The girls free-ranging after Tim dug up some sweet potatoes 🍠. Finding worms and grubs!
#freerangechickens #hensofinstagram #hens #citychickens #abundanceinsuburbia
The Vet had written her off 2 weeks ago, but we still saw the spunk in Caramel and we did our best to feed & water her and give her medicine to keep her going. She had enough energy to walk around and forage except for the last 2 days of her life and had a great appetite for her favorite foods up until last night. This video was her yesterday, enjoying her time with her sister, Lemon. By this morning, we knew she was ready to go, since she walked into the nesting box and didn’t want to come out. No longer interested in eating, we chose to let her go so she doesn’t suffer longer. 😢
The Vet said it had to do with her reproductive organs, some underlying problems causing her to fill with fluids in her insides that initially caused so much pressure, she couldn’t breathe. We had her drained twice, and she was able to breathe and looked like she might pull through for a week, but gradually, we realized she was only eating and drinking when we fed her. Very sad to lose her.😔. May she rest in peace. 💕🙏
#sickhen #rip #restinpeace #ubanhens #abundanceinsuburbia
Thank you for wishing Caramel well! The Vet discovered that she still had an infection in her oviduct that caused her insides to fill up with fluids! She had a lash egg last summer (July 2022) and all the girls were put on antibiotics. We thought she had cleared the infection,but it had been dormant and maybe the cold, wet days brought the infection out from dormancy.
Her breathing got worse each day and we were very worried we might lose her. She’s not out of the woods yet, but at least she’s walking around foraging for food. Last night she stopped having interest in eating so we were really concerned. Tim gave her a few direct electrolyte water syringes into her mouth so make sure she gets some water.
The Vet removed 11 ounces of fluid from her belly!!!😳 Once she stabilizes, we will need to have her reproductive organs removed for her to avoid the same problem again. No eggs from this cute girl! It’s okay, as long as she’s healthy and happy! The other girls were making a small ruckus when we took her away from them to get her to the Hospital. They were all worried for her! 🐔💕
#sickhen #sickchicken #getwellsoon #urbanchickens #abundanceinsuburbia #hens #chickenhealth
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Greenhouse getting tested!! This is an actual storm ⛈ with high winds! The rain is at times sideways!! So far the frame is holding steady, but I can see one of the acrylic door panels has shifted out of its frame! At least it’s not freezing temperatures yet, but not good 😞 I’ll keep you posted!
Update 1: I went to check on the greenhouse when there was a break in the rains. The door panel was actually fine!! The steam was giving me an illusion that made it look like the door panel had come out. Of course, but was looking from inside the house at the time. Glad it held up in those winds! Not very warm inside, but it’s keeping the wind-chill factor down!😀
#greenhouse #storm #californiarain #highwinds #stresstest #abundanceinsuburbia
Silly video with a funny tomato 🍅 we grew! The green stem and calyx looked like a spider 🕷 biting the poor tomato-man. It’s a “twinned” tomato 🍅 and I just couldn’t resist! 😂
#tomato #weirdtomato #mutanttomato #weirdfruit #mutantfruit #Abundanceinsuburbia
We’re trying to add more native plants into our garden. This native fuchsia is a beautiful, Drought tolerant flower that blooms in mid summer. Great for hummingbirds looking for nectar.
Happy bumblebee keeping busy
#pollinatorgarden #bumblebee
#feednature #litchitomato #abundanceinsuburbia
We’ll be taking Minty to the Vet today. We found one place nearby that will see chickens. She got a bath this morning since she got very messy on her bottom from her poop. She ate and drank a bit after her bath. She ate some millet and tomatoes.🍅 Gave her honey water with electrolytes and a bit of Vitamin B12 and a bit of iodine. Hopefully we can get her back in health. This morning she had a rattle in her lungs. 🥲
#worriedaboutyou
#sickhen #sickchicken #goingtotgevet #getwellsoonchicken #Abundanceinsuburbia
One of our hens, Mint Chip (Minty) has been sick with diarrhea. She’s gotten so weak she stopped eating and drinking. We thought we might lose her, a few nights ago. Giving her electrolytes, vitamin B12, and some honey water and she’s holding on. Didn’t realize how emaciated she’s become!! 🥲 yesterday she was barely interested in eating. Today, she ate quite a bit. Still not strong enough to walk but her eyes look brighter. Do you have any suggestions for us? None of the other girls are sick. She doesn’t have sour crop nor is she egg bound. We kept her with the other girls so she doesn’t feel alone in quarantine. One thing we know different is that she ate a lizard and the other girls have not! I’m wondering if she got something from eating the lizard? Should I de-worm her?
#sickhen #getwellsoonhen #hens #abundanceinsuburbia
Flew back into Southern California last night on Fourth of July 🇺🇸! Despite fireworks 🎇 being banned in many cities, everyone seemed to be celebrating with some! A rare point of view to see fireworks 🎆 from above!
We are looking for larger parcels of land and May possibly be moving in the future.
#fourthofjuly #4thofjuly #fireworksfromabove #fireworks #southerncalifornia #abundanceinsuburbia
It’s thundering and raining!! ⛈ it’s not much but we
welcome every drop!!!💧
#grateful #raining #summerrain #raininlosangeles #Abundanceinsuburbia
Our hens foraging for bugs and worms under the trees
Ground squirrel 🐿 deterrence update video! Let’s see what works and didn’t
#groundsquirreldamage #gardenpest #update
#Zucchini #aluminumfoil
#abundanceinsuburbia
I know this looks ridiculous, but I recently read that ground squirrels 🐿 do not like aluminum. I just recently transplanted 10 zucchini plants in hopes of having some to pick for our meals, but the ground squirrels are so destructive of the pumpkin vines that I don’t know how many plants will survive! In an attempt to keep the ground squirrels at bay without resorting to more extreme measures, we are trying this! 😅 I’ll report back in a few days! Wish our zucchini plants 🍀 luck!
#groundsquirrelproblems
#gardenpests #aluminum #abundanceinsuburbia
Flower garden update video.
The dianthus is nearly finished and making lots of seeds. Farewell to Spring is in full bloom along with its native buddy larkspur. Shasta daisy is showing off it’s first ever flower blooms. Feverfew seems to not need a break from blooming. Sweet pea is starting to fade. The next up are Asiatic Lilies I planted this spring from bulbs.
#flowergarden #flowersinseason
#flowers #gardenvideo #abundanceinsuburbia
“Oooh got an itch! Ohh yeah that’s it! Oh wait it moved to the other side…” (scratching with other leg.) “Yeah that hits the spot!” These squash bees will sit in a squash blossom for hours. Not a busy bee 🐝 like the honeybees!
#squashbee #nativebees #squashblossom #Abundanceinsuburbia
Little honeybee 🐝 I found early morning looking chilled 🥶on a feverfew plant. I guess she didn’t make it home last night to her hive to keep her warm with her sisters. So I gently picked the flower stem she was on an warmed her up in my hand 🤚. This is when she finally started moving after 15 minutes. She finally flew off after 20 minutes after I started warming her. Glad she recovered! Honeybees who don’t make it home often end up dying from hypothermia if the night is cold.
#honeybee #beeonmyhand #savethebees # abundanceinsuburbia
Flower of the Day: pumpkin blossoms! Here I demonstrated how to pollinate the squash family, pumpkins included. Many of the curcurbitae family have separate male and female flowers and need the help of pollinators to fruit. We do have plenty of bees here, but I ended up cutting off most of the lower flowers to discourage the ground squirrels from climbing the pumpkin vines. The squashes normally start opening male flowers initially to attract pollinators which are looking for both the sweet nectar and the protein rich pollen, but since I took them off, I had to go to the other side of the pool to get these male flowers from another pumpkin/zucchini hybrid vine. (I’m not saving seeds so it’s OK for pollination’s sake. I don’t know if honeybees travel that far between two flowers so I bridged the gap. Do you hand pollinate your squashes?
#pumpkinflowers #handpollination #pumpkinblossom #floweroftheday #Abundanceinsuburbia
