I haven’t blogged about my little farm for a couple months. This time of year is crazy busy, even busier, maybe than the growing season, since I’m self-employed and make most of the years money in the two months before Christmas. I enjoy the way the growing season goes right into being busy working inside because it makes the winter go more quickly.
A winter storm just passed over much of the northern half of the country. We didn’t get as much snow as many other places, but we prepared for the worst. The day before the storm, we picked up a load of straw bales in our old truck. I think there were 50 bales, and the truck was piled high. It made for adventurous driving for the couple miles from the farm where we purchased the bales to our place.
My daughter and I had cleaned the chicken house earlier in the fall so it only took a quick scooping to get it back in order, then we spread a thick layer of diatomaceous earth over the dirt floor of the chicken house, and started putting in the bales of straw.
Since I like to start new garden beds with straw bales and chicken poop in the early spring, I thought that this year we would fill the chicken house with straw in the fall, and let the chickens poop on it all winter, so the bales would be ready to drag into place and wet down to prepare for the garden. I don’t know if it will work, but it seems like it might, and the chickens should like roosting on straw rather than poles- they should be able to keep their toes warmer under their bodies if they aren’t wrapped around a pole at night. That’s the plan, anyway.
So, we put the bales in the chicken house. I tried to arrange them like a half pyramid up against the chicken house wall,with extra bales on the coldest side, so there would be lots of nooks and crannies for chickens to cuddle into on cold, blustery nights.
Chickens, if they have had time to acclimate, do fine in cold weather if they are kept dry and out of the worst of the drafts, but their combs and toes are subject to frostbite if they get wet or frozen. This setup should allow plenty of airflow, but should keep away the big drafts and the rain and melting snow. I’ll keep a close eye on the chickens, and if I see a hint of frostbite, I’ll coat their combs with petroleum jelly. Their toes should be fine, since they hunker down over them in the straw.
We covered their screen window with a big piece of plexiglass that I found at the local ReStore. Last year we covered it with plastic, and it shredded by early January, so we had to cover it with a board to keep the girls warm. I’m sure the chooks will like their new luxury window better.
There were 5 or 6 bales left after arranging the chicken house, so we put extra straw in the pig’s house. They immediately tossed around and fluffed it up, and as the first flurries started they burrowed snugly into the straw so that only their ears showed, grunting with pleasure. The ducks’ hut got a couple of bales spread in it too, with hay piled deeply along the walls to keep out the cold. Last came the rabbits, with their outside rooms getting piles of bright straw, and some dry leaves and dried grass for their inner burrow rooms. I knew they would spend the storm arranging things the way they liked them, and nibbling on the leaves, grass, and straw.
As we finished, the storm was clearly on the horizon. I did the afternoon chores a little early, shooing the chickens into their house, the ducks into their hut, and gave the rabbits some wilted carrots as a treat. I collected the afternoon eggs, and made sure everyone had one last drink of water.
As I closed the feed bins, and shut the garage door, the snow started falling in earnest. I stood and listened to the fat, wet flakes hit the ground. Darkness had fallen early. A train went by in the distance and coyotes howled with train horn, Someone inside turned on the kitchen light. I enjoyed feeling like I was between two worlds- no longer in the barnyard world of crunchy straw, cold wind and dark nights, and not yet in the world of the farmhouse, where there was supper in the oven, my old comfy chair and blanket in the living room by the bookshelf, and warm yellow light to keep the night out.