Don't do what I did

They say that you learn something new everyday - that certainly holds true on this farm.  Yesterday I learned that when I decide to build something, I need to take into account more than just - here is an empty spot, let's put it here.

Mother Nature gifted the farm with about two feet of snow last weekend.  Then she delivered a beautiful cleansing rain four days later.  We were reasonably prepared and had cleared snow away from primary drainage areas and dug out fences and waterers to ensure that we could both get to and leave the farm as well as get to and feed all the critters.  All except the rabbits.

A little better than a year ago someone dumped sixty or so rabbits on the side of the road in cold, rainy/snowy weather.  Some were just kits while others were older breeding stock.  I was lucky enough to be able to rescue most of them.  They were placed into temporary holds in the garage until I could build them a new shed.  I had rabbits in my garage once - I won't be doing that again.  We left an overhang of a couple of feet on both sides of the storage shed roof when it was built to store tools and supplies outside, but still protected from the weather.  I took one of those overhangs and with the help of Little man's father and a friend, threw up some walls, added a door and made a small shed to house the rabbits.

When siting the door, I figured in the middle of the long wall would provide the best access to the cages that would go inside.  What I didn't consider is that the snow from the entire south facing roof would drop right in front of that door.  The ground in front of the door was also a little higher than the bottom of the door so I dug out some of the soil in front of it to provide some additional clearance.  This was fine for three of the four seasons of the year, but when you combine a recessed landing in front of the door, rain and snow collect there.  When you get close to two feet of snow, you have to shovel both what fell on the ground and what fell off the roof out from that recessed landing in order to access the rabbits.  Then when it rains in January, it inevitably gets cold again and the standing water in front of the door freezes.  If you don't want your rabbits to go hungry you have to chip all the ice from in front of the door so that you can get inside your shed.  Chores that should have taken 15 - 20 minutes took almost an hour last night.

As I began construction of the new brooder coop for the baby chickens that will arrive on the farm this spring, I spent plenty of time looking at snow drifts, checking side and rear clearances and trying to think of every access and weather implication.  I am certain I didn't think of something, but at least this next piece of farm infrastructure stands a much better chance of being trouble free.

Chickens & Eggs

As February passes the halfway mark I am thinking about firing up the incubator.  I have been incubating chickens on the farm for several years.  Unfortunately in 2015 I didn't add any new hens and the girls that were here were upwards of three years old.  The incubated eggs from last spring did not do well and we had less than 40% hatch/survival rate.  In order to increase that rate this spring, thirty one new birds were purchased from the feed store and added to our flock last fall.  One rooster was purchased to freshen up my breeding stock and the remainder of the birds were allegedly pullets.  Amazingly I now have seven roosters in my flock when I went into winter with only three.  So far the extra boys haven't been too much trouble.  As the weather gets warmer, they will start to fight over the top roost in the coop.  In addition to my seven boys there are 53 girls.  

Before the new birds were added to the general population, most of the older hens got three days solitary confinement in the brooder box to see who was laying and who wasn't.  Each of the girls who gifted us with an egg got a blue band.  Those that didn't lay an egg gifted us with a good meal.  This year, depending on my hatch rate, between 12 and 25 birds will be ordered from the feed store.  I will choose a different breed of heavy layer, this time by color alone.  Last year it was golden comets and silver-laced wyandottes, each of them got a yellow band.  I will probably go all white or all black for a stark difference.  All seven boys are completely un-related to the girls so my hatching success should be much better.  The choice of band color will be left up to Little man.  Anyone who doesn't have a this years color band or a yellow band will go into the freezer at the end of the 2017 season.  Birds that are given to us or traded to us will get yellow bands if they were last years birds or blue bands if they were the year before that or older.

In addition to keeping better track with a physical identifier, I have been much better at keeping track of numbers.  Little man's father collects the eggs most days and he and Little man count them as they are put in the refrigerator.  That number is entered onto the calendar and once a week they get entered into a spreadsheet.  Unfortunately for some of the girls, the number of eggs being produced (20-22 on average) is far less than the number of birds (53 laying hens) in the coop.  It will be time again to start segregating birds.  The brooder box will be solitary confinement until a few days before the eggs are scheduled to hatch then it will be cleaned and made ready for babies.  Since we have been pretty good at eating down last years stores, there is room in the freezer for chicken n' biscuit or chicken soup chicken.

I've thought about getting rid of all but a few of my chickens for personal consumption but many of the summer visitors to our small town enjoy bringing their grandchildren down to visit the birds as they run all over the farm.  Next winter, however, I will need to do a better job about lining up customers so that I am not carrying 50 - 60 dozen at any one time in my refrigerator.

Moving chickens

It still never ceases to amaze me how fast time flies around here.  It seems like only last month when I was starting seeds and bringing the first batch of baby chickens from the incubator out to the brooder box.

The third batch of birds has gone through the incubator and the brooder and are now out on the lawn in their chicken tractors.  A few pullets were sold so there are only 47 new birds in various stages which will replace our aging flock.  At least three are roosters and will find their way into the freezer when they are old enough.  I will keep at least one of the older, un-related roosters and one from the birds purchased from the feed store.  That should bring some fresh blood into the flock and allow for a healthier batch next Spring.

The current flock stands at 36, four of which are roosters.  We are getting about a dozen eggs per day, leaving me with at least 20 free loaders.  Now that the brooder box is empty, the process of paring down the active layers from the older girls will begin anew.  They will get three days of isolation.  If they lay an egg on any of those three days, then they get to stay.  If not, then they will go into the freezer for chicken and biscuits or chicken soup.  While this sounds a little harsh, the feed to keep a bird who is not laying, can get pretty expensive.

For now, they wander about, picking bugs out of the tall grass; occasionally getting into the garden or the raised beds where they are promptly chased away by Little man.  They appear to be jealous of the little ones in the chicken tractors.  Apparently the feed inside the tractor must be very different from that which is inside their coop - even though it came from the same feed bag.

First batch - 2016

We started collecting eggs from the girls on the 28th of February.  28 eggs were collected and put into the incubator.  Water was kept at a good level, the eggs were turned twice a day and the temperature stayed constant at 99.5 degrees.

At approximately 10 days, we candled the eggs and found that only 16 of them were probably viable, with two being questionable, but we erred on the side of positive thinking.

On the 21st day we heard cheeping from inside the shells and late that afternoon, the first chick was hatched.  Ten chicks began to emerge from their shells.  One wasn't strong enough and never made it all the way out.  Nine babies stayed in the incubator for two days, then Little man eagerly assisted as they were moved outside to the brooder box.  The following evening I found one that wasn't looking too good, so I brought it inside and put it back in the incubator in hopes that it needed a little warmth.  She made it through the night and ate and drank before I left for my off farm job, but alas, was not well enough to hang with us.

Eight very strong, healthy birds are growing quickly.  A second batch has been started - perhaps it was just too cold at the end of February.  Perhaps the boys have had some spring fever and we will have a better fertilization rate.  For now, water is kept in the incubator, eggs are turned twice per day and the temperature holds steady at 99.5 degrees.

Warm N' Toasty

The incubator was fired up on Friday and got to the constant, correct temperature of 99.5 degrees by Saturday afternoon.  I thought maybe we were jumping the gun, but the forecast for next week includes a couple days in the 50's.  After three days I have 28 eggs in there.  I will try for forty, but can't go much more than four days between first and last egg added.  I was hoping for a couple more but there is an egg eating chicken in the coop and I can't tell which one it is.  

Twice daily egg turning and careful monitoring of water levels along with keeping the cover closed - Little man will just have to watch through the windows - and March 19th will begin chick watch!

Getting ready

The new window for the incubator arrived this week.  

Getting ready!

Mud Season = lots of water, not necessarily where I want it

Warm weather this week has allowed us to venture outside and start those tasks which have been eagerly awaiting snow melt.  I took out my farm planning list from March last night and frowned at how much wasn’t crossed off.  A few such tasks were moved up to March from later months based on the warmer winters of the past couple of years; perhaps 30 years of living in northern New England should have cautioned me to leave them in April.  Lessons learned.  When I sit down this fall to update my farm plan I will do it with the 2015 Old Farmer’s Almanac and my disparaging notes on this winters weather.

The fifth season has arrived here with the increase in temperatures.  Copious amounts of water pour down the driveway and running past the front of the garage creating a pond out of the driveway.  Over the past couple of years we have not maintained proper grading of the driveway, changed the parking plan and removed two huge rock maple trees from beside the driveway.  What this means is that water that historical was used by the trees, fell off the side of the driveway or ran through the back yard, this year, ran straight down the driveway and into the garage.  There are drains in the garage and in any other year water in the garage wouldn’t be a big deal, this year, the rabbits are still in there.  Imagine what several inches of water can do to your nice neat piles of pine shavings underneath your rabbit cages.  Quite the mess!  But even wet rabbit pellets and pine shavings are pretty east to clean up.

The water continued flowing and the drains were by then plugged with wet pine shavings; water went over top of the threshold and into the chicken coop.  Chicken droppings are not so structurally sound and when mixed with water simply create muck!

I shed my jacket as I shoveled what seemed like feet of slop out of the coop (in reality it was only about two inches, but it was heavy and I am out of shape!).  From the coop I moved to the garage floor shoveling, scraping and sweeping wet, sloppy pine and poo section by section.  Little man’s father worked diligently on the frozen drainage situation and was finally able to get the water to start flowing away from the garage.  By Tuesday night I was finally done cleaning up from Saturday and Sunday’s water damage.

Yesterday I continued the work of cleaning up the mess that December’s ice storm made out of the pine tree.  The pile is big and waits for a day of calm winds before it can be disposed of.  The brooder box in the garage was cleaned and disinfected, the reflector lamp tested and a new light bulb added to the shopping list.  The last turn of the eggs in the incubator was done this morning – some of the eggs are already moving!  New baby birds will be here this weekend.

As I sipped an adult beverage and watched Little man run up and down the driveway, the smell of boiling sap wafted down the hill from our neighbors.  We decided not to make our own syrup this year.  There comes a time when you are forced to realize that you can’t do absolutely everything.  Not boiling has given way to progress in other areas and some quality time with my son.  I will gladly barter or trade some rabbit, chickens, pork, eggs or vegetables, for our syrup this year.

Seed swap, decluttering and waiting - IMpatiently

Spring on the farm is very slow in coming this year.  There is still plenty of snow on the ground.  The driveway is starting to melt, hinting at the mess of mud season yet to come.  The ground in the green house has thawed slightly allowing me to clean out the detritus from last years’ plants and move the dirt around, if only just a little.  Slightly more than the top inch has thawed, teasing me into thinking I could get all cleaned up and ready to plant this past weekend.  If the sun comes out as predicted this week, even though the temperatures are cool, I should be able to start turning in some compost and plant some cool season crops next week.  My original seed starting schedule had me sowing seeds during St. Patrick’s Day week – it is looking like they will be a full two weeks behind this year.

I was also hoping to be sharing pictures of baby piglets right about now…  Best laid plans… <said grumbling>.  Many of the farms in our county and all of the blogs I follow are showing off their brand new farm babies.  I am getting more than a little jealous.  But life gets in the way.  The plans are to still breed Pig.  I was a little worried about her farrowing in late June/early July, but her house is in the shade of a 150 year old maple tree and half of her pasture has some great overflow from the same spring that provides water to the farm house.  Pig is expected to go into heat the first weekend in April and I am proud to say that enough money has been set aside to buy the sperm and pay the vet.  The email arrived this weekend letting me know that the boar I hope to have as a companion to Pig’s farrows was born on the 6^th of March and is doing great – I should be able to bring him home right around Easter.

I purposely held off on putting eggs in the incubator in February as the almanac did predict a cooler than expected end to this month – I am certainly glad I waited.  The baby chickens will arrive the first full week of April.  That gives me another week and chance to get the brooder box cleaned off (as Little man’s father has taken to using the chicken wire covered top as a shelf), disinfected, the heat lamp located and tested, and the box ready to house new baby chicks.

The order for meat birds is due into the feed store shortly so talk this week turned to remodeling chicken coops and whether the parts to the old washing machine would work for the motor, belt and drive for the chicken plucker I am planning to make.  Unfortunately the door to the section of the barn where the old machine is stored is frozen shut and blocked by a snow pile still well over six feet tall.  In talking with my cousin yesterday, he is planning on milling some posts and beams for a barn my uncle is building – maybe there will be some left over material that I can salvage for the support structure of my plucker.

As the snow melts I am starting to pick up and clean up from everything that was left outside over the winter.  My old car (my favorite so far in all of them that I have owned) was carted off to the salvage yard today.  Little man’s father went out on Friday afternoon with the tractor and dug out around it then on Saturday afternoon attached the tow strap to it and yanked it free from the ice.  I miss that car!!  De-cluttering continues; perhaps there is a little more money to be made from clearing out the junk to put toward solar fence chargers, metal roofing, or hydraulic hoses.  My monthly project list is being held hostage by the weather and lack of snow melt right now. 

Tomorrow night I am headed to the first (annual I hope) seed swap in Enosburg to trade some seeds, meet some other like-minded folks and to drum up some business for the local farmers market.  Even though I might not be able to vend much this summer, I like the market and hope to get back to it soon.

With forecasted temperatures in the forties next week – here’s hoping for the beginning of a great season!

Chicken tractors and transplant trauma

More chickens are hatching this week which requires more houses to hold them.  Yesterday Little Man, his father and I tore apart a couple of pallets and together with some leftover fencing, crafted another chicken tractor.

The boards were pulled from the top and bottom of the pallet.  Eight of them were notched at the ends and nailed together lengthwise to create eight-foot long sides.  Three were cut in half to make the upright supports on the corners and the middle of the eight-foot span.  The 2x4 center pieces of the pallet were ripped in half and created the cross-bracing for the ends of the box.  A couple of pieces of scrap plywood and USB were nailed to the top to create a hinged access point and the whole thing was wrapped in hardware cloth.  Finally some tarp material, salvaged from our wind damaged portable garage, was tacked around the sides to both keep the smallest of the birds in and predators out.  A new waterer was assembled from an extra feed dish and a lidded bucket with a hole drilled in the side.

Three laying birds will be added to the flock of 31 who call the chicken coop home.
50 meat birds will go into the older, large chicken tractor tonight after the hens are removed.
19 pullets were moved from the small chicken tractor to the new, larger one.
15 (and counting) new pullets went into the older brooder box.

This afternoon six holds will be added to the twenty four currently in the garage, to house the new litters of growing meat rabbits.

This morning, in between re-housing critters and regular chores, I have been trying to finish planting the garden with Little Man in tow.  He has been extremely helpful.  For each flat of transplants Momma puts in, Little Man follows behind with his new shovel and rake and pulls one or two back out to give to Momma.  I think I will wait to work in the garden until his father gets home.

Homeless chickens

Last week we spent one of our mornings re-housing chickens.  21 days before we took the eggs from our chickens and placed them in the incubator at a toasty 99.5 degrees.  At the time we were only receiving 5-7 eggs per day, over four days we put every egg into the styrofoam container marking each with the date they were placed there on its shell.  Twice daily we turned the eggs and made sure there was water in the well at the bottom of the container.  The incubator needs to simulate the conditions which would be found under the mother hen.  Consistent moisture and warmth are required to get from a basic fertilized egg to a hatchling.  Eighteen days into the incubation, we stop turning the eggs.  The little ones need to get their bearings and know which way is up.  Our diligence has been rewarded with sixteen baby chickens.
Throughout our chicken raising adventures we have been through three chicken tractors, three different brooder setups and two chicken coops.  As we learn something new or acquire more chickens their housing gets modified.  Our chicken adventures began with twelve laying hens and a Bantam rooster in 2007.  Much like my other animal tales, we didn't intend on raising [insert type of animal here - cats, dog, ferrets, lizards], but sometimes they just show up and you make a home for them. 

Coop #1 was four plywood walls, salvaged from a shed which was torn down) around four cedar fence posts with a plywood top and hay bales for insulation from the winter cold.  It was about 3' x 3' x 3' and had one row of three nest boxes.  The following spring we purchased our first pullets from the local farm store and brooded them in a cardboard box in the workshop before building our first tractor out of salvaged pallet wood and left over chicken wire from a farm project long past.  Our next coop came very quickly when we realized it was impossible to house sixteen chickens in a 27 cubic foot coop.  My father used a saw-z-all and cut a hole in the side of the garage where we built a 6' x 8' x 8' coop with two rows of nesters and a couple of roosting poles.  Attached to that is a fenced in yard allowing the chickens access to the outdoors, but remain safely inside a fence away from predators or trucks who are zooming around the farm.  During the day we let the chickens run amuck, but there are times when they need a little extra protection for their own good.  The roof is starting to leak and the mice have done a number on the floor so we are hoping to make some modifications (and expansions) to it this fall which will include waterproofing and removal of the floor.

Brooder #2 was a recycled ferret cage inside a spare bedroom - DON'T EVER DO THIS - unless you like vacuuming three times a day and dusting twice that much.  Chicken mash is a dusty product - they made a complete mess.  Brooder #3 has been a complete success.  It is a large box made from reclaimed pine lumber, lined with a waterproof shower wall substance and is built onto the wall next to the chicken coop.  It has a chicken wire top allowing for great air circulation and as long as we choose not to breed chickens in the dead of winter then a single incandescent light bulb is all that is necessary to get them started.

Tractor #2 included the original chicken tractor with modifications for a small box on one side of it to allow the young ones a little more protection from inclement weather.  This design was far too heavy on one end and it quickly fell apart after less than one season's use.  Our third chicken tractor has been a complete success (the third time's a charm).  We used the thicker cross bracing from salvaged pallets along with four purchased 2' x 4' x 12's, some newer leftover chicken wire and a hinged lid made of someones left over OSB picked up from a free pile on the side of the road.  This tractor has worked very well for going on four seasons now and with only minor repairs to aging chicken wire, it is still holding strong.

We have incubated three sets of eggs this spring.  The third set just went into the brooder last week leaving the second set to join the first born in the large chicken tractor.  Not such a good idea.  Our tweens have developed quite the attitude and were not at all welcoming to the new birds.  Into the tractor I went to rescue the four-week old birds.  Not having lost much of my baby-weight, I was a sight to see trying to climb around in temporary chicken housing.  Homeless, our middle birds went into a cardboard box while we worked on housing for them.  Resurrected from the bowels of our storage system (anywhere it will fit) came the original chicken tractor.  It was in pretty bad shape.  A piece of ripped 2 x 4 here, a rusty hinge cleaned up and re purposed there, some chicken wire patching and the original chicken tractor came to life again to house another generation of baby chickens.  Water basin and small tin of feed provided, chickens rehoused, quick shower and I still managed to make it to work on time.

The fresh clean smell after the rain

As my days off drew to a close this afternoon I ran over our accomplishments from the past few days and the growing disappointment was palpable: 

• DH and company had gone out turkey hunting in the cool spring rains and returned with the same number of shells that they left with and no turkey. 
• I got to spend quite a lot of time with the little man as he has found his recent napping pattern no longer to his liking.  My limited time off is short, even shorter snoozes require ingenuity to play with little man and accomplish tasks like laundry and even vacuuming.
• The shed has walls and salvaged bay window installed but still lacks a door and a roof.  Installing OSB is made even more interesting when you remember you don't have a step-ladder.  Nailing OSB to the framing ten-feet in the air can present it's own challenges.  This is what they invented tractor buckets for - OSHA, don't look.
• The garage/rabbit shed has been cleaned and prepared for another week.  We moved one of the racks (empty after our first trip to the processor) outdoors for cleaning and disinfecting and one of the waste deflectors broke.  One more thing to be added to the to-do list. 
• Some basic house cleaning was done, results of the white-glove test will certainly be - Fail.  Sweeping while smiling and making faces at your little man and dancing around the broom - not the most efficient cleaning method, but moderately effective.
• All of the squash seeds were planted in the green house.  One or two of the arches has come loose from the PVC cross connectors - one more thing to be added to the to-do list. 
• Rainy weather has prevented us from working on the lawn tractor; the garage remains otherwise occupied.  Lawns were not mowed and the grass growing between the Christmas trees will require brush-hogging first and then perhaps the mower can handle the close up work when it is repaired.  Apparently there is a pulley which is frozen and will either need a new bolt or will need to be replaced entirely - the full diagnosis cannot be made until we are able to remove it from the lawn tractor.  This time I will try my mechanical skills without a five-month old in one hand and a wrench in the other.

Sometimes I get discouraged with the ever increasing to-do list and the declining amount of time in which to get it all accomplished.  I get overwhelmed with the time each task takes with older, decomposing equipment, including the time to fix the equipment as it breaks.  My son, who is nothing but a blessing, adds to my stresses because I feel that I am not spending sufficient time with him.  New starts to projects like rabbits are consuming time planned for established projects like the greenhouse, vegetable growing and farmers market.  Then there is this little thing called money which is required to pay electric bills and purchase feed for the livestock which in turn feeds us; my off-farm job requiring a 40 hour plus commitment each week.

As I felt the disappointment washing over me in what was not accomplished, I noticed an eagle fly over the Christmas trees.  I set down my bag of fresh pine shavings and watched this beautiful majestic creature who appeared not to have a care in the world as it rode the updrafts created by our changing weather.  I listened as our new roosters stretched their vocal cords in an attempt to compete with the older ones.  I heard the little man whimper over the baby monitor indicating that he had awoken from his morning slumber looking for a smile, a clean diaper and his lunch.  I look around at all of the half-finished projects and then I thought to myself how lucky I am to know this life.  Coming into the house covered in sweat, pine shavings and rabbit fur, I pass the two new litters of baby bunnies and three week old adorable little bunnies who are beginning their explorations outside of the nest box.  War wounds revealed as I get into the shower made up of black and blue from walking too close to the tractor, scratches from rough cut lumber and disgruntled rabbits, and sore muscles from a full day's physical labor.  The hot steamy shower washes most of it away although the sore muscles require a little longer for the pain reliever to work.   I get dressed and ready to leave the farm for the job that currently pays the bills kissing DH and little man good night.  Some people will never know more than the concrete jungles which consume their entire lives.  

The fresh clean smell of the farm after the rain fills my nostrils and contentment washes over me in all that we were able to accomplish during the past few days and the past few years.  Soon enough I will be able to spend all day on the farm and know that we are providing for ourselves completely.  Sometimes I just need to remind myself how lucky I really am.

Photos courtesy of Google Image Searches for royalty free photos - new photos of the shed remain on the camera.  The eagle and I have a mutual understanding about having our photograph taken.

Warm weather & baby birds

The weather has been record-breaking warm in Northwestern Vermont.  Daytime temperatures in the seventy degree range have brought our sugaring season to an end.  Just as one project wraps up, another begins; our baby chicks are beginning to hatch. 

Before I left for work this morning there were four of them hopping around in the incubator cheaping away.  If DH has time today he will be cleaning out the brooder and preparing it for the new arrivals this evening.  Before each new set of chicks we are sure to completely clean out and disinfect the brooder to kill any possible germs which might be lurking there.  You wouldn't want to eat off the floor, but we try to be careful.  The small amount of cleaning solution and only a few minutes of our time are very inexpensive in comparison to an entire egg-laying season lost.  We have been lucky and lost only three birds, out of 30 times that, to unknown causes in the six years we have been raising chickens.

We usually have only one round in the incubator each season, but my step-daughter has never seen chicks being born.  She will be with us in late April so we will start one more batch of eggs next week that will be ready when she is here.

Remember that phone call about more rabbits...  we are cleaning out some more room in the garage.

Surprise!

My husband and I had noted a marked decreased in the number of eggs we were getting from our chickens.  We figured that some of our older birds were getting ready to molt and the new layers hadn’t started yet.  We didn’t think much of it… until Tuesday morning.

When my husband got home from work he came inside and asked me if I had work clothes on because I needed to get underneath the porch. (DH and I are not small people).  My expression must have said it all because he told me that he noticed some strange noises coming from underneath the back porch. ‘The eggs we were missing are now up and walking around’, he said.

He found eight brand new little ones running around.  One of the hens that our friend bestowed upon us when she moved in June had made herself a little nest and had been hiding out under there for at least a month now.  It was forecast to get down below freezing on Tuesday night.  We proceeded to dig out the feeder and waterer which was put away after our spring pullets, ran out to the feed store to get some growing mash, got out the heat lamp from the workshop, and began assembling a brooder box.  We took a spare cardboard box outside and I began squeezing my not so little self underneath the back porch.  Momma didn’t mind so much that I was coming under there to visit her, she was used to us collecting eggs from nearby nesting boxes in the chicken coop.  It wasn’t until I started removing her new babies that she got really upset with me.  Imagine lying on your tummy in a two foot tall crawl space, reaching in front of you trying to catch day old pullets and having Momma peck at your hands, your head, your shoulders, etc.  The pecks don’t hurt so much, but trying to protect my face from flying dirt and debris while she was dancing around was interesting.

There are still eight more eggs in the nest and she is still sitting on them.  We are watching every day or two to see if any new little ones have emerged.  Fall pullets were not in the plans for this year due to the lack of heat and some repairs which need to be made to the weatherproofing in the chicken coop.  Apparently Creator decided that more laying birds were in our immediate future.

To-Do List Items for the Chicken Coop:

• 
  
  Re-seal the roof
• 
  
  Wash and paint the exterior walls
• 
  
  Remove hay insulation (doesn’t work together with leaky roof – very messy and moldy), wash down inside walls with mold preventative and replace insulation
• 
  
  Fix drainage problem in coop yard (we are hoping this is as simple as digging out the existing dirt and adding some layers of varying sizes of gravel and sand).
• 
  
  Add roof to ½ of coop yard (tarp is getting worse for the wear).
• 
  
  Replace coop yard fence running chicken wire 8-12 inches under soil level to deter whatever has been digging at the side of the coop yard fence and to keep the ducks from hiding their eggs under the coop itself.

Hopefully I will remember to bring the camera along as we attempt these and other fall projects around the house.

Stop taking my picture!

Do you have any interesting fall projects that you are planning to tackle?