hen house | Life on a Colorado Farm

We have this darling little nest out in the tractor shed….where one set of hatchlings have already occurred

There are three nests there, but only one female sitting. No true leisure for her.

Then letting the hen out of the hen house yesterday morning, I realized I had somehow trapped a hummingbird in with the hen overnight.

Well, that’s not a good thing I thought to myself.

Then later on in the afternoon, while laying fresh bedding down, a hummingbird buzzed my head…in the chicken house!

Non-plussed I wondered…what is going on here?!

Looking around to see what would be the attraction of little hummer to a chicken house

I found…

Another solid little nest, complete with a tiny graceful female hummingbird.

Now the paradox has begun

How to keep the chicken safe from predators at night, allow the hummingbird to feed as long as possible (they feed until dark) and get out early enough (they start feeding at first light) and keep the hen safe.

So at first light, I rush out to the hen house, open the door. Then at the very tail end of last light, I shut the door, even though the hen has been abed for a little while.

Your friend on a western Colorado farm,

Linda

Well, let’s see….first off Boomer and I helped Mom clean the chicken house. Boomer really doesn’t help; he just bounces around in the house while I am looking for mice. If I see mice, I grab them up and snap them. Mom says I’m a very good mouser.

(Although, I don’t see as well anymore, but don’t tell Mom, I don’t want her to not let me come in to the hen house with her and hunt mice. I talked to Boomer about my ‘little problem’ and he said he would watch me and try to do what I do.)

Anyway, there was only one mouse; Mom said the two snakes that had been living in the chicken house have done a good job. She dreads this winter when the mice will run all over the place again.

Mom washed out and cleaned all of the live traps because they now have to take the place of the hibernating snakes.

Then we got on the four-wheeler and headed up to where Dad is re-building fence….remember that huge fire we had last spring? Actually two huge fires? Well, the main fence that runs along the west of the place still hasn’t been fixed. Long story.

The damaged fences on the top of our place Dad has decided we better remove. He says we won’t have cows anymore so he is taking down the fences that have huge fire damaged wire. The range cows won’t have to be fenced out of the fields because they come in the winter and run the whole place anyway.

Lots of work, but necessary, you can’t have a cow or calf walk on a burned and down fence, get tangled in the barbed-wire and go down, get cut up, and hurt.

No, sir!

So we are all helping Dad.

I sit by the four-wheeler lots, unless Mom moves somewhere then I go with her. Boomer runs around, gets the news then comes back and tells me what’s happening out there.