Chicken Curtains and Getting Grain

I was out in the North Pasture, that's the pasture area where SideKick and Sadie live. There is a lot of green grass right now! We haven't had to water much because the weather has been cool. Grass likes cool weather with a little bit of rain.

I love looking at the animals when they are grazing.
It's such a peaceful sight each morning.

Some days aren't as peaceful as others.
We were so sad that our new lamb died!

That was a sad day. She came to our farm because there was hurt by the other lambs and sheep on her other farm. My friend thought she would do better here. She did for a while, but she probably had been injured too many times on the other farm.

I had another sad morning when I discovered that a raccoon had gotten into the coop. The chickens are really good about going to bed inside the big coop that we have. I lock them in every night.

But one night a chicken was hiding outside the coop. I didn't see her or I would have picked her up and put her to bed with the other chickens. It was a bit of a mess, and no I didn't take a photo. 

We don't have raccoons or foxes or mink very often. One must have come through checking that night. I was sad to loose a hen!

Chicken Curtains

Chickens are funny animals! I love watching them run across the pasture. I love watching them peck at the grain on the ground, or scratching for bugs in the dirt.

We have a very nice set of nesting boxes that my son-in-law built. I couldn't figure out why the chickens wouldn't lay in them. They like to hide their eggs in other places. 

I even put fake eggs in the nesting boxes to see if that would encourage them to lay eggs inside.

A few years ago I read an article that mentioned curtains on nesting boxes. I have a bolt of muslin fabric in my sewing room. I washed a few yards and finished the edges. 

The curtains aren't very pretty, but they seem to give
the chickens more privacy.
I'm finding more eggs in the nesting boxes.

This black hen really likes laying eggs inside.
She really likes her little cozy spot!

Getting Grain

Every month or so we need grain from Leland Mills. Sometimes I like to get grain in feed bags because I use feedbags for other things. I like heading down to Leland Mills because it's less expensive to get grain and feed there, and I would rather not throw away bags I don't need.

Sometimes its fun to see a slow motion video, don't you think?

They load grain into big trucks. The trucks have a big pipe called a 'boom' that can be moved over the barrels. We don't have to take the barrels out of the back of the truck.

The barrels fill up really fast!

When we get home with the full barrels we use the tractor to unload them. Then we push the barrels into the feed room. Guess which barrels are the heaviest? Do you think the barrels with grain for the cows and goats is heavier than the barrels with chicken feed?

The chicken feed barrel is the heaviest! I can move the grain barrels easily, but I have to push really hard to slide the chicken feed barrel into the feed room! Usually Tim comes out to help!

Buster

This is Buster!
He lives next door.
He visits me through the pasture fence every morning.

Do you have a friend that lives next door?

The fun thing about Buster is that he is Mishka's brother. They were from the same liter of puppies. Mishka still goes over to play with Buster almost every day. 

I keep treats in my pocket when I'm out in the barnyard. It helps Mishka pay closer attention to where I am and what I'm doing so she doesn't get into mischief. Buster likes the treats, too. I give him a few when he comes to say hi every morning.

I'll give you some updates on the garden and Burger next week!

It's Mother's Day this weekend and that is often a good time to get a few more plants into the garden.

Have you planted your garden yet? What have you planted? What is your favorite garden plant? Quin likes watermelon. Xander likes the pumpkins.

I miss your questions! If you have questions you can write them in the comments. I would love to answer them!

I hope you have a wonderful week!