Quail eggs have been slow to arrive. Obviously there are hens and roosters, but a max of four eggs a day out of 18 quail is ridiculous. We had our first major quail fight, bad enough I had to cull the male that was attacked. I decided it was time to sex them and butcher all but two males. Good news, they were all laying between six and seven weeks—there’s only four hens. I apologized for all the pep talks.

The amaranth and clover patches are coming along wonderfully. They are still thicker in some places than others. I’ll be mulching the amaranth with well-aged compost and dividing clumps of clover the fill in open areas today.

There has finally been some barn progress! Kevin finished the metal roofing last week and I’ve slowly been adding roosts and doors. One stall is ready and full of 30 Marans. I’m hoping to have the second door done today and fill it with the Bielefelders. There are four stalls in total and a large central room that houses the quail and chicks and will have a an area sectioned off for a walk-in bantam aviary. Each breed will have a large run behind the barn through a wooded area.

The barn is directly across the house and the wooded area is like an island, a little clump of dense mixed forest left there by the previous owner in the middle of an otherwise open area. Predators would have to cross the lawn to get to it. I plan to set up motion lights and game cams for security, as well as solar powered electric 3-string fence along the outer perimeter of their run fencing.

Mealworms shipped orders are on hold while this heat wave continues to grip Maine. I gave away some local samples in trade for fun photos of their pets enjoying them. It was a good way to meet some local folks. If any of you reading this are locals, hit me up for a 500-count sample. I’ll see if I have enough at my next sifting count.