Angry Peach Pie

Hi again! My mom gave me a frozen peach pie. I found out later that it's been in the freezer for three years! Needless to say I didn't want to eat it but I baked it in the oven for the chickens. It turned out to have an angry face on it (as you can see in the pictures) and the chickens took three days to eat it all. They ate every scrap of it right down to the Tin pan.

Buddies at play!

Hey everybody I'm back been a busy, busy time. What's going on? I haven't been ignoring the backyard just been ignoring my blog! I am sitting outside in the sunshine on an 80° day watching two dogs play.
A week or so ago I was bored so I built a chicken gymnasium out of some scrap wood I found. I added some old DVDs for some sparkle and something to peck at. I even added a ladder. They don't seem to like it as much as I would hope. Here are some pictures of it anyway.

Hi everyone. Have a look at this short video of the mason bee houses. **Notice** a couple of new bees emerging from the upper left out of the hatching box. They are busy in the garden eating, breeding and making new cocoons. Enjoy.

Spring Time Clean Up & Tilling

Hello again. Boy it has been a while since I last posted. I am so busy working I forget to post. Besides it has been winter and not a lot going on in the PNW.

I got a new camera. It is a CONTOUR ROAM. It comes with a bunch of way to use it. I was out today cleaning up the yard before it rained and so I strapped it on my head. You can see a bit of my head. Sorry but I am still learning. I thought I would upload a video of the chicken working my garden for me. I am not happy with the video quality on the upload. I am not sure what happened. The image is very good on the computer. I will have to work on getting a better upload??? Can anyone help me understand what I did wrong?

When I first started last week, that bed was covered in weeds and grass. I fenced it off with some very cheap bird netting and some stakes. The girls now roam around and peck and dig all day. Look how clean it is getting. Work smarter not harder I always say!

Feed the birds with the squirrel-n-ator!

Yes that is right, you saw it here first, The Squirrel-n-ator!

The story goes that  I got so tired of those fence rats (Grey Squirrels) chewing up my bird feeders just to get at the seed I was literately at my wits end. My wife in all her wisdom went on line and purchased me the toughest bird feeder she could find "The Squirrel-n-ator". OK, it is really not called that. I just made it up. But the first time I saw those little thief's coming around with thoughts of chewing out the seed pecking holes, watching all the seed hit the ground, and feasting I thought.....Hah...take that you little grey devils! The Squirrel-n-ator was born!

It has a steel cap and feed holes that are painted with a very slippery paint. It is almost impossible to scrape away. I tried a small spot simulating a squirrels sharp teeth with a knife and not a mark I could make. You can't imagine the joy found sitting in the window watching their feeble attempts to get at the seed. I could almost see the pain in their eyes as time after time they tried to chew it and failed to get the seed. So what did they do, they went over to the suet bar holder and ripped it apart and ate it all! However, that is another story for another day as it involves me, a BB gun pistol, a broken broom and a lot of shouting.

All cleaned and loaded for the little birds in the yard.

Another view....

The suet cage. Note I stuffed it with bread and a dinner roll. This thing locks shut, how the heck do the squirrels open it?

Winter sun equals chicken fun!

Hey all - nice to have you back and reading. Yes it is winter here in the PNW but yesterday we got some sun. I let the girls out and was feeding them some leftover buns from a dinner. They love to peck and eat just about anything. But what they love the most is to be let out and roam around in the sun! They are so funny the way they lay out and sunbath some too. I got a couple of pics and thought that you might think they are funny.

You will note that part of the run is covered with some very light weight plastic netting. That is because the run is on a bit of a down hill slope and they kept running and jumping over the fence. So for about $3.50 I fixed them by covering the run. No more break outs! 

Here they are looking at the new mole hill in their pen. I feel sorry for the mole as they will catch it! I just tossed them some leftover rolls. A favorite in the coop.

Here is Bonnie. She is so pretty but kinda dumb. I could make a blond joke here but I will not.

Here is a great picture of Joan. She is my noise maker and talker. She is always complaining about something. This is a great picture don't you think?

The Mason Bee's cocoon harvest

Hello again. Well late fall is the time to take the Mason Bees out of the tubes and harvest the cocoons.I had a good supply of them. I could only show a few as I had over 80 tubes to clean out! I got about 200 cocoons when done and they are safe and sound in a special holding box in the refrigerator.

Note the mud plugs and pollen left over from some of the tubes. It is clear that there was an abundant amount of food for the bees to eat and gather.

Close up of the pollen and mud plugs.

The cocoons from a tube. The big ones are female and the smaller are male. The little strands are there waste material.