It sure is pretty outside. We have had more wind driven snow both yesterday and today.
I’ve let the hens out anyway. They need to exercise, strut and forge, and there’s not a lot of room inside for that.
The weekend is to be sunny and warmer, a touch of spring….good news for everyone!
In the bleakness of winter, we grow lettuce indoors with the AeroGarden. It’s a dirt free, foolproof, easy way to grow plants indoors. There’s a variety of kits you can purchase, from gourmet herbs, salad greens, to continuous blooming flowers and many others. About once a week we harvest up to a third of the lettuce and that replenishes new growth.
This year, we also bought a starter tray
so that we can start the seeds indoors and then transplant the seedlings when the ground is ready.
Growing fresh greens indoors is good for us and I feed some to the hens.
A useful tool that got me thru my first winter is this inexpensive temperature station. I installed a wireless sensor inside the henhouse and can monitor the indoor temperature from my kitchen counter. On this early morning, the henhouse is a tad warmer than the outside temp.
It’s important to know when the temperature drops below freezing. Buff Orpingtons are a heavy breed, winter hardy to the northeast. But chickens can get frost bite especially on their wattles and combs. On extremely cold and windy days I keep the hens indoors.
Good chicken keeping is being aware of and ensuring their environment is safe.
On a recent cold sunny winters day, we took a drive on the Old Kings Highway. We stopped at an antique shop where I found this old egg box. The shop owner told me that the box is vintage, not antique. Unfortunately, the box is not dated.
We did some research on Ebay and learned
the box is circa 1930′s and valued at $18.
So I’m quite pleased with my unique $4. purchase.
I walked out to a beautiful dusting of snow this morning. Look how it sticks to the evergreens. There was a flurry of activity at the bird feeders. No snow in the run which makes the hens happy.
While writing this I am sitting in a room that looks out on the backyard. I see that the hens are “statue like” which means danger is lurking. I watch for a while when suddenly a hawk swoops at ground level past the coop. The hens are safe because our run is fully enclosed. Unfortunately, having bird feeders to allure and watch the birds, also attracts raptors that prey on the birds. The cycle of life.
During the extremely cold weekend, I limited the hens time outdoors. But today, the sun is shining and the busy girls are back outside. Check them out on the coopcam.
Today I took advantage of the mild temperatures to do a thorough henhouse cleaning. Keeping a clean environment helps avoids disease and illness. I removed the soiled shavings, washed down the woodwork and replaced with fresh shavings. All the while, the curious chickens were right there along with me.
I can see why so many children’s book include hens as characters. I could only imagine what they were saying amongst themselves while I worked. “Now, what is she doing”….. “Hey, you missed a spot”…..”Forget the cleaning, where are our treats?”
After all my hard work, I was later rewarded with three fresh eggs. How nice to be appreciated!
After a fresh snowfall, I like to search about for animal prints and try to identify who’s been around. I can see my neighbors cat has walked through. There’s been a squirrel along with many birds at the feeding station. I found the Eastern Cottontail prints that lead to his home under my deck.
Last winter I had a male ring necked pheasant visiting for almost two months. There’s no evidence of him or any other unusual creatures. I’ll check again after the next snowfall.
Overnight we had wind driven snow fall of about 18″ and it is still coming down. I watch the hens on the in-house cam as they paced about and wondered where I was. By late morning there was a path shoveled out to the coop. I bring out their fresh vegetables and greens. I open the door (they normally fly out) but they won’t come out. They look about and wonder what that white stuff is. With the roof on the coop there’s just a dusting on the ground in the run. They won’t come out.
I put their greens in the hen house, close the door and continue to monitor them on the hen cam. Maybe they will venture out later.
They did not come out at all on Sunday. Why should they? They have all the comforts of home in that henhouse!
Keeping chickens in this cold weather is not fun. The last few days have been extremely cold with biting winds. I need to dress in layers to attend to my morning chores. This being our maiden winter, I’m concerned with how the hens are faring. I release them in the morning. They jump out of the house with their usual vigor, attack their morning tray of leftover vegetables and greens. A strong wind comes through and they fly about a bit. Settle down, cluck, cluck cluck…go back to eating.
And, (where I live) it hasn’t even snowed yet.