The New Kids on the Block

Nope, not the boy band I was in love with in 5th grade. Let me show you the new residents!


Remember that goofy looking guinea? Well, we bought him! David mentioned buying him, and I said, "Really?!" He said, "Sure, we don't have one." He's learning! Haha. So, I bid on him and got him for around $7.50. He was just so ugly but so pretty at the same time. I bid on the female they were selling after him, but she got up to $9 and I chickened ('scuse the pun) out. I am kicking myself now, because I really think he needs a companion. Now I'm searching for a guinea hen.

I also got these 2 little mille fleur bantam roosters. A nice girl at the auction bought a cage of 5 of them for a buck apiece. I asked if she'd like to sell some, and she said sure! So, I got 2 of them. I'm not sure I'm going to keep them. They're so tiny and they got picked on pretty bad last night. Not injured, just pushed around.


David decided we should name the guinea Waldo. Guineas aren't as domesticated as chickens, so he tends to stay far away. Last night he roosted way up high in a tree at the back of the property. I've read that guineas don't always come back to the coop at night like chickens. I think his name fits. Now we can go around saying, "Where's Waldo?"


There were a lot of hens there. Most were sold in groups of 4 or 5. I bought a pen of 5 sex-link hens. They all look the same, so there's only one picture.



I also bid on (and won) a group of 4 buff orpingtons. It's hard to see them well when they're in a cage together. I thought it was 1 roo and 3 hens, but now I'm not sure. I think that's what I got, but I'm kinda wondering if there are actually 3 roos and one hen. It's a little hard to tell. I think it would be easy to tell by now if they were roosters, because they're just about mature. I think I'm just so used to looking at juvenile birds, I'm not used to hens with developed combs/wattles yet.



I know for sure this one is a roo.



And looking at the picture this one definitely looks like a hen. Right?




I spent a lot of time in the garden yesterday. I finally made the trellis for the lima beans. I procrastinate so much, then I do it and wonder why I waited so long to get it done.

I didn't take any pictures during the construction, but I'll explain what I did.

I bought 4 pieces (10' I think) of 1" or 1.5" PVC pipe (now called poles for this purpose). I cut 6' or 7' lengths (can't remember). I cut one end at a 45* angle so it'd be easier to get them in the ground. Then I measured increments up the length of the pole and drilled holes all the way through.



Once the holes were all drilled, I put the poles in the ground using a hand held post driver. This was not as easy as I thought it'd be. The poles kept bending and they actually went in the ground pretty crookedly. Is crookedly a word? It is now!

I used some twine and first ran it horizontally through all the poles, tying the twine around each end pole. Then I cut lengths of twin and ran it vertically, tying the vertical piece around each horizontal piece. Does that make sense?

After I had the grid strung, I wound the beans around so they could continue climbing. All in all it was fairly simple. The poles were only about $2 each, and the roll of twine was about $2.35, but I've used it for the tomatoes also. Cheap project!




Look! Dirt circles! I wonder if they're similar to crop circles???



Nah. The chickens have really been making themselves at home in the garden. They decided it'd be a great spot for some dust baths.

And I picked all the corn yesterday (which I think I waited too long to pick). The chickens LOVED searching through and picking all the bugs. The little turds also managed to find an ear that I'd opened slightly to check, and they pecked half the kernels off.




AND those winged rodents ate a hole in a perfectly red and beautiful tomato!! On the vine! It's a good thing we'll be getting the fence up soon, because nobody messes with my tomatoes!


But I did get these yesterday morning, courtesy of the red sex-link hens from the auction. Thanks ladies!