Hotter than Hot

I don't know if there is anyway to keep cool this time of year especially when it was 95 degrees at 4:30 am.  Now at 9:45 it is 104 so you can kinda guess what kind of day it will be around here.  Even so I try my best to keep the girls and boy cool.

Water bottles in the nesting boxes with a fan blowing on them works great while they are laying.

Nothing like wading in the water to keep cool.

I put open dishes out with water for drinking but they all seem to enjoy standing in them.  Pedicure anyone?

w

Keeping cool

Living in Mesa can be challenging in the summer especially if you're a chicken.  The heat can be very hard on them if they don't have shade and lots of water.  I add frozen water bottles to their waterers and check on them throughout the day to make sure the water hasn't turned hot.  They love cold cantalope and ice wreaths with fruits and veggies hidden inside.

Working in the garden

Having chickens has many rewards and one of those is their ability to help you in the garden.  I cleaned the tomoatoes out and let the chickens in to do their thing by digging up and rototilling the dirt to prepare the garden for fall planting.

Those perfect little round holes were made by the chickens doing their dustbathing.  The added feathers from the molting hens will add lots of nourishment to my garden.

My backyard country living

Hello, my name is Diane and I was born in the city and than my parents moved me to the country when I was 12 years old but when I got married I ended back up in the city.  What they say is true that you can take the girl out of the country but you can't take the country out of the girl.  With the support of a tolerant and loving husband I have started turning our city backyard into a country life backyard.  This blog is my journey to fulfil my country living dreams.  I may not be able to move right now but I can still have some of the country life that I love so much.  We have 11 chickens and 1 rooster, 3 dogs and 2 cats.  I have plans for a large garden in my backyard as soon as the summer months are behind us.  I hope you visit often and see how all this progresses.  I'm excited to see how it all turns out.