It Has Been Decided!

The verdict is in.  All testimony has been given and thorough deliberations have been completed.

🥁 🥁 🥁 🥁 🥁 

A drumroll......

As suspected, one of our 16 chicklets, now young adults, is a.....

ROOSTER!

Geez... why do poultry companies do this?  Why is there always a surprise amongst an order of hens?  It happens every single time - without exception - in our experience.  Is this always the case?  Have any of you experienced this, or is this just my karma?

Two mornings ago, while I was opening up the chicken houses, I found myself right in the middle of the chicken yard between the two houses.  Behind me, Goose crowed his morning song.

In front of me, one of these cutie patooties answered him back!

Now, if only I could figure out which one of them is the rooster.   I'm sure one of these mornings I will catch him in the act.

The past few weeks of gardening has been challenging.  Even with daily watering, the ground dries out and turns to dust within hours.  And... I am a very generous waterer!  The sun has been brutal.  Many of my peppers and tomatoes have blossom end-rot - something I have never before experienced.  After reading about this, I have come to the conclusion, that even with watering, they just are not getting enough moisture.  Remember those rains we were predicted to get this week?  Nada.  Zip.  Zilch.

Amazingly, despite the brutal heat, we are still getting plenty of produce.  I think the thing I am most excited about are my loofah gourds.  

There are now several large ones hanging down from the top of the arch.


I inspected the vines and found many tiny gourds just beginning to grow.  It will be interesting to see how many we have by harvest time... October.

We have a quiet weekend planned.  I hope to get a bit of baking done for our upcoming family beach vacation.  I'll be baking and freezing sourdough breads and treats to take along with us.   I am happy to say that our temperatures are back down into the 80's again - so much more tolerable than the 100 degree days we've had recently!














Comments

daisy g said…
A friend who has been keeping chooks for much longer than me told me to look for signs of a more upright stance with roosters. Usually their tails are smaller as well when they are young. You've got some lovely looking chooks there!

Your loofah is way ahead of mine, but with the rain we are getting, it won't be long until we catch up! I would encourage you to add some to your veg rations with breakfast. If you catch them when they are no longer than four to six inches, they are mighty tasty!

Hope you get some of this glorious rain!

July 19, 2024 at 6:53 AM
ladybug loves lilacs said…
Enjoy the glorious break from the heat! We always ordered our hens and got hens. In the beginning of raising chicks we ordered and got 3 roosters in the batch. We raised them for awhile but eventually let them go to a neighbor after we incubated a batch ourselves. We ended up without any roosters in that batch. But we still heard them every morning from their new home.
Your flowers are gorgeous and I look forward to seeing your loofah harvest.
July 19, 2024 at 7:41 AM
RHill3 said…
Without exception, every time we have ordered sexed chicks from hatcheries, one is a rooster! Constant watering gets old quick in gardening season. Your garden still looks beautiful. RHill, TX
July 19, 2024 at 7:45 AM
Barbee' said…
Maybe, maybe not. I once had a hen that laid eggs and crowed! My mother-in-law said there was an old saying: a crowing hen comes to no good end.
July 19, 2024 at 10:01 AM
Junebug said…
I only ordered 4 chicks, 2 Plymouth Rock & 2 Buff Orpington.well, I got 2 Plymouth and 2 mystery. I'm still trying to identify. Some sort of leghorn that is laying blue eggs. Just started laying and are pretty small eggs. Time will tell!
July 19, 2024 at 12:33 PM
This N That said…
I guess the Roosters are hard to get rid of so they sneak them in with the chick orders.
I love that first picture. Beautiful color.
Yes, it's hard to keep up with the watering. When is enough, enough? you have so much to water.... I can't imagine the time that it requires. you need soaker hoses.
Have a quiet and productive weekend. Hugs
July 19, 2024 at 2:11 PM
THE BEARDED ONE said…
THESE ARE ALWAYS SO VERY INTERESTING..THE PICS ARE PRECIOUS AND YOUR COMMENTS ARE HEART WARMING...TALKING ABOUT A LACKI OF RAIN...WE HAVE HAD NONE IT WEEKS...THERE WAS A HARD RAIN LAST FRIDAY WHEN WE WERE EATING AT A LOCAL RESTURANT...HARD POR DOEN FOR 30 MINUTES OR MOE...WHEN WE GOT HOME..ZERO RAIN.. IT STOPPED ABOUT A MILE SHORT OF OUR PLACE...AND WE HAVE BEEN IN THE 90'S REGULARLY...A DAY OR TWO THIS WEEK IN THE HIGH 80"S..WE ARE SURE DRY AND NEED RELEIF IN RAIN AND TEMPERATURE...HAVE A SUPER FINE WEEKEND...AND KEEP SMILING !!!!!!!!
July 19, 2024 at 8:38 PM
Kessie said…
Ugh, yes, I always got a rooster EVERY TIME. Fortunately we had a nice local feed store that would take them and sell them to people who wanted chicken dinners. Usually they have slightly bigger, redder combs and wattles than the hens. But with breeds like yours, with smaller combs, it's harder to tell.

I had really bad blossom rot on my tomatoes last year. Apparently it's from a lack of calcium in the soil? I got a nice fertilizer high in calcium and magnesium and put it around the base of the plants, and the blossom rot all healed up.
July 22, 2024 at 11:23 AM
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