A Hard Day in the Yard

I have been trying to catch up with my weeding in the flower beds and the vegetable garden. With all of the rain we had earlier this summer, the weeds thrived and the seeds washed away. The garden is not the most picturesque nor fruitful as it has been in other years.

I took my 5 gallon pail to the garden and started the weeding. After not too long it got full and rather than putting it in a compost pile, I toted the bucket to the chick yard.

As the chicks grow they clear their fenced-in yard of green growth. After all, it is great food for young chickens. By this time they need extra greens in their diet and weeds are welcome fare. Yesterday, I brought them two buckets of lush, juicy weeds from the garden.

The chicks are not the only birds on the farm. The laying hens and two one-year-old roosters roam the unfenced yard looking for goodies. Any bugs and mowed grass provide a balanced diet for the older birds. The adult chickens are prominent in the backyard and calf pasture.

While I carried the weeds to the younger chickens, the roaming hens and roosters curiously approached me. I purposed to give the bulk of my produce to the chicks inside the fence. However, I impulsively tossed a meager handful to the flock of poultry as they congregated.

The two roosters were right on it. They both wanted the treat. Lowering their heads, neck feathers fanned, the fight began. With camera in my pocket, I got a couple of pictures of the action. Neither rooster hurt the other, but the challenge reared its head.