FRANCIS'S BLOG 10/06/2025
Chickens at work! 🐔
Good morning. I think my hooves are a little sore today. The cat-cops will keep an eye on me and call the vet if necessary:
One good thing about having chickens around is that they break up our poopies while looking for bugs:
Since it’s hard to see from the picture above, let’s watch a short movie of them in action:
Can you see how they break up the poopies with their feet? Chickens are great “manure managers!” 🐔
Our friend Red is here! 😺
Good morning!
Today we have a blooming sunflower. . .
A beautiful moth. . .
And Red!
Nice to see you, Red! Come have breakfast with us!
No need to sneak in. 😺
Happiness is a barn full of hay! 😺
Good morning! A lot was going on last night:
Farmer Rich and his friends loaded the barn with hay!
Isn’t it cool, fresh and green, Onslow?
“Yes it is, and it smells sweet, too. It’s a great place for a cat-nap!” 😺
Chickens get a treat! 🐔
Don’t worry, I think I’m ok. I’m just not quite awake, yet:
A carrot will pick me up:
Here I am, on my feet and enjoying breakfast hay with the gang:
And the chickens are enjoying some leftover sandwiches of beef and cucumbers, sliced to chicken-size:
Let’s watch them eat:
Treat days are fun days! 🐔
Thank Goodness for Good Friends! 🐴
We’re celebrating that it was barely 60 this morning!
Look at all this fresh-cut alfalfa hay!
Farmer Rich and his son, Todd, parked it in the riding arena to let it dry. It’s only August, but we have to start storing food for winter!
Speaking of food, the chickens’ sunflowers are developing blooms:
From sunflowers come delicious sunflower seeds! 🌻
We’re actually glad to see clouds! 🐴
Finally, we’re getting some relief from the heat:
Anyway, as you know, everyone loves laying their eggs up in the sawdust (it must be the view). But this gray chick can’t squeeze in:
That’s it, chickie, use a nesting box!—that’s what they’re for!
Good job, girl!
Two pretty blue eggs! 🐔
Chickens after sundown 🐔
Good morning! We’re looking forward to the cooler weather and rain on the way:
The terrible heat has brought out big, spooky spiders! Eeeek!
Last night, the cat-cops had to wait until dark to put the birds away:
Let’s watch a video. You can see that even after 8PM they’re still panting from the heat, poor things!
Don’t worry, chickies, it’ll be better tomorrow. 🐴
The heat keeps coming! 😿
We got a nice, new, quiet fan:
The heat has been hardest on the chickens, even though there are fans in the coops.
We’re letting them run wherever there’s shade:
We’ve put out water everywhere, and are feeding them cold watermelon!
Let’s watch them eat:
Yum! 🐔
Well water is always cool 🐴
It will be almost 100 today and over 100 tomorrow! We need water from deep underground and we need it now!
How refreshing! All our tanks are being overflowed, so the water will be ok until evening chores:
I’m staying in the shade:
Stormy is staying by the fan:
Fly masks, fresh from the washing machine, help, too:
Stay cool, everybody! 🐎
Nobody here but us chickens 🐔
Dukie says, “Good morning! I’m looking guilty about something, but I’m not telling you what it was.”
Hey, where am I?
I’m in the shade with Martha and Missy:
Speaking of chickens, here’s Ginger in the hay barn. Please don’t lay any eggs up there:
Finally, hey, what do you see, Buttons?
Whatever it is, it appears to have you intrigued. 😺
It’s a horses-only post 🐎
Good morning! My day just got brighter:
Stormy’s bright-eyed and ready for the pasture (of course, he’s wearing a mask, so we’ll have to take his word about his eyes):
His mother wants a drink:
I’ll try to clear out Jewel and Chavez for you, Misty. 🐴
Oh, it’s going to be so hot this week! 😾
Complaining about the heat won’t make it go away, so let’s change the subject. 🐴
As you know, the Easter-egger “babies” have only been laying eggs since mid-July, so their eggs have been small:
But more and more of their eggs are getting to regular size:
Other than that, you’re in the wrong coop, Baldy:
If you were a girl chicken, Baldy, we would understand: The hens love laying their eggs in this coop, though they don’t spend the night there:
Here’s Ginger, first thing in the morning, pushing past the chicks to get in:
She must really need to lay that egg! 🐔
Fresh tomatoes make happy chickens 🐔
Security Deputy Betty is on lookout:
The chickens are enjoying some choice tomatoes. The garden is full of them (tomatoes, not chickens):
And what’s wrong with this picture?
I’m the only one not wearing a mask. Don’t worry, I’ve let “management” know about it. 🐴
Happy Friday! 🐴
Peek-a-boo!
Oh!—here’s a groundhog eating peanuts in East Moline:
But, back to the farm, Ginger joins me for breakfast:
And two Wyandottes are out with Rose:
I’m afraid that’s all I have 😿, so let’s watch the chickens buzz about, having just been let out of the coops:
As you can see, most chickens stay within the fence. 🐴
Betty’s morning 😺
Good morning. The hot weather is creeping back:
I think Betty is “supervising” the filling of the duck water:
Yep, Betty, that one is empty:
And this one is being filled (Betty loves pointing out the obvious):
Now she’s inspecting our masks:
Watch her in action! Betty likes clean mask day as much as we do:
We like clean masks because they’re easier to see through. She just likes the fresh smell. 😺
What a load of poopie! 🐎
I’m staying in the shade today:
The weather may be warm, but we have cool blue eggs:
Oh my! Look at all these poopies:
What a disgrace!
But look at it now:
Our friend Jake cleaned it out completely:
Rose and Iris are delighted:
A clean stable is a happy stable! 🐴
Crowded chicken house! 🐴
Good morning! It’s only 64℉—a welcome change!
It’s a great day to be way out in the far pasture. Can you see us?
Here we are!
Finally, poor Missy can’t find an empty nest!
“Hurry up, girls! I need to lay my egg!” 🐔
It’s a great morning, if you’re a duck! 🦆
Paschal says, “Good morning!”
It’s very wet:
Jewel and I are sharing hay and looking at the puddles:
Speaking of puddles, let’s watch Ferdinand play in his!
Ferdie doesn’t care if the roof leaks! 🦆
Hello doggies! 🐴
Good morning! It’s cloudy, but no rain yet:
My, that’s a crunchy carrot:
Ginger is having an apple, and Martha is having a cucumber:
And look who’s here! Sophie, Calla, Nixie, and Dukie:
They are ready to be let out and have fun. They haven’t all been together for months! 🐴
A visitor says, “Good morning!” 🐴
Onslow would say good morning but he’s distracted:
And Jewel and I are having some hay:
But Ms. Toad says, “I’ll be happy to say, ‘Good morning!’ I’ve just arrived from the creek, and am excited to meet everyone here.”
(It could also be a gentleman toad—I’m a donkey, not a herpetologist!) 🐴
No news is good news! 😺
The duck has the pool all to himself:
And I have this hay bale all to myself:
I think I have the better deal. Good morning! 🐴
Chicken discipline 🐔
Onslow says, “Good morning. Rose’s mask needs washed tonight!”
These chickens hopped over the fence, as usual:
But they should know by now that only good chickens, who stay in the pen, get treats from the garden:
Delicious yellow tomatoes!
Finally, this chickie just laid a blue egg:
It’s still shiny! 🐔
Cloudy Wednesday 🐔
Schroeder says, “Good morning! I see the fly masks are clean and ready to go!”
The hens love the sawdust, and just those two particular nesting boxes:
Sometimes they crowd in two at a time:
I guess they like the view from the sawdust bag:
Missy’s saying, “Are you still laying your egg, Indira?—or did you fall asleep?” 🐔
Worms for the ducks 🦆 and tomatoes for the chickens! 🐔
Good morning! Excuse me for talking with my mouth full:
Schroeder is having a drink of fresh water on the cool, dewy grass:
Let’s watch Aoife, Danny Fairbrass, and Patrick have mealworms:
And the chickens have tomatoes from the garden!
Delicious and nutritious! 😺
Hidden eggs!
Good morning! It poured all last night:
All the rain has made the water tanks crystal clear, so the fish are happy!
We’ve always thought the hens were laying eggs in the stable, but no one could find them. . .
Until today!
Our friend Jake noticed them behind our feed cabinet! 🐔
Oh no! Where’s breakfast? 🐴
I’m snacking on grass until the truck gets here. Everybody else is in their stalls:
Thank goodness!
Ok, cat-cops, get it out of the truck. . .And into our bowls, please! 🐎
Sophie is a star! 🐴
These two swallows say, “Good morning! We were born just this year in your stable. We’ll come back next year and make nests of our own. We love your farm—it’s our summer home!”
It’s cloudy, so we’ll make some sunshine by having carrots!
Iris gets one. . .
And Stormy (everybody gets a carrot, but you know that):
And, of course, we have a chicken in the stable:
Guess what? This morning, Sophie’s “spinning” video has 2,006,186 views and 123,602 likes!
Sophie is famous on YouTube! 😺
Movies of me! 🐴
We have a magnolia blossom greeting us this morning:
It’s very humid, once again, and the flies are all over. I’ll get a nice spray after I finish my breakfast:
But before I get my spray and mask, I’ll sneak out the gate and have some cool green grass:
This grass is much more convenient than the grass in the pasture. 🐴
Fowl videos! 😺
Betty says, “Good morning!”
The chickens are having tomatoes:
Let’s see what else the birds are up to!
The ducks are “filter feeding.” That is, they have fine, comb-like structures along the inside of their bills, called lamellae, which let them pull in the muddy water and filter out tiny bugs and seeds:
And here’s Missy, having a good cackle before settling down to lay her egg:
It gets noisy around here! 🐔
A change is as good as a rest! 🐴
Let’s look at Mary’s artwork that won First Place at this year’s fair!
How intriguing!
This is Sophie!
And Ann did this winner! 
How artsy! 🐴
Happy Tuesday 🐴
Patrick, Aoife, and Danny Fairbrass are waiting to jump in!
We’re on our way to the far pasture:
Jewel, Chezzie, and Stormy beat me out there, of course:
Well, let’s see: We have two chicks on this nest:
And one chick on this nest:
I guess we’ll have three blue eggs. . .
Just like yesterday! 🐔