Winter 2012

Welcome back! We have been busy (which isn't much of an excuse) but things have been evolving at a great rate since the last post (I can't believe it's been so long!). First of all, we have lost chickens through fox attacks and to be honest, a bit of mis-management on my part. It was so simple to have free ranging birds picking through the bush that it became a bit of a routine and sure enough I was letting the chooks out everyday. But to be honest it was too easy to be letting the chooks outside and expecting them to feed themselves. And with the busy Christmas season at our business, my attention was totally elsewhere when in early December first two, then three and finally the other three went missing over a week or so. Devastated, I abandoned the whole backyard sustainability project over the summer break. I didn't even water or plant any new plants or pull weeds. It all fell into disrepair. But I did rush out and but a half dozen laying hens at top dollar ($25) and, sure enough, much to my total embarrassment, the birds were taken too. Maybe by dogs, maybe by the fox again. Anyway, things hit a sort of rock bottom and it was a real turning point. I looked out the back and saw how overgrown and how it was such a waste of land to have the whole space just feeding weeds. So we bought another dozen pullets. Young egg laying hens at 16 weeks for $14 each. I told my wife we would get 8 but I brought home a dozen. It was like things were back to normal. God they are beautiful animals to watch... Now, about ten weeks after they have settled into living at Merewether we are enjoying their fruit. We are getting 8 or more eggs everyday and the landscape is completely devoid of weeds, insects and other things. The girls are confident walking around without shoes on! So let's share some more images and daily life...