Community Chickens Post! ~ Cats and Chickens

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Rose-breasted Grosbeak

I had a migrant briefly stop by my feeder last week...
Apparently Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are crazy over sunflower seeds and fortunately I had just filled the feeder earlier during the day. It was pretty exciting for me because this is the first time I've ever seen a Grosbeak

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks winter in Central and South America then migrate to the northeastern United States and southeastern and central Canada for their summer home (breeding). If you look closely at the map, my property is right on the edge of the migration - summer breeding location...  I'm sure he was just passing through, he's not a common backyard bird in my neck of the woods. I wish he would have stayed a little longer, but at least I was able to take a few photos of his brief visit.

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Community Chickens Post! ~ Cool Coops: Solar Power Chicken Coop

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April 2013

I don't have as many blooms as I did in April 2012...  Spring in the Ozarks came about 6 weeks earlier last year - I even had Irises in bloom around the 15th of April. This year, however, is probably more of a normal year. I do have a few early spring flowers in bloom. The daffodils are still going strong (especially the white varieties) and many of my faithful perennials are showing their colors.

The weather has finally warmed up to the 50-70°F range, but we're still in danger of frost until the first week of May. And.. it's definitely been windy! Check out Ester's wind-blown feathers!

Here are a few of the blooms I've been enjoying... ♥

Forsythia

Spice Bush (native!)

Bleeding Hearts; maybe one more month until they're in  full boom.
 Stylophorum diphyllum 'Celandine Poppy'

Hellebores; Also a little slow to start blooming, but now they're going strong!

Pulmonaria 'Lungwort'
Its flowers are short living, but the foliage stays looking nice through most of the season. Another bonus of this plant - the deer won't eat it!

I took a break today from the market chores (Rebecca's Bird Gardens) and I finally started cleaning out the garden beds and pulling a ton of weeds. My hens were by my side helping as much as they could. ♥  I have about decided to construct a large fenced-in area for the chickens. I'm getting tired of the girls scratching up my mulched paths in my butterfly garden. And there is the issue of chicken poop - all over the deck and driveway... I love allowing them free range, but restricted foraging may be in their future.

Even though I have countless birdhouses around my property and I'm surrounded by mature trees and shrubs, a couple of birds have built their nests in the strangest places.

A house finch constructed her nest in a Christmas wreath that I failed to take down. Now the wreath has to stay another month or so until her young ones are ready to be on their own. She is actually not the best mother...  She leaves her eggs anytime we are in her sight.

An example of a great mother bird is the Carolina wren that is nesting between the battery chargers in my husband's workshop. She is very protective of her brood and she rarely leaves the nest; even when there is - drilling, nailing, sawing going on right next to her. She's such an cute bird (and full of personality) that we don't mind her taking up residence for a while. :)


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May Dreams Garden

Community Chickens Post! ~ DIY Raising Mealworms: Update + a GIVEAWAY

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DIY Sunflower Tower Bird-Feeder

I recently conducted a class for the Master Gardener chapter that I'm a member of on making bird-feeders utilizing natural sources, recycled materials and re-purposed items. Of course the best bird-feeder is what nature provides: nuts, seeds and fruit from native trees, shrubs and wildflowers (and native insects)... Here's my hand-out for my "bird" talk I give:  Creating a Bird Garden

But - this class was all about creating bird-feeders and I came up with a few originals and I experimented with several I found on the Internet. Sunflower seeds will attract the widest variety of birds (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1980) and I wanted to demonstrate a feeder that specially offered this seed. My inspiration for this feeder was actually a similar design that I saw at Walmart for around $15.00...
Supplies:

• Two 6" terracotta saucers
• 1/4" mesh hardware cloth
• Glass and tile drill bit - 1/8"
• 3/32" vinyl coated wire rope (about 2 feet) 
• 1/8" ferrule and stop set
• Zip ties
• Pliers, drill, wire cutter

Start by drilling 1/8" holes in the center of each saucer. It's pretty easy to drill these holes with the appropriate drill bit. I also purchased a ceramic bird (to set on top of the feeder) and drilled a hole in the top of the bird also (Michael's $2.00).

Roll the hardware cloth into a tube that will fit inside the flat bottom part of the saucer. Using a wire cutter, carefully snip all the sharp edges of the hardware cloth. - I folded the vertical edge of the mesh to give an added protection of any sharp edges... Fasten the tube edges together using zip ties. Pull the ties closed on the inside of the tube then cut off the excess. 

Thread the wire rope through the top saucer, mesh tube and bottom saucer. Using pliers clamp the ferrule and stop onto the wire at the base and top.

Because I had an extra piece of hardware cloth and the appropriate drill bit, this feeder cost less than $10.00 to construct. Hardware cloth is fairly expensive though and I'm not sure if you can purchase only a small portion. The $15.00 Walmart feeder might be cheaper in the end, but I like the looks of this one much more! 

Male Cardinal, Male Goldfinch and Female Purple Finches

Male Goldfinches and House (or Purple?) Finch

Male Goldfinch and Downy Woodpecker

Heritage Chickens!

This feeder has quickly become the most popular feeding station. The mesh cloth prevents very little birdseed waste, but if any sunflower seeds do fall to the ground - they are quickly devoured by my busy flock of foraging hens...

I invite you to "like" my Facebook page to see all the Market happenings and my latest DIY projects! Click on this link:

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Spring in the Ozarks?

My Southwest Missouri property hasn't seen much in the way of snow this winter - until spring!
This March we've had a couple of beautiful snowy days... Because of the fluctuating temperatures, the snow doesn't remain for very long and it's been a nice way to finish off the winter.

Female Cardinal

Tufted Titmouse

Dark-eyed Junco

The snow has definitely put a halt on my spring planting and our green-roof birdhouses that we sell at the Farmers' Market are not nearly as "green" as they were last spring!

These "Backyard" birds are obviously not native Missourians. They're not too fond of the snow...

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Community Chickens Post! ~ DIY Botanical Easter Eggs

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DIY Glass Bottle Bird-Feeders

Male Cardinal

I recently conducted a class for the Master Gardener chapter that I'm a member of on making bird-feeders utilizing natural sources, recycled materials and re-purposed items. Of course the best bird-feeder is what nature provides: nuts, seeds and fruit from native trees, shrubs and wildflowers (and native insects)... Here's my hand-out for my "bird" talk I give:  Creating a Bird Garden

But - this class was all about creating bird-feeders and I came up with a few originals and I experimented with several I found on the Internet. I loved how my DIY Wine Bottle Bird-Feeders turned out, but drilling the holes in the bottles takes a little practice to perfect the skill (and I still shatter a few bottles occasionally). This DIY, however, is similar and requires no tools - drills, drill bits, etc...

Supplies:

• Recycled glass water bottle - it must have a threaded cap (carbonated water, seltzer water, sparkling water, mineral water etc.). Wine bottles (even if they have a threaded cap) won't work.
• (Gadjit) premade plastic feeder base. You can occasionally find these adapters (they are designed to make a feeder out of a plastic 2 liter soda bottle) at a pet store, but you can also purchase one from ebay - less than $4.00
• 8 gauge copper wire (Home Depot - 66 cents/foot).

Male Cardinal

How to:

Wrap the copper wire around the bottle. Start at the neck of the bottle (I make a small loop in the wire to have something to hold onto while I twist the wire). Continue wrapping the wire around the bottle making a hook or S shape at the top for hanging.  -Add some "bling" (jewelry pendant, etc.). 

Add birdseed - hang the feeder - watch the action!

Tufted Titmouse

Female House Finch (or is it a female Purple Finch?)

Male House Finch ~ Male Cardinal

House Finch ~ Black-capped Chickadee

Downy Woodpecker

I invite you to "like" my Facebook page to see all the Market happenings and my latest DIY projects! Click on this link:

Rebecca's Bird Gardens (Facebook)

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DIY Burlap Thistle Sock

Pine Siskins ~ Cardinal watching the action!

I recently conducted a class for the Master Gardener chapter that I'm a member of on making bird-feeders utilizing natural sources, recycled materials and re-purposed items. Of course the best bird-feeder is what nature provides: nuts, seeds and fruit from native trees, shrubs and wildflowers (and native insects)... Here's my hand-out for my "bird" talk I give:  Creating a Bird Garden

But - this class was all about creating bird-feeders and I came up with a few originals and I experimented with several I found on the Internet. As far as I know this DIY is an original, but I've came to the conclusion that there really isn't a novel idea anymore. Even if you think that you thought of something first - you probably didn't... Really the best thistle feeder is a purchased tube feeder that is specifically designed to hold this small seed and prevent waste. When I tried to come up with a DIY way to offer thistle, a sock feeder seemed like the logical option. The examples that I found didn't seem that durable and were rather unattractive, such as a DIY thistle sock made out of recycled or repurposed pantyhose... Another tutorial used the mesh lining out of old running shorts. Neither of these examples sounded as if they would hold up very long or actually work. I decided to construct my own version of a thistle sock using burlap because - it's cheap, the weave is small enough that the seed won't fall out and it's more attractive than watching the birds eat from an old pantyhose :) I'm not sure how long this sock will last... So far it's been re-filled three times and hasn't shown any signs of damage. And - at less than 50 cents a feeder, I think it's a pretty cheap way to offer thistle to my backyard birds - if only the thistle or Nyjer seed wasn't so expensive! 

Supplies:
1/4 yard burlap (about $1.00 and will make 3 socks)
jute
sewing machine, scissors, pins...

Cut out a rectangle about 8 x 15"
An easy trick to cut a straight line in burlap is to pull a string out. - This makes a line to follow when cutting...

Fold the rectangle in half lengthwise and sew the sides and one end using a 5/8" seam allowance. Double stitch the seam by sewing another seam 1/4" from the edge. In my first version, I noticed that the birds found the seeds easiest to pick from the seam - double stitching the seam will definitely increase the durability of the sock!

Turn under the top edge of the sock (right sides together) 3/4" and stitch 1/4" from the edge.

Turn the sock right side out.

Using a safety pin attached to 1 yard of jute, make a small hole in the folded edge and thread the jute through the fold.

I added a couple of wooden beads to the ends of the jute and secured them with a knot above and below the bead.

Add thistle to the sock (a funnel works well), pull the jute tight and tie. Make the jute strands into a slip knot to hang.

Watch the action!

Pine Siskins and American Goldfinches

Male Red-bellied Woodpecker
Not at all interested in thistle... Just a resting spot!

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