At 2:45 this morning, I woke up, looked out the window and saw snow falling, and knew what I had to do. Earlier this month, we had a wet, slushy snow, and the netting covering our two chicken runs collapsed, leaving our heritage Rhode Island Reds vulnerable to an owl or hawk attack.
Elaine and I spent an hour or so repairing the damage then. I figured it was better to arise in the wee hours than wait until dawn and try to repair the net. When I arrived inside the two runs, the netting was already badly sagging, so I as delicately as possible tapped the bottom of the netting with a broom to cause snow to cascade through the openings.
I'll go outside at dawn to do the broom tapping gambit again. I expect more such visits will be required during what appears will be a long, snow-filled day.
Our chicks are on the back porch, under several layers of blankets and tarp, huddled around the heating lamp. Chickens don't venture out of the hen house when there's snow on the ground. Happy first full day of spring!
ReplyDeleteEllen, one of the reasons we like heritage chickens is that they take care of raising their chicks. No more heat lamps for us
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