Zoo Talk: Wednesday update

Winter has returned with a gust, if not gusto. I had to be at work at 5:30 yesterday morning and it was actually warmer then than it was at 1 PM when I got off. It was also very windy, which made the cold seem that much worse.

At the time I got off, I actually saw a few tiny snowflakes fluttering around, but that quickly changed to sprinkles. We are predicted to get rain and thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow, plus these colder temperatures. Thankfully, it is supposed to be much warmer by the weekend and hopes are that this is the final assault by winter. We’ll see.

My green onions are growing, and my radishes have started breaking through the soil. The sugar pod peas were washed up by the weekend’s hard rain so I covered them back up. I did notice they were trying to grow little roots on them, though, so it looks like I’ll have those delicious peas in a few weeks. Not much else has sprouted so far, but I’m expecting it to start up in about another week. Warmer days would probably help.

Today, I started work at 6:30. Still early, but not as early as yesterday, at least.

After work I met up with a fellow who had chicks for sale. He comes in where I work every day and told me he was getting these little fellows, and did I want some. I told him I couldn’t get any until after payday, but he insisted on letting me have 12 of them now anyway. He knows I’m good for the money.

After that meeting I headed to Big Town to the major farm store there. I received a couple of gift cards from there and figured to redeem some of that today, and I did. I bought 12 more chicks plus chick feed to get them started. Son had the chick housing ready when I got home, and he had cleaned and sanitized the water and feed dispensers. We put a clamp light near the large cage where the chicks will spend the next few weeks, so they could stay warm.

All of these chicks are Black Australorp. This breed was developed in Australia and they are considered to be a top egg laying breed and they are also considered to be a meat breed. They lay large brown eggs and are hardy layers both in the summer heat and in the winter time. I’m looking forward to fresh eggs again, although it will be when they are about 24 weeks old before they actually start laying. I may see about getting 2 or 3 grown hens of some kind that are laying now to fill in the gap.