State of the flock, October 2020

A few Brussels sprouts, Oct 2020

I had expected a certain rescue hen to die over summer, as she was looking tired and sad, but she perked up after a treatment of Verm-X, an herbal remedy for parasites.  She's with all the rest of her nine friends at the allotment, hard at work making us compost from all the grass clumps and weeds I've been digging up and chucking in.  Still a lot more to dig up--but the chickens will be there all winter, unless something untoward happens.  I'm actually planning on bringing them home next summer in order to grow stuff in their yard at the allotment.  Pumpkins and squashes maybe?

At home we are down to three quackers.  One of the females was found dead last week, in unexplained circumstances.  She may have met with an accident;  maybe she had an internal problem or maybe she just wore out, like many of our rescue chickens do.  I believe that the high production breeds just don't live too long because it takes so much out of them to keep laying so many eggs--perhaps this is the same for ducks.

As it is, the two drakes have been kind of agitated since they lost their friend (the other duck doesn't seem so bothered).  It's hard to tell with ducks, but it does seem like they miss her and are searching for her.  Maybe just a coincidence. 

Egg production in total is around 4-5 eggs a day now, from eleven female birds.