During the previous couple of weeks, we’ve had such lovely sunny weather that I was finally tempted to go out and start planting some things. Yesterday and today, we’ve had a sharp overturn toward torrential rains and howling winds, and now I’m afraid all my poor seeds will be washed out. Reminder to self: never trust the weather at this time of year.
What I’m happy about is having had time to line my chicken coop with a nice, thick layer of dry leaves prior to the rains. I expand on this in my latest Mother Earth News post:
Using dry leaves for chicken coop bedding has numerous advantages:
1. It’s free: just grab a bag and haul all the leaves you want.
2. Leaves are plentiful and readily available
3. It will entertain your chickens: a bag of leaves will always contain tidbits like seeds, grass stalks, bugs, and other edibles your chickens will enjoy unearthing.
I’m also proud to say that my post about preparing your chicken coop for the spring has made the latest MEN newsletter:
Our chickens pick up the cue of longer days and generally resume laying around February, even though it’s still cold. The young pullets hatched at the end of last season – say, September or October – are generally ready to start laying in February or March.
I can hear some of you laughing hysterically, saying “Cold? You guys don’t know what cold is”. True, we rarely get any snow, but the shorter winter days still affect our egg production. Come spring, I look forward to:
- Having all the omelets we want
- Raising baby chicks
- Planting
- Hiking
I’m not looking forward to:
- Passover cleaning.
- Uh… no. Nothing else. Just the cleaning. 🙂
Stay snug and warm, everyone!
Domestic Felicity 