Local wildlife
The land, air and water surrounding blockhill is full of life. Our valley offers a rich and fertile biodiversity that, like any ecosystem, is complete with pests, predators and prey.
New Arrivals
On the first night of the hatchlings, all of the other chooks and the rooster slept inside with the mother hen...perhaps it was their way of welcoming the new arrivals.
06 Nov 2009
Quooks!
05 Dec 2009
Chooks and chickens
Fifteen!
Yesterday morning I noticed the brown hen was missing, but Olmec was sure he saw her looking a bit wet and worn out. But then when I went to feed the chooks at lunchtime, she still wasn't around....which made us both wonder if perhaps she was sitting on a nest somewhere. This would be unlikely since we have never seen her lay an egg...
But in the evening she emerged from the far end of the paddock so she could eat some dinner. We went to search the area she had come from....and there in the tall grass were 15 eggs! Not all of them would be hers, as there were different coloured eggs. But some of them could be...and if anything, at least she wants to sit on the nest. So in about 3 weeks we may have more babies.
25 Jan 2010
Chooks for weeding and soil enhancement
Rather than unleash the chickens in the garden I decided to take the garden (at least bits of it) to them.
31 Jan 2010
Conquering Clucky Chooks
For the past several weeks, our chooks had been clucky....sitting on either one egg, or sometimes no eggs at all. They just sat in the nest boxes and stubbornly wouldn't leave the nest. We tried putting them in a clucky box for a few days, but this did not work. As soon as they came out, they would go straight back on the nest.
But a bit by accident, we discovered a technique that worked really well to take the cluckiness out of the chook!
02 Mar 2010
But a bit by accident, we discovered a technique that worked really well to take the cluckiness out of the chook!
02 Mar 2010
Resurrection
In attempt to prevent the family of bantams from visiting our garden everyday we decided to resurrect the old shed down the far end of the farm.
Click the photo to see before and after
09 Mar 2010
Mouse trappin'
I've lost count of how many we (and the cat) have caught. I have even witnessed the chooks chase down and eat a couple that I disturbed in a grass pile.
10 May 2010
Brownie
08 May 2010