After yesterday’s rain everything came up green and sweet smelling. Rain really is the best water. And rain on the farm after a dry spell is a gift. I did not need to water the gardens so this left me time to get on with the barn.
WaiWai in the Barn
I took the tractor and my fork and began to clean out Wai’s bedroom. It still had not been cleaned out after the winter. It is actually a bigger job than it looks but if I work on it for an hour a day it will get done.
As you can imagine Wai was furious – he sees no reason for his room to be changed in any way. So could I please just bugger off and let him continue with his nap. As you can see it is very low light in his room. He likes the dark. He was very snappy too as I tried to get a shot of us together.
Meat Chickens.
The next big piece of work is to get the brood house ready for the chicks arriving in the middle of next week. (I think – I need to check the date) I must call the hatchery and see if they can pop in a few layers too – ones that have not sold and are going to be culled. I don’t know if that is a thing but I am going to give it a try. I am happy to buy them. I don’t care what breed they are. But they have to be female.
We are not getting a lot of eggs from all these old girls. John did not lock them in at night while I was away so they are laying and roosting all through the barn again. Sigh. They are so hard to retrain every time. But they all come out when I bring in the buckets from the restaurant down the road.
The Fields
These two fields are cleared and looking lovely for the moment. They greened up nicely after the rain.
I think the fly is the star of the show in this shot! These eggs are waiting on my feed-shed workbench before I take them inside to box up for the families.
Have a lovely day!
See you in the Lounge of Comments!
Celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
21 responses to “Housekeeping in the Barn”
I thought of you yesterday as I was hauling a half-ton of substrate out of indoor tortoise holding. It’s hard, sweaty work, but it is SO satisfying. It’s something I can do to make their lives more interesting, in addition to having clean bedding. I have to finish hauling the fresh stuff in today. I am racing the rain!
I had such trouble yesterday because the wind was blowing IN the door as I was trying to throw it OUT!
But you are right – when that job is finished it will be so satisfying and Wai can get under the straw again.
Do you need that rain?
We really need the rain. We had weeks straight of rain, now we’ve been weeks without a good, soaking rain.
Send someone out to cut hay. That usually works around here! 😂
I thought planning to manually move mulch by myself would have done it!
It was a good try!! Back to work we go!
Grumpy old Wai! No appreciation from him! Those chooks and cock still look very handsome and don’t look past it at all.Mr Flowers looking good too despite losing tail feathers .
. Delicious looking eggs. Good luck with the new purchases and getting the brood house ready. You certainly always have so much to do on your return from travels. Don’t know how you manage to fit us in as well, but SO glad you do!
I always make time to fit you all in!! It is so much easier ( though poorer) now that I am not teaching- I can manage my time I whole lot better.
Poor Wai!
That’s a lovely selection of coloured eggs. I had some Burford Browns recently, which have bright golden yolks. They made amazing allioli.
How lovely! I must make some aioli for tonight – I love it on freshly dug potatoes!
Me too!
Wai just makes the best grumpy old man doesn’t he 🙂 So funny as he acts the overlord for the birds.
Wai is nowhere close to the grumpy old men I met at a funeral recently..
OH NO! That must have been an experience?
Moans and misery as if there wasn’t enough already.
Delightful! I hope you are writing a short story about them!
I never noticed that Wai has little white toes. What a big job to clean out his place. When a mother says your place is a pig sty, they usually aren’t kidding!
You are not wrong there!!
Are you getting your meat chooks from MacMurray Hatchery? I hear really good things about them from the homesteading vlogs I follow. I really love how the chicks arrive in the mail in the US, such a good idea!
They are too far away for me. I get mine from a place in Texas – I have built a relationship with them – they don’t have the fancy fair chickens but all the old reliable breeds.
That sounds perfect for the Farmy!