Weekend Update: Spring Has Sprung

What a beautiful weekend it was here in Tennessee! The sun was shining and signs of spring were everywhere. I think it's safe to say we spent the ENTIRE weekend outside.

                                                            A sure sign of spring

 

I cut the bottom out of an old Styrofoam cooler to make an outdoor playpen for the ducklings. They really seemed to enjoy basking in the sun and nibbling the grass. As a side note, this  makeshift pen is NOT predator proof at all! The kids and I stayed close by the ducklings the entire time.

 

The ducks enjoying the fresh air

 

Along with the ducks our brood of  9 week old  chickens got to spend some time foraging. They're currently in an outdoor brooder but, we let them out to free range for the first time on Saturday. Again, this is one of those times where you have to stay close by. A flock of cockerels and pullets outside with no one around is pretty much an open buffet for hawks. 

 





They stayed pretty close to the pen at first....

 

 but, soon they were off exploring.

 

This little cockerel is gorgeous!

 

Of course no homesteading weekend is complete without learning a lesson or two and we certainly learned one. We had initially planned to brood our two Welsh Harlequin ducks with some chicks and that worked out fine for a while. Last week in my Weekend Update: New Additions post I mentioned that we added two more ducklings to the brood, this is where the trouble started. Four ducklings can make quite a mess and that they did. We had been using a standard waterer but, the ducks were still managing to get at least one leg in it. So, we lifted the waterer up on bricks, low enough where everyone could reach and high enough to keep ducky legs out. THEY STILL MADE A MESS!!! In the end we had no choice but, to move them into a separate brooder. Our brooder room is jam packed now but, at least everyone is happy.

 



A 50 gallon plastic tub turned duck brooder

 

I love hearing from  my readers so, in the comments below let me know what went on at your house this weekend. Happy Homesteading!