Hello from Chicken Paradise Hawaii — it’s me and Natsu, and the sky is blue again.
Wasps in the nap spot
Natsu loves napping in the old storage shed we used to use. A wasp nest appeared there once and I removed it, but now there’s another one. I woke Natsu from her nap, so she’s swishing her tail angrily (a swishing tail means an angry cat, apparently). A little massage calmed her down.
We can’t use chemicals here, so I do something a bit crazy: scoop the nest into a cup of soapy water. Sorry, wasps. Got it!
These are paper wasps, which build their nests from a kind of paper. They’re related to hornets and can be aggressive, so unlike honeybees, they need to be removed. Natsu was stung by one before and her face swelled up, so I’d rather that didn’t happen again. I’ve seen other methods online, but for easy cleanup, good old soapy water it is.
Inside the nest you can see white eggs around the edges, wriggling larvae, and sealed capsules where nearly grown wasps are developing — very sturdy, even though it’s made of paper. Apparently this kind of wasp has no queen, and ordinary females can start a nest anywhere. The first nest I removed had about ten wasps, so I think one survived and started again in the same place. That’s why they’re so disliked in America. Now Natsu can nap without getting stung!
Afternoon egg round
Then Natsu, still cross, came along to collect eggs with me — not that she helped at all. It’s been about six hours since my first round, so let’s see. An egg with no hen near it, one cracked, one just lying on the ground. Why?
Taiyo pecked me hard — ouch! Some hens are so determined they’ve gone bald in patches. Mikan is back in a nest box for the first time in a while; she lays small white eggs. Tsuki, Taiyo’s sibling, is sitting in the wrong place entirely. When I carry eggs, the hens think I’m carrying food. Glico isn’t trying to eat them, though — she wants to roll one over and sit on it. Thank you, Shachi, for this oddly rough, bumpy one.
In under six hours: ten eggs! I’d already collected about sixty this morning. Ladies, you can slow down.
A fierce young hen
This hen hatched late last year and is quite young, but she’s incredibly bold. She just went after big sister Purin, who now looks very sorry for herself. Purin, stay near Natsu and you’ll be protected. None of her siblings are this fierce — only her. Please don’t get dragged into fights, okay?
Thanks for watching Chicken Paradise Hawaii! See you next time.