Chickadee is modeling herself on Queen Elizabeth 2nd, I believe, they both are going to try for the 'Guiness Book of Records' for the longest amount of time on the 'Throne'!

It's been over two weeks now, I pick her up and put her in front of the food bowl, and sometimes she has a few hours running around the backyard! When I say run, I mean like a chook with its head cut off, like a kid on raspberry cordial, like that balloon you blew up and let go without tying the end! You get the idea? She absolutely fizzes...lol. Then back to the nest and acts all sombre and royal. She is losing condition too, not as plump as she was, but not skin and bones either.

Rough Red was looking pretty good but I think she has had a fight with something overnight because her tail feathers are a bit frizzy...like something has chewed them!! and there are a couple of feathers that only have the spine left, who said keeping pets were a good way to ease stress!!!!

Which brings me to the 'guest pet' Jack, where do I start....as I have said before I got some hay to supplement his feed between meals. I took him a biscuit at 8 am yesterday and he was fine. I fed the chooks some mash and checked everythng was in order in garden and hen house then came up for breakfast and some housework.

At 10.30 I went back down and popped my head over the fence, shock horror, Jack was laying down and rolling his eyes, mouth open, head fighting to stay off the ground and there were marks all around him like he was biting the ground and pawing it with his hooves. My heart leapt into my throat, I ran and got a biscuit and called him, no response, now I know he's ill, couldn't contact the owner so drove to her house and found her, she followed me home. When I got back Jack was standing near the gate eyeing the hay on the other side of the fence like nothing had happend, except he had wet sand clinging to his whole side and face and neck where he had been laying down. We didn't believe it, I could have jumped the fence and cuddled him. But I am still a bit toey round him.

He is still fine today. Evidently he lays down sometimes and he looks ill but is perfectly ok. Sunbaking sometimes. But not this time.

The creek is comming along well, I am finding more and more plants and other fill ins but need lots of ground covers to cover the black plastic. So far it has only cost me $60 (for the pump) the plastic was a left over I found in the shed. No need for it to be all the one piece, as it is on a slope and overlapping is good enough, no leaks! I grow cuttings for plants instead of buying new so I will keep costs down to practically nothing. Here are some pictures I took today.

Psycho chooks!!!

Never a dull moment here at ' nana's zoo'. The Diva is still sooking, spread out on a nest that contains only a golf ball....hehe wonder what that will hatch. Might paint little eyes and a mouth on it with a marker!! I spotted her the other day, off her nest and jumping up to get the low hanging grapes that cover the chook shed. She spotted me and went back to her nest so I picked a bunch of grapes and put them near her beak where she lay, not even a cluck from her! Now I know where all the lower grapes have disappeared to, saw black betty going for some too, and that bird sure can jump!!

I bought some wheat for them...mmmm yeah I know I said they can just free range and eat scraps but they really were getting into all the wrong places....looking for scraps...(like under my bed) !!! They didn't like the mash so much any more, but it will be good in winter for them, when I add warm water...they went psycho when I put the wheat down, and for two days I hardly saw them...they ate so much they slept under trees most of the day...maybe that's where all the eggs are.... now the bugs have a chance to regroup and breed up ready for the next onslaught of the psycho chooks!
Must say Red is looking a lot better now that Chickadee (diva) is out of action. Her feathers have started growing back from the head area to halfway down her back, the vaseline treatment seems to have worked too, she is not pecking at her feet as much.

BUT!! My grandaughter Amber was checking Black Betty on her lap the other day and suddenly screwed up her face and went ooohhh... "Black Betty has dandruff"! I asked her to keep looking to see if it had legs or moved....you guessed right, except for the Diva, they all have mites, or lice whatever you call them. Groan, now what chemical do I have to buy and pour all over them to control these nasty little critters?, my dad suggested whitewashing the chookshed, that's what he did in the old days (he's over 80) he thinks they used to wipe them over with a 'rag dipped in kerosine' too...I wouln't even do that to the Diva..hehe, instead of spending time doing this I should be checking the net out for an organic cure.
Amber kept checking and suddenly looked up with a concerned serious look on her face and said "NANA, THEY HAVE ANTS TOO" another quick look and with a serious nod and a sigh confirmed this fact. Do they make flea collars for chooks....the way things are going I ought to hang some garlic round their necks to ward off vampires while I am at it...

The chooks and Jack the horse get along really well, his owners bring food for him every day as there is no grass growing yet, when it's 'barley and molasses in the old baby bath' day, the chooks come running, eagerly they line up for the left overs!
A full size horse eats a lot in a day and Jack broke my heart watching him just standing there waiting for meal time. There is nothing for him to look at or anything for him to do (not that he is into chess or anything) no grass to just graze away the day, so I decided to remove part of the chooks back fence and let him in to graze, there is grass in there because the spoilt chooks won't eat it and because they are free range they don't go there at all. I had a bit of trouble moving the big gate to the side, Jack wouldn't move out of my way and kept putting his head over it to see if I had some grass for him!!!!! - I must point out now that 'I AM REALLY SCARED OF HORSES AND CATTLE' - I summoned up all my strength and bravery and succeded in making an opening, he moved in and didn't stop eating for about an hour. One very happy Jack. My house mate got hold of a bale of hay and we feed it to him in between his other feeds.
After I fed Jack some scraps (old corn cobs and husks) I noticed he was still hungry so I got a 'biscuit' of hay and held it up in the chook pen for him to come in and eat...he forgot that the fence was partly open and hung his head over it...I had to go right up the other end and entice him round...I walked in front with it so I could get him into where I wanted him.. I was very brave.. the faster I walked the faster he walked I looked back and he was breathing down my neck, by the time I reached the spot -I think I was galloping!!!!
He would never hurt me I know that but my heart still races when I am near him.

It occured to me this morning that now I have removed part of the back fence in the chook pen the chooks can come and go as they wish, no need to wait on me to open the front door!!! ( the fence was easily hopped over by them anyway but they never bothered). But not these chooks, no back door for them, they were all there in line waiting for me...I sneak down there some mornings, just to spy on them but no matter how quiet I am, they know I am comming. One of them will start clucking and then all of them shuffle round the front door, I have to be careful opening the door inwards, as I have knocked Bindi off her feet before with it.

We have had some great rain this week and the vegies are looking good, I put barrow loads of horse manure on most of the beds, it wasn't too fresh but I hope it I didn't overdo it. I know the tomatoes will appreciate it. Most of the tomato crops this year have failed and some of my friends have pulled theirs out, but after a shakey start most of mine are ok now and producing a nice crop, won't break any records and the bite size ones are poorly but I have been able to give heaps away already.
After putting lime on my garden I noticed the beans leaves going yellow, I looked it up on the net and if I have too much lime in the soil they get deficient in iron, but thankfully I only bought a small bag, so I didn't overdo it and I noticed all the garden has some plants with yellowing leaves. Maybe the drought has had a greater effect than I thought. I have wonderful trays of seedlings to go in or give away, I started planting some yesterday, lettuce, cucumber (bit too late though) beetroot and more spring onions. I have picked some rhubarb to encourage the rest to grow better, at the moment I am eating;

• CORN
• BUTTER BEANS
• GREEN BEANS
• ZUCCHINI
• CARROTS
• PARSNIP
• SILVERBEET
• BEETROOT
• SPRING ONIONS
• TOMATOES
• BORLOTTI BEANS
• PEAS
• RADISH
  

SEEDLINGS

• CABBAGE
• CAULIFLOWER
• SPRING ONION
• SILVERBEET
• BEETROOT
• LETTUCE 3 VARIETIES
• BOKCHOY
• BRUSSEL SPROUTS
• BROCOLI
• and heaps and heaps of herbs

More photos next post, in fact mostly photos next time.

Sook for a Chook!

Well I never thought it would be possible for a chook to be so tempremental, but the 'Diva' has done it this time.

I tapped her slightly on the beak when she pecked Rough Red during breakfast, she has been just too bossy and poor Red is scared of her, since then she put herself on the nest and won't come off.

I don't know if she is eating or not, she would be sneaky enough to wait till I am out of sight! I put some mash in front of her beak today but she just set me with a steely look and outstared me....I tried to pat her and her feathers raised up on her neck and she tried to peck me....

I doubt if she is broody again...she is a first year layer and she was broody just last Dcember!

I put some lime on the garden, I am hoping it was an ok thing to do? It has made a difference already, the vegies are improving and we had a nice drop of rain 24 hours ago, 10ml and looks like more any moment.

I created a small creek at my back verandah on the spur of the moment. WOW it looks great. This is only part of it. More pics later when I have finished it off. Can you spot the massive big frog on the left?

I believed the woman in the Plant Nursery when she said I would need the stronger pump to go about 3m along the ground. That was totally wrong, the pump I came home with will pump water up 3m into the air in a fountain if I wanted it to, you don't need a 3m pump to just lay along the ground, but now I can put in a spectacular water fall later... I have the pump to do it. Shame about the water situation...

Now I am continuing the up grade of the back yard as money permits. I am thinking of forgoing my trip to Darwin in May, even though I paid for my ticket, I can do so much more with the spending money here.

If I find it all too cold I might pop up there for a week or so, the airfares are so cheap now that 'Tiger Airlines' are operating.

Just had to share this with you, She sits on the arm of my deck chair and goes to sleep with her head invisible but wakes instantly if I speak.This photo of Red seems to fascinate people!!!