A giant rainbow

There’s always one. Someday I hope to get a batch of chicks who are completely free of pasty butt. This time it was Idalis. On the plus side, I have gotten good at detecting the early signs and intervening before it gets disgusting. In fact, on the second morning when I washed her little behind for the first time, the poop that was stuck to her down dissolved almost immediately. And I only had to do it for two days, and she was fine. I take an inordinate amount of pride in my new skill. I am the Queen of Pasty Butt Remediation.

We were already overrun with 13-striped ground squirrels. We now have dozens of adolescent squirrels running around. Cute, but annoying. It is high time for a feral cat to show up.

Adolescent ground squirrel foraging for sunflower seeds on the patio

We had a storm last night about 8:30. It was brief but came with Big Wind. Just at sunset, the sky cleared in the west to produce the most incredible rainbow I have ever seen. Due to the low angle of the sun, the rainbow was HUGE. It was also complete and double—most of a circle stretching high into the air. Plus the area in the middle was bright orange from the setting sun. I had to photograph it in two frames.

Rainbow, north half, over the house to give a size of scale

Rainbow, south half

And to the west as a beautiful sunset.

And the sunset in the west

The chicks are starting to get real feathers. It’s a bittersweet time. They grow up so fast!

We have decided on a name for the last Americauna chick. She is Rita Dolores. I’d been thinking she should have two names. When Jane read that we had a Spanish theme, she suggested naming her after Rita Dolores Moreno, a Puerto Rican actress that she admires. When I told Hilda, she also expressed admiration. I don’t get out much and know her only as the feisty Anita from West Side Story. As of this morning, Rita Dolores is getting wing feathers.

Rita Dolores

Here’s the wing development of one of the Black Star chicks.

Black star wings

And this photo shows Idalis' tail feathers as well as  her wings. Aren't they cute?

Idalis with wing and tail feathers

The meat chickens are already getting bigger than the pullets. Tonight, day 5, we need to take the food away so they won’t grow faster than their legs can support.

Broilers are already getting big