Permaculture - Bird Brains!

Here’s a great photo of the farm flock. Black Jack, our breeding Ayem Cemani, is keeping watch over his divers harem of hens. In this flock you’ll find Delaware heritage hens, Americana hybrids, Speckled Sussex, Road Island Reds, Buff Orpington, and hybrids galore. Our last hen hatched (brooded by a hen on a nest) chicks are folded into this flock now, and the upcoming birds to add will be the young chocolate layers, including the Barnavelder and Marans.

Here they are, my dark layers. I’m excited to move them in to the main flock after I finish constructing another roosting stand. For now, these young hens live in The Sun Chair 2000. It’s still alive and kicking as a young hen movable coop. It will not be enough insulation for the winter, so these ladies are headed to the main coop next week. They are bright and alert, feasting on the last radish pods in this garden plot before transitioning to layer hen feed.

The newest chicks at Leafhopper Farm were hatched in the incubator and are thriving in their new larger enclosure, protected in the garage. They’ve been loving the fresh greens I hand pick for them each morning, and will grow up fast, so I need to plan a better portable coop system to transition them outside once they are a little larger. With cold weather coming on quick, it’s time to build some more shelter for young animals at Leafhopper Farm.

Can you spot the wild bird? Dryocopus pileatus is a resident in our forests, and it’s great to see him feeding on the Alnus rubra. Here’s another parting shot:

Bonus if you caught the fungus photo bombing the picture. Birds of many feathers are thriving at Leafhopper Farm!