Swiech Homestead Happenings

10/14/2026

I planted pumpkin seeds in late June and 4 germinated. I transplanted them into my garden when they were about 6” tall. I figured 90-100 days would make the pumpkins ready for Halloween. Nope! It is October 14th and out of the two seedlings that hadn’t gotten eaten by a rabbit, we we’ve been only getting male flowers. That’s normal for about 2 weeks but it’s been 3. This is the only potential pumpkin growing. I’ll keep an eye on it and will hand pollinate it if needed. Today I saw this bumblebee full of pollen but there’s no guarantee it will be around to pollinate this flower. Maybe we’ll have a Thanksgiving pumpkin??

10/11/2026

Hens, eggs, basil and hot peppers!

10/11/2026

10/10/2026

It’s been a beautiful, rainy, fall morning! The wind is supposed to be picking up a little but the cool crisp air is refreshing!

10/08/2026

Rocky fooled around & found out that some critters will fight back. I’m so grateful that he is ok🙏🏻💕.

At first, the constant barking this morning, made me think he encountered a snake. I went over to the corner of the fencing, which is covered in overgrown brush, and he was trying to get something in the woods, on the other side of the goat fence. I got a glimpse of Rocky through the branches and he was standing on his hind legs and looking up at a nearby tree. After making my way through the brush, I noticed about 10’ up was a large, silver-gray cat with thick, short fur trying to hold on to the side of the tree. The tree was within a few feet of the fence. The cat looked well fed. I also noticed that near the top of its thigh, it had what could have been, a wet bite mark, but it wasn’t bleeding. I’m guessing it was a bite mark, because after I got Rocky away from the corner, I noticed a scratch near Rocky’s eye, which had bled a little. I found a couple of fallen branches to block that fence corner, causing Rocky to move away. The cat jumped down with a thud and took off into the woods. Rocky could no longer get passed the branches to the fence, so he followed me inside. He briefly allowed me to wipe his boo boo with a wet tissue before sharing a snarling disapproval. Thankfully, it appears to be just a surface scratch and he’s fine. However, that scratch slightly knicked his outer eyelid. It was so close to really hurting him. I’m glad it wasn’t a bobcat or anything larger! I’ve seen a bobcat cross our property a few years ago. Hopefully, that’s the end of our excitement until the hubby returns from his CA visit with his mom. 🙏🏻

10/05/2026

Jumbo is 70g but I have two at 77g and one at 85g!!! These were from our two Buff Orpingtons that are are 1.5 years old. We got them a year ago at the 4H auction. The reason they can lay extra jumbo eggs is due to changes in temps, stress, or hormonal adjustments as they grow older. It won’t last that way. We had one ISA Brown who layed 6 larger than these! She then laid large eggs. The only hen not laying right now, is our Americana, who is molting and she lays a green/blue egg. The 85g egg wouldn’t even fit in the egg carton with the cover. The 77g barely fit.

If left unwashed, fresh eggs can be refrigerated for 3-6 months. I have water glassed them before in lime-water to be shelf stable, but recently one had exploded (possibly due to a hairline crack) and the hubby said to throw them all out. Afterwards, I read you can just clear all liquid, throw the cracked one out and put the others back into the jar with more lime/water. Since we have room in our fridge, I’m just going to fill cartons to save the extras. At most we’ll probably have 4 extra dozen. We only have 9 hens. If they slow down for winter, and sone may, we will still have eggs to eat and use. They can be fried too. The water-glassed eggs could only be scrambled or used in recipes. The yolks became less firm.

10/03/2026

The newest trio have been keeping to themselves as much as possible because they will be jumped or chased. I watched one wait in line for the longest time to use one of the larger nesting boxes. It was occupied by a Buff Orpington. I came back about an hour later and evidently she couldn’t wait any more. She moved in next to her. All was fine until I watched her try to secure a bit more room. That’s when the Buff Orpington turned and pecked her head, making her leave. She eventually laid an egg in the smaller box. They all found the coop on their own to sleep last night. I had checked before it got too dark, and one of the new girls couldn’t find a space on the roost to fly up to. The older ones weren’t budging. Finally, one of the other Black Stars moved over so she could get up. She needed a boost from standing on the lower roost to fly up. There was a whole other unused roost but she seemed to want to be near her friends. This afternoon I saw them relaxing on a perch in the main run. They have a lot of room to move about here. Their previous home kept them in an A-frame chicken tractor, which was moved each day. They had no idea what a coop was until they moved here.

10/01/2026

I know you’re supposed to physically separate new hens from your original flock for at least a week. This is primarily to make sure they are healthy and don’t infect them. Well, Dolly, Loretta and Tammy are big, healthy girls and they wanted out. They were pacing and although I have a xl kennel 3’ x 4’, when you add water, food and a nesting box, there’s not much room. Around 5:30 PM, I let them out and fed all the girls a snack. Dolly and Tammy were bolder and mingled with the others. A few of the flock went after them but I was standing near and supervised. It’s hard to watch them attack but they have to establish pecking order. As long as it’s not a violent attack and none are ganged up on, you have to tolerate some of it. Thee Black Star are pretty large birds. They are as large as my 2 Buff Orpingtons but only one of them were chasing them down. Three of my smaller hens were the main initiators. I saw Dolly and Tammy interested in joining the others in the coop, so I encouraged them but they kept leaving the ladder. Once the lights went out in the run, and the other girls found their roosting spot, I picked up the new girls one at a time and placed them inside the coop. I did leave a door propped open to the kennel in case they decided to go back. It’s close to sunrise now so I’ll be going out to make sure things go smoothly this morning. I regained my hat of CHS- Chief of Hen Security.

09/30/2026

I had a long list of names to choose from, but decided to name our Black Star hens after a special trio: Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette.

09/30/2026

I fed the girls some scrambled eggs with ground jalapeños but tried to give it to Clara first. Mabel wasn’t having any of that and kept getting in the way. I gave her some with the others but she then wanted Clara’s share. I fed Clara some through the door by hand but she wouldn’t get off the top roost and it was awkward to reach inside. I decided to attempt to feed her through the clean out doors. Mabel still intruded. She wasn’t helping! I shared what was left and went to water the garden and the seeded wildflower area. I was thinking about what Clara loved most as an occasional treat- bread. After watering, I went back inside to get a hamburger bun. I knew Clara couldn’t resist that. This time I closed the door from the run to the coop, so Mabel couldn’t get in. I approached Clara from the clean out area and when she got close enough I tapped her off the top roost and she landed in the h**p below. I had sone of the bun ready for her. She had a few little bites and I snagged her. I’ve picked her up plenty of times before so she was ok with it. Then I walked with her in my arms to the human door, backed in so she wouldn’t see the newbies, and put her on the ground near the feeder. The other girls came to greet her. Once she checked them out and realized they were caged she seemed to adjust emotionally. While this was all happening, the darker hen layed a small brown egg. The one with the most copper around her neck went in afterwards. She had been pacing back and forth prior to this, as if she really wanted out to forage. I read that they love foraging. Before I left them again, Clara came closer and to the newbies’ kennel to investigate, but then hung out with some of the others in the opposite end of the run. She had staged her “sit in” in protest/fear for 4 hours. If it wasn’t for the leftover burger bun, she might still be there. I feel better that she is able to face her fears and has access to food, water and her sisters now. She just needed a little encouragement to realize she was safe!