juveniles.  I think there will be 15 or 16 left for winter;  I'm still not positive about one chick:  maybe a girl, maybe not.  However, I've been watching my three oldest hens, ages five and six, and think at least one of them won't survive the winter.  We'll see;  our six year old hen really slowed down over summer and lost weight, but then she molted and is now as frisky as such an old lady can be.

The ducks are back to free ranging (they had been penned in at the pond for about two months), and the chickens get to free range an hour or so in the evenings.

We are getting around two to four eggs daily, though the ducks may have a hidden nest (we've been collecting one or two a week from them).  A couple of hens are currently in molt and I don't expect egg production to pick up again until the new year.