Tuesday, October 4, 2011

House Cleaning...

Today was a great day for house cleaning...but not mine!

Today it was the chickens' turn... 


I emptied out the shed, and started shovelling.  Last spring, I put the straw and manure on my garden for fertilizer, but decided against it this fall.  Chicken manure is high in nitrogen, and too much nitrogen in the soil tends to produce large plants, but little "fruit", so I think I'll have Jim spread some cow manure on the garden this winter instead.  It will have plenty of time to work it's way into the soil before I plant next spring.

I put the feeder outside while I was shovelling, and the ladies had a feast...


And just in case you ever wondered if a chicken has a tongue...


The whole time I was working, I had a guard covering the gate, watching for escapees...


It's a good feeling to have this job complete.  I always think that once their shed is house cleaned, the chickens should lay more eggs, but it doesn't seem to work that way!  The days are getting noticably shorter, and I've been finding fewer eggs this past week.  But there's nothing wrong with hoping, is there?

5 comments:

  1. I'm afraid that I will have to do that clean out task this week as well. The turkey house is now empty and the chicken house is , how do I put it, disgusting. For what it's worth, my egg production is down 50%.

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  2. I used to hate cleaning the coop, but it did feel good to get it fresh for winter.

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  3. When I was on the farm as a kid I had to clean the chickens coop I hated it I prefered to clean the horse stalls smells better lol well to me it did lol. Have a wonderful eve.

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  4. Snickers looks like she's having a little too much fun! And I can't say I ever wondered if a chicken had a tongue, but it is an interesting bit of trivia that might come in handy sometime!

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  5. I'm sure that made for happy chicks! I'll be deep bedding my coop soon.

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