by Tricia Heidkamp on July 27, 2011
Our beloved Mr. Rooster died today.
It was a sad day for all. He had graced our pressence for nearly 3 years. When Brian and the boys picked him up at a swap meet and brought him home he was kind of mean to the hens. We placed him in a separate cage so he wouldn’t hurt any of them. He would be taken out to walk around the yard when the ladies were busy elsewhere, he would strut around the yard like nobody’s business. Eventually we incorporated him into the flock and he became the protector of all in the coop. Protecting the hens was his top priority, he took his job very seriously. In the last year he had a harder time getting around and hung out more in the coop than out, younger roosters moved in and he passed the torch like a trooper. He was still was a sight to watch as he moved about. We will miss him.
by Tricia Heidkamp on July 25, 2011
Last week I went out early to beat the heat and shovel (or squeegee as the case may be) the chicken coop. Despite the impending heat advisory it was surprisingly comfortable outside. I was busy cleaning and glanced over to notice my tomato plants were half gone! A couple years ago huge green caterpillars took over my tomato plants – I took a closer look and sure enough the caterpillars stuck again! A couple years ago I was honestly too freaked out and we abandoned the garden (silly city folk…) Back then a friend told me you just pick them off and cut them in half (WHAT? GROSS!!) well, as I said that was a couple years ago….since then I have found myself washing chickens, cutting chicken toenails, and other things I certainly never thought I would be doing …………..so off to the garden I head with garden gloves and scissors in hand. The chickens were quite happy with their mid morning snack, I unfortunately am left with rather pathetic tomato plants.
This year we moved the vegetable garden closer to the house. Brian and the boys built three raised beds and we fenced it in to keep the chickens out. My hope was that with the garden closer to the house it might not get over run with weeds as in years past. I have kept up on the weeds this year, and I probably would not have caught those pesky hornworms this soon had the garden been further out!
It was a sad day for all. He had graced our pressence for nearly 3 years. When Brian and the boys picked him up at a swap meet and brought him home he was kind of mean to the hens. We placed him in a separate cage so he wouldn’t hurt any of them. He would be taken out to walk around the yard when the ladies were busy elsewhere, he would strut around the yard like nobody’s business. Eventually we incorporated him into the flock and he became the protector of all in the coop. Protecting the hens was his top priority, he took his job very seriously. In the last year he had a harder time getting around and hung out more in the coop than out, younger roosters moved in and he passed the torch like a trooper. He was still was a sight to watch as he moved about. We will miss him.
