Homestead Updates

Junior, one of my roosters, is such a character.  He is a young roo that we hatched last year.  His momma that raised him is in the pen with him with four other hens and 4 of his babies.  The babies are the teenagers and I still think we have 1 cockerel and 3 pullets.  They are all growing into such handsome and gorgeous birds.  I was "inspecting" one of the hens recently and Junior did not like that she was upset.  He respected my authority, but he did come close and sound alarms of concern that he didn't like me messing with her.  I was proud of him coming to her aid and making sure she was not being harmed.  A good rooster is hard to come by sometimes and I hope that he continues to mature into an even better roo than he currently is.

I am so surprised that Charlotte is still with us.  She is still camped out outside of the chicken pen.  She has been catching a LOT of bugs, including those nasty horseflies!  She is plump and happy.

It's that time of the season for molting again and we have piles of feathers everywhere!  So far no one appears to be going through too rough of a molt but not everyone is molting either so time will tell.  Hopefully, all goes well for everyone.  I really hope everyone gets done before any freezing weather in the winter.  I really dislike when they molt in the freezing cold.

The garden is winding down and we have already pulled up the corn and tomato plants.  The tomatoes should still be thriving and producing, but ours were an epic fail this year so we just pulled them all up.  We got some really yummy ears of corn so I was happy with that.  We have also harvested quite a few cantaloupes and I think we will pull those up next.  There are still some on the vine, but the vines are failing and I feel the season for them is over.  the basil is thriving everywhere and I am so happy with the results this year.  I will definitely be planting lots of basil next year.  I will also plant lots of dill, parsley, and probably fennel for the swallowtails.  The cucumbers are done and the vines are mostly dried out.  The okra is continuing to produce in abundance and we are still harvesting.  Peppers were also a failure for the most part but the jalapenos look like they may be making a come back.

The final new update is that Sassy, my tried and true momma, is broody again and sitting on a clutch of eggs.  I have successfully placed her into the nursery/brooder and she seems happy this time.  I will update with pictures in another post.  About 18 days or so till hatch day.

Hope your garden/homestead endeavors are going well.  Please share any updates or news you have.