Yesterday it was really hot again. It reached ninety degrees once more but is forecast to be cooler over the next week. The girls were hot, shouting about their egg laying and coming out of the nest box with their wings held out. I decided they needed the tray of water with frozen peas to cool them them down.
Frozen peas to cool the girls
Honey is the only one brave enough to step into the water
Honey stepping out of the water
After the peas had gone I left the tray of water for the rest of the day. At one point when I checked on them the two little girls were beside the tray drinking from it.
Later my husband called me as Pepper was stood in the tray of water. By the time I got there she had stepped out so I missed seeing her in the water, but I could see by her muddy feet that she had been in it. It will be good if they realise that they can stand in it to cool off.
A little later when I checked on them again, Honey was in a dust bath,
Honey in a dust bath
I have mentioned before that Dotty likes to jump on my back whenever possible. In the morning and evening I wear my “chicken” cardigan which protects me and doesn’t matter if it gets muddy. Because it’s been so hot I wear sun tops during the day. They have shoestring straps and leave my back bare. Because of this I try not to turn my back to Dotty in case she scratches me but sometimes she is too quick for me. It has amazed me how gentle she is and she has never broken my skin. It is as if she senses bare skin and is extra careful.
Today when she did this my husband was with me to see her on my back. I remarked how gentle she felt and my husband said that she was down on her haunches instead of up on her claws. She gently allowed herself to drop to the ground. I was glad he had seen this so that he could see how different she behaves when I have a bare back. It is heart warming to see that she is so careful not to hurt me.
Dotty has such a lovely nature and it’s a shame she looks so odd with her bare neck, but hopefully after a molt her feathers will grow back in. She has the most sing song voice of all the girls and makes such a happy sound. When I give treats even my husband comments on her happy song.
The other result of the hot weather is that we are having our best year for courgettes in many years. The last couple of summers have been cool and wet and most of our courgettes rotted or remained tiny. This morning I harvested these three.
Courgettes
A handful of courgettes
I know this is deviating from chickens again but I couldn’t resist!
Click here to see the history of my flock.
When you have too many courgettes ..
grate courgettes ,
mix in sweetcorn and peas .
mix flour and milk to a batter and add an egg ,
add spices like cumin ,curry powder ,chilli herbs or what you fancy
add spoonfuls to frying pan with a little oil and cook on both sides …you probably knew this anyway .
grate courgettes and give to chickens mine love them .
No, not seen that before. It sounds lovely. I hadn’t thought of giving to the chooks either. Great ideas, thank you.
Ooo, I make something similar. But instead of the corn and peas, I only use the squash. But I do add in grated parmesan cheese which is really yummy.
That sounds really good too. I will try these ideas. It looks like I will be getting loads of courgettes this year so it will be good to try different ways of cooking them.