They've flown the coop!

Wednesday morning when I opened the henhouse door, I was startled by all the flapping below and above. I quickly realized that the barn swallow babies had fledged, as one youngster fluttered at the henhouse window instead of flying out the open doorway over my head. With a little encouragement, it went the right way. Couldn't quite clear the chain-link chickenyard fence, but made it through an opening and on over to the maple tree by the sheepfold. I breathed a big sigh of relief; I was so worried the fledgling swallows would end up on the coop floor and be killed by chicken-monsters. As I did chores, I noticed a chirping family of four on the top arena rail, so the swallow parents have successfully replaced themselves in the world. I don't know if this is the same pair of barn swallows that built a nest earlier in the barn; one of the babies from that nest did end up on the floor. We rescued it only to discover something was wrong with its feet, and it had to be humanly destroyed.

Yesterday morning the swallow family repeated their departure from the chickenhouse when I opened the coop door; I didn't realize they would come back to roost at the nest once the babies fledged. Later, when I checked for eggs, I caught two babies perched on the light cord (their nest can be seen at the far right):This morning there were five swallows perched on the cord when I opened the henhouse door, so that's even better!

Wild birds of all kinds seem scarcer this year; I haven't seen any violet-green swallows in a long time, and the black oil sunflower seed isn't getting eaten very fast. One of our neighbors noted the same thing; it's worrisome indeed.

As for the chickens themselves, all nine hens are more or less integrated again. I was keeping Lucille isolated in an inner pen until her broken toe healed and she hopefully stopped limping. But last week she started escaping her quarters to roost with the other hens before I could move her pen inside at night. In the morning I'd catch her and put her back in protective custody. Finally, I just let nature take its course and left her with the others during the day, too. Often she would retreat to the plywood covering part of her isolation pen (still inside the chickenyarn), making me rest easier knowing she could get away from any henpecking if need be. One day she even went into the isolation pen - and left again when she chose!

Yesterday she laid an egg while up on the plywood, and it rolled down into the isolation pen below and broke. So I removed the plywood and piece of hog panel that had covered the pen, leaving only the x-pen for a place of refuge. Here is Lucy resting on the top edge, with Lucille on the ground inside:Believe it or not, Lucille-the-lame is dominant over Lucy-the-latecomer. Lucy still regards me as her guardian, and I regard her as my "special" hen, not unlike the pair of banties I had as a teenager.

The girls are not quite keeping up with demand, now that I have three regular clients plus the occasional additional request for eggs. Sometimes I have to go out and squeeze a hen or two to get an order filled in time!Welsie's new feathers are coming in, so maybe she'll be back in the nest box again soon.

This morning's sunrise was stunning. A front is moving in, and the resulting clouds added drama. It's supposed to be a wet, cold weekend here, with summer returning next week. Should give the garden a good late-season boost.

That's it for now at . . .