New generation

It’s me again.

The new chicks are thriving.  The last flock we mail-ordered; this year we purchased slightly older chicks from our local feed store because they had a pretty good selection of breeds.  They also sell California-sourced organic starter feed (and the organic layer pellets we feed our other hens), which is a good sign, I think - and also very convenient.

I constructed the brooder (~4x5 ft.) out of recycled cardboard boxes duct-taped into a somewhat cornerless shape (supposedly the chicks can smother if they pile into a corner; sounds unlikely, but no reason to take chances).  We sterilized the feeder and waterer from the last brood, attached the heat lamp to a sturdy chair, lined the brooder box with layers of cardboard, newspaper and straw… voilà.  Home.

Other new generations getting started are lady beetles (I just love seeing those little black-and-red, alligator-shaped aphid hogs!) and the bees in our hives.  The gophers seem to also produce an endless stream of offspring…  Considering that some studies I’ve seen estimate per-acre density at 65+ gophers, we’ll probably be trapping for a long, long time.