Winter Chores!

Farmer Man shovelling the....

What a difference a couple of days makes!  Sunday: temperature close to the freezing mark - quite balmy for February in Manitoba.  Two days later we wake up to -30 Celsius with a windchill of -38 C! Good thing we got some chores done!

Number one priority for us was cleaning the chicken coop.  Not a wash down/scrub down kind of clean; it's still way too cold to be using water that would freeze too quickly.  It was time for hauling out the existing bedding and refreshing it with new.  We'd been waiting for a warm enough day when we were both around - not an easy thing to co-ordinate with Farmer Man working off the farm!  We'd tried a 'deep litter' method whereas you don't haul out the bedding, you top it up.  Theory is that the mix of bedding and manure composts in place, providing some warmth.  We've decided it's not our favorite method; the depth built up quickly and it was kind of slippery.  Plus, the chickens' feet seemed dirtier all the time so the eggs were dirtier!

Watching the weather forecast we knew Sunday would be the day!  High forecast to be around the freezing mark and both of us free.  The endeavor starts with kicking the chickens out of the coop - one of the reasons we want a nice day.  With their hatch open and a number of them already outside, we lured the rest out by throwing scratch grains out in the pasture.  The flurry of activity from the outside chickens always draws the others out - if there is even a rumour of tasty treats, chickens hustle over to see what's going on!  Once they chickens were largely all out, the open door to the coop covers the hatch so no one can get back inside.  A few hens didn't make it out and Rocky the Rooster chose to stay with them, so we had to work around a few bodies!

The litter was, particularly under the roosts, about a foot deep.  We use mostly wood chips for litter, with some straw/hay mixed in because that's largely what we use in the nests and it gets kicked around. With the deep litter method, when the chips are quite soiled with manure, you put another layer of wood chips on top.  The result was something in weird, dense, plastic layers.  It was heavy and didn't break up easily: once you got a shovel under it, when you lifted, it bent rather than breaking.  It was hard work and it took three tractor buckets to clean it out!  It didn't smell all that bad, fortunately.  A quick sweep and we put down another couple of bales of wood chips and everything smells better and looks better!

A few more things got done as well.  Snow has been pushed off the roof of the house, the path up to the barn and the chicken coop has been cleared, the barn got a good sweep.  It's not exactly Spring cleaning, but it's a start! 

Combining Two Chicken Flocks

Rocky the Rooster and The Hens have lived in their insulated coop since it was built.  The Chicks started out in Farmer Man's shop in their incubator, then moved into the greenhouse when they got bigger and then into the new shed/coop when it arrived.  We have always intended to combine the two flocks in the insulated coop for the winter.  Combining two flocks can be interesting: roosters and hens alike can fight, pull feathers and cause general mayhem while establishing their 'pecking order'.  We were particularly concerned because our ten Ameraucana chicks had turned into six feisty roosters and four hens.  We really like Rocky: he's a gentleman and a great protector of his little flock; we'd hate to have anything happen to him.  We're not quite so fond of some of the Ameraucana roosters; they are aggressive, randy and don't really look out for the hens.  We had put the Ameraucana roosters on our local web site eBrandon as breeding stock but no takers.

We did have the knowledge that the two flocks had been free ranging together for the last two months with few problems.   We were still debating the best way to go about the whole thing when Mother Nature decided for us, as is often the way on the small farm.  A forecast of 10 - 15 centimetres of snow (3 - 6 inches) with forecast lows of -22 C (about -10 F), freaky cold for November.  There was no decision to be made anymore: The Chicks had to go into the insulated house or perhaps freeze to death!  Farmer Man got busy installing new, more extensive roosts from willow scavenged from our shelter.  The willow is a great example of reusing, recycling because he had originally cut the heavy branches for feeding the goats, choosing ones that were big enough but not too big for roosts!  The goats eat the leaves and the bark, so the branches were nice and smooth for chicken roosts.

We let The Chicks go to bed as usual in their shed that evening and, with snow falling, we carried the sleepy Chicks into the insulated coop where Rocky and The Hens were already cozying up for the evening.  So far, no big problems.  We can certainly see a few hens with some missing feathers, but no big fights have ensued.  The biggest problem for us is that not all The Chicks 'get' their new home yet and return to the shed each evening.  In cold, windy, snowy conditions Farmer Man and I have had to find them and return them to the insulated coop each night.  Three or four that have been laying their eggs in the barn are also insisting on maintaining that habit, too.  We've had to step up our egg gathering so that we find the barn eggs before they freeze!

Coop Cleaning...and A Bath!

It has been a beautiful day; it's gotten warm enough that it's dripping off the roof of the house, garage and barn! Rather like Spring! Farmer Man had been watching the weather forecast and had picked today for a little spring cleaning in the chicken coop. He went out yesterday to stock up on not only food, but fresh wood chips as well. It's not an easy task to clean a coop: chickens poop, drop food, splash water and then walk all over it to pack it all down! Farmer Man was able to direct all The Hens and Rocky outside, shovelled the whole thing out, swept and then laid down fresh wood chips. Smells and looks fresh!

In the meantime, I had refreshed the dust bath. We've got a big bale of Sunshine Mix #3 here for seeding and I mixed about another third of diatomaceous earth in with it and put it outside where The Hens were congregating. Instant hit - we had a line up! Bath and a clean bed - it's been a good day for The Hens!

Extreme Makeover: Coop Edition

Ok, it's not all that extreme, but I got your attention, didn't I? A wee reference to one of my fav TV shows. The Christmas tree lot is finished and Farmer Man has a bit more time, so a rather over-due cleaning and tidying of the chicken coop has been accomplished. He's trying something new: we've been using all wood shavings and we've gone to wood shavings under the roosts and straw in the rest. Straw in the laying boxes, too. The clean-up, and the addition of straw made it smell so clean and sweet! The chickens love scratching through the straw, although the first problem presenting itself seems to be that they are scratching straw right into the waterers and clogging things up! We'll have to raise them up a bit more. Next on Farmer Man's list: he's taking out the roosts made of willow branches from our shelterbelt and replacing them with some wooden ladders such as he has seen in Backyard Poultry Magazine (our fav chicken magazine). I got out shopping (I think that's my official job here) and found a great high-sided kitty litter box! Got a bag of potting soil without fertilizer or water retaining gel and voila - chicken bath! Peat moss, as recommended by Cynthia in a previous post, was harder to find than I might have imagined. I've been hanging around with the video camera a bit, but the girls are too shy to bath in front of me, it seems. Farmer Man also spread a little straw around the coop door, and some of The Hens ventured out for a while today; it was a balmy minus 12 Celsius, so a rather nice day!

Ummmm, Still Nope!

It is reasonably warm here today: minus 7 C (about 18 F) so I prepared to let The Hens out. After the complete refusal last time, I took some suggestions made to heart and shovelled out an area around the little ramp from the chicken door. I also spread a little bit of straw around, to further entice them. I then sat there for fifteen minutes calling, clucking and cooing. A couple of the Browns stuck their heads out, but that's all I got. Feeling a little chilly, I decided to go with the Chicken Pinata for today's entertainment and had brought along some sliced Kabocha squash and apple. That received a much better response!

Ummmm, Nope!

For February, it's quite nice here. Saturday's temperature got up to a balmy minus 4 C (about 22 F). Today is suppose to get up to about minus 10. Thought The Hens might be getting a little cabin fever so opened up their door on Saturday. Threw a little scratch down the ramp and onto the snow at the bottom. After doing other chores for a couple of hours, I returned to the coop to find nobody had ventured out! Some chicken prints at the top of the ramp, going after the scratch, but nothing further. At least the coop got a good airing out!

Chicken Integration!

The new coop is finished, and just like that The Girls and The Chicks are moved in! Buddy has gone back to where he came from, Rocky rules the roost and everyone seems to be settling in much better than we anticipated. We had debated about how to join the two flocks, but the weather made the decision easy! We did try to put a bamboo fence between the two but it didn't want to stay up; the two flocks mixed when the fence went over and everyone seemed to be getting along fine. We hung out a while last night after we got everyone in: we wanted to check the temperature, break up any fights or whatever needed doing. Not much needed doing! This morning, too, I sat up there a little while and every thing seemed quite calm. I was just up there again, early afternoon, and there seems to be a little jocking and pecking for position but there are no feathers strewn around or other signs of violence - so fingers crossed for a peaceful transition!

Chicken Coop, Almost!

Now that harvest and clean-up are largely finished, Farmer Man has turned his attention back to the coop. It's very close: two windows and a door, power has been run to it, roof is on and inside, it's all insulated, wrapped and most of the ceiling is in place. Just in time, too. The weather has been awesome for November, but it looks like next week will cool down. Our chief concern now, how to integrate both flocks. We're finding the new rooster Buddy is a bit aggressive; when collecting eggs a few days ago I stood up by him and he gave me a big old peck on my cheek! We don't think Rocky is as aggressive or as big, so we're a little concerned because we don't want anything to happen to Rocky. And Rocky's little son is suppose to return to Aagaard Farms, soon. If anyone has any advice on combining the two, please let us know. Both flocks should be left in the new coop for a couple of days so that they understand it is their new home. We may have to erect fencing between the two, and literally mirror and space with two sets of roosts, two sets of nests, etc. It does have two separate chicken doors, but one is now currently within the fenced pasture so a little re-fencing may be in order!

We've Got Four Walls!

With the farm to himself on Wednesday, Farmer Boy got busy on the chicken coop, without interruptions. And did things progress! We've got four walls and some rafters! Spaces are in place for the door and windows, two little chicken doors are operational and things are well on their way! With good weather in the forecast until next week, and a long weekend coming up, maybe we'll get some more work done this weekend.

The Chicks Move On Up!

The Chicks are out-growing their makeshift coop; there is no longer any doubt about it. They've discovered from their new roosts that they can get up on top of the walls and that is where almost half are roosting on a regular basis over the last two days. This is a concern as they could now get down onto the floor of the barn and basically wander away into the shelter belt and bush. Or a dog could decide they were a plaything. Or a fox or coyote or heavens-knows-what-else-that-lurks could decide to have them for dinner. But the chicken coop does progress! After a couple of rainy days, building resumed yesterday and the coop now has a third wall. Whoopee! No more building for the next three days, though, because it is Farmers' Markets weekend! One everyday for the next three - too busy for building!

Chicken Coop in Motion

With the help of the crew, we're somewhat caught up; work on the chicken coop progresses. We've got walls, two out of four isn't bad for a couple of days work between harvesting for CSA and the Neighbourhood Country Market. We'll have a south facing window and door, and there will be a window on the east side. Little chicken doors, at ground level, will be on the north and east side. New fencing will be built, tight up on the building. We're probably going to divide the coop and the two doors will open onto two separate pastures. That way we can keep the Isa Browns and the Leghorns separate: tooooo many girls for Rocky, otherwise. Don't want to stress the rooster, don't you know?

The Chicks Leave Home

Well, leave the house, actually. It was all getting a bit much - they could get up on the sides of their pen, from there onto the furniture where they were, well, pooping with great abandon. The whole house was starting to smell like a chicken coop. So, Farmer Boy built a new pen in the barn and we carefully placed them in crates and moved them out! Empty nest time for us! I kind of miss the sound of their peeping and cheeping. The new pen has more room and higher sides, but still has the heat lamp so they should be happy. And all just in time - niece Laura is coming for a visit in a few weeks and the sunroom is probably where she'll sleep. A BIG cleanup is in order, now!

The chicken coop has been started. It has a floor! Construction should go fairly quickly now. Nothing happened yesterday, though, as we had a very good (and timely) rain. The Girls seem quite happy in their makeshift coop but it is getting a little dirty for our taste. We did 'muck' it out a few days ago but they can get up on the sides and we can't wash down hay bales. So, time for a move, soon.

The Girls Get Down to Business

Babies get all the attention, and our Leghorn hens must be feeling a little left out of late. The Girls are doing fine. We're consistently getting fourteen to seventeen eggs a day and the sizes are getting larger. They have a pen larger than our living room and kitchen combined, incorporating five large, old spruce for protection and shade. They happily scratch and cluck all day, particularly enjoying the couple of mole hills in the pen. They've gotten very comfortable in their makeshift coop; we no longer find any eggs outside under the trees, they are all in the coop. As the real coop gets constructed, we wonder about transitioning them into their new home. We may take their nest boxes and move them into the new structure, for some familiarity.

We wonder why we're not getting more eggs in a day. Officially, hens lay every twenty four to twenty eight hours, so maybe the Girls are just not co-ordinating their schedules. We've also wondered if Funky Butt is capable of laying with her deformed rear end (is that politically correct to label her?) The first hen we ever named was Old Mama, because she seemed bigger and older from day one. Maybe the supplier snuck a mature hen in and she IS older and not laying consistently. She has seemed more lethargic in this heat, as well. Well, nothing to do but wait and see!

The Terrible Twos

The little Isa Brown chicks are just over two weeks old! They've changed so much it is rather amazing. They are starting to get more mobile, they can easily fly up to the enclosure around their pen, and may even start roosting there soon. From the pen, they could conceivably fly to the desk, then to the wall unit, then.........It makes it, um, interesting to care for them now because anywhere they've been, they've pooped so we have to be very careful getting into the pen. No more sitting on the edge to watch them.

In the evenings they still like to snuggle up under the heat lamp; we have raised the lamp and they don't get right under it anymore. It may help that we are finally getting some hot weather, with nights staying up around 14 Celsius (roughly 60F) the little ones don't need the lamp as much. Last night was the first night that we left a window open in the sunroom. Partially to keep it cooler, partially so that the smell didn't build up! Yes, we need a chicken coop soon!! Farmer Boy has been so busy setting out seedlings that the coop is still in it's raw state. As the chicks continue to grow, they may be able to escape the sunroom soon and we'll wake up with a couple in bed with us!

They Grow Up So Fast...

The chicks are growing rather quickly! It's only been three days they've been with us and we can already see changes. Particularly the wings; the babes have little wings all of a sudden, with little spotted feathers where only fuzz used to be. They are getting a wee bit bigger, too. Not really noticeable but a little heftier. They are a little steadier on their feet but there is still some rough-and-tumble around the food dish. They picked up on the eating thing really fast; they all try to stand in the dish for best pecking. Quite cute (oh, no, there's that "c" word again!)

The 'girls' are doing very well, too. We got seventeen eggs today, almost one from everybody! They have definitely filled out a bit since they arrived. They've settled in rather nicely: all the eggs were inside the roost tonight, and almost half were in the nests! It will be interesting to move the 'girls' into the finished chicken coop and it will be reaaaaally interesting to try to mix the two groups! The 'girls' are Leghorns and the 'chicks' are Isa Browns, so at least we'll be able to tell them apart!

Chicken Coop - Raw!

Farmer Boy certainly has his work cut out for him now!! Delivered today: chicken coop construction material. Twenty five chicks arrive in five days, and they will need a home. Granted, they cooould start out in the sunroom but we haven't quite figured out how to tell the two cats that the little creatures will NOT be for amusement purposes. So, Farmer Boy must build, seed, plant seedlings, water, cultivate areas to be planted, keep up with the weeds, feed and tend 'the girls', and well, it's really great when he makes dinner, too!!

Farmer Boy has his design settled on and will have a proper door and a small window. Lo and behold!! At the dump today he finds an excellent triple-paned window. In great condition! How to reuse and recycle!