Our John said if I wrote Hot Chicks in the title I would attract the wrong kind of reader. But I don’t know. I don’t think so. And If you like Hot Chicks you might like the farmy too.. everyone eats.
But it was so hot yesterday, hovering just under 100 degrees, as the Coke Bottle temperature gauge will prove.
Oh you cannot see it clearly?.. let me do some photo shop magic!
This was at 3pm and as it got hotter I seriously began to fade. Our first really hot day and I felt poleaxed. So I took shelter in the coolest part of the farm, the barn, with the hot chicks. When it gets really hot the chickens find a draught, go very still, hold their wings out from their bodies….
letting their beaks drop open to pant and they just wait it out. Hot.
You will remember that there are two flocks, the hen house girls, (the little chicks are moving in there quite nicely now) and the barn flock. The hen house girls are let out every evening into the fields to scatter the cow dung about (they are the manure spreaders) and get some greens. I let them out about 3o minutes before dark so they do not roam over to the vegetable gardens and create havoc. The barn flock help the cats keep the barn free of rodents, attend to the insects and keep the straw turned over and fresh. In the time honoured tradition of farmers I have to search for their eggs. They tend to work the North side of the property. 
There are roosters who keep them safe. Plenty of roosters actually. I call the chickens the unsung heroes of a sustainable farm as they are the ones who can and do, feed just about everybody. I collect between 12 and 18 eggs a day. The cats and dogs get milk and eggs every morning. The pigs get about half a dozen eggs a day. Minty gets an egg in her milk every morning.
The cows get eggs with their feed on medicine day. I eat two fried eggs every morning, and of course cook with them and all the rest are sold or bartered to pay for their feed. Though there is not a lot left over, I need more chickens. So although Daisy is the designated Mother Ship with her milk and seniority…
.. these hot chicks keep us all fed.
Good morning. It is going to be another hot day today. So I need to start early with the watering. In this kind of heat an animal can die if he runs out of water. Plus the secret ingredient in a vegetable garden is water!! But it all needs to be done while it is still cool.
The top lids of the beehives have been propped open a few inches to let the air flow through the hive. I do this when the temperatures rises above 90. But if it looks like rain (which it doesn’t), or if a big wind comes up, make sure I zoom down the back and lower them again. Propped up lids can blow off. Bees need a lot of water too so their water is always topped up as well. Did you know that the bees carrying water into a hive are given top priority by the doormen. They go to the front of the queue, like pretty girls in silver heels at a night club door. Pollen carrying bees have to wait.
The Dairy Mistress Paddock only has one more side left to fence, with any luck, I will have stock in there this evening. The internal fences may have to wait until next year. There is only so much fencing a man can do evidently.
And the pool needs cleaning so he says!! There is a lot of pool cleaning on hot days!
I hope that you all have a lovely day.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
66 responses to “Hot Chicks.. the unsung heroes of Sustainable Farming!”
Chicks (hot ones especially) are indeed unsung heroes – they do so much for us! I was in Sevilla yesterday and at 6.30pm it had “cooled down” to 39 degrees….whatever that is in Fahrenheit…but hot!
About as hot as we are! and it must be worse in the city! c
There you are sweltering and we a cool to even cold. Two nights of almost freezing weather…34* last night, and maybe frost in some places…we are waiting right now for the day to warm up to find out.
To lose all our corn and the newly popped up pinto beans (we still have another field to plant) would be devastating! So, fingers crossed, we are hoping that the freeze has passed us by.
I wonder if our horrible, nasty 65-80 mph winds are heading into the heartland? If they are, then right at their heels is this cold weather…a cooling down would be nice for all of you,, I Dare Say.
Happy Memorial Day!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
I posted about knockers, wondering if I might get some strange viewers, but it didn’t happen. It was so hot here on Saturday I came in after a walk up to the market and had a cold shower and a lie down. I don’t do hot well. I hope your chooks keep on laying in the heat.
You might get some interesting traffic with that title. I once titled a blog “When I was A Mean Girl” and it got translated as “I Was A Naughty Girl.” Ended up in feeds on Russian porn sites! Heehee!
You sure had a hot day! Yech. We let our chickens out just before dark too — for the same reason. In half an hour they can’t do too much damage to my flower beds and my veggie garden. I never thought of putting an egg in the dog’s food but I bet they would like it. I usually give our extras away to co-workers.
Wow. That’s one hot day!
I love your hot chicks! That silhouette shot is really wonderful. Chickens are real heroes, it is true. We thank them all summer long for keeping scorpions in check. Not to mention all that lovely poo!
I had some farm fresh eggs for breakfast this morning, too, Celi! I didn’t have the privilege of knowing the hot chick who provided the nourishment, though. Wonderful photos, that’s for sure. I can imagine the extent of monitoring water that must take place on an hour by hour basis in such heat, and isn’t it marvelous how the egg suppliers contribute to the overall health and well-being of the other animals! I can easily understand, too, that the pool must be an all-day job! I’m afraid I’d be “in” with John! 🙂 Debra
Ok, this is unacceptable. I still am not seeing you in my feed. So I’ll unsubscribe and resubscribe and see if that works. Missing rooster art is not an option!
Let me say that these are the only kind of hot chicks I am interested in reading about. I don’t envy you your ninety-eight degree days: I would be tempted to break out the strawberry daiquiries and head for the shade or challenge the pigs for their swim spot.
What a cute cute thermometer gauge – I was thinking in terms of Celsius at first and thought you and your hot chicks superhuman/chick 😉
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Love the hot chicks, and the silhouette photo, and the detail of your observations about how the chicks cool themselves down. I’m also impressed by how much attentiveness is needed to keep all that livestock alive and well, to say nothing of the garden and the bees. You can’t really have an off day, can you? When the temperature rises and everyone want to flop, you have to keep your wits about you and make sure that everything gets done.
As long as i work very fast when it is cool we make it. i spend a lot of time in the cool evenings just catching up and watching.. c
I have read that some people freeze water in milk jugs, to keep their birds cool in hot weather. I thought I might try that this summer if need be.
hmm, thank you beth that is an interesting thought .. I might try it if we have another heat wave, I think we are going to cool down soon though.. weird weather c
Love the rooster silhouette photo. Good shot! It hasn’t gotten that hot here, yet, 90 only.
Well its 12 degrees here – thats celcius.
Our girls are huddled up in their house not looking the least bit interested in wanting to venture out for a scratch though they did give me eye when I ventured down with some food earlier.
Dont envy you your hot days – would much rather be rugged up against the cold, especially since I have apparently damaged some tendons in my hip making it painful to do much around the yard.
stay cool!