Friday, March 13, 2009

Flowers that normally bloom in the Spring Tra-la

Before I went into hospital I pruned this tree, a Santa Rosa plum, so that it will be easier to net next fruiting season. We have had an extremely hot summer this year and the trees cant work out just what is going on. This one is in full flower and the bees are buzzing all over it. I cant make it up the hill to inspect the other trees, but Popeye assures me that there are flowers on them as well. Its autumn (fall) here in OZ they are supposed to be shedding their leaves, not flowering !

We lost one of our laying hens to a fox yesterday, the first one in 3 years. Since we keep the female alpacas in the same paddock where we free range the chickens, we have to date been confidant that the hens would be safe from these nasty, foxie beasts. It must have waited until the alpacas were out of sight, over the hill and then made its move. The remaining hens are too scared to venture out this morning. I expect the trauma will affect the number of eggs for a while.
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4 comments:

greenfumb said...

That is very sad, I hope she didn't suffer. :-(

Olive said...

Yes Greenfumb it is sad. when foxes take a chook they bite its head off first and eat it, the body is carried away to be devoured some where else. One can only imagine how the poor hen must suffer.
The problem here is that our property abuts the State Forest and this year, in their wisdom, they have decided not to have a fox eradication programe. So afternext breeding season there will be hundreds of these marauding blighters looking for an easy lunch.

greenfumb said...

Oh that's horrible. We live in the suburbs of Sydney and we have to be wary of foxes too, our chook pens have wire floors and they have to be locked in at night. I haven't seen any foxes and I think our dog would give them what for but I know people who have seen them. Shame those fools imported them in the first place. Deb

Olive said...

Hi Deb, To further my comment re. foxes, they are cunning, sly, canny and any other word similar. They will hunt in pairs or packs, one keeping the dogs or guardian alpacas occupied away from the free ranging chickens, while the other fox sneaks in for the kill. Years ago we lost, in one night, 80 point of lay Australorps, killed for fun. They didn't eat them, just left them dead on the ground. They gained entry to the yard by biting a hole in the chicken wire !!