At It

… like squirrels! We were in high gear today. Prepping … prepping … prepping. Spreading one BIG load of gravel onto the parking spots at the end of our laneway – hoping to avoid getting stuck in eight inches of ice this winter. Gathering two HUGE bags of leaves from the Giller-Woods connection in Sharbot Lake to give the hens something to scratch in when the snow flies. Working away one piece at a time to close in the gaps in the chicken palace – so the snow won’t fly in.

While I’m doing all this the ‘Beauty Queen’ watches me go this way …

… and that. She’s thinking it is about time I got off the tractor and tended to the itchy spot in her ear. 😉

Rosie on the other hand knows just how to plant herself directly in my path. I cannot possibly resist stopping to get a good hug from her. Both she and Bella spent most of the afternoon with their noses buried in the large hay bag. Which … has still been a good idea today. Loved a comment from Nina at Root Farm yesterday about how it is a major preoccupation of most farmers to try to figure out what their animals are thinking. And noting that some ideas work for a day or two – and then you’re scratching your head and coming up with another approach. Seems that has been the story when it comes to feeding routines for the jennies.

This is what the hay bag looked like this morning. They were all still munching on the chaff that fell to the ground onto the stall mat. What I loved best? They were not the least bit frantic when I came out. No anxiety about when their next mouthful would arrive. AND in the end it ended up being LESS hay used over the day – more eaten. Hoping this idea is a good idea for a while!

The alterations on the barn door have been great. We’ve had a lot of rain (and wicked wind) this week. The water is flowing well away from the barn. And the stall mat / door mat is easy to clean off. I’m thinking these doors should be able to be opened and closed all winter.

Now the tractor and Miss Daisy have been parked under cover for the night. The giant bags of leaves are tucked in behind. All is ready for a long fall night. Sure was strange to have everything dark by dinner time! The chickens headed into their coop by five o’clock! Going to seem like a long night to them. Although … it was light by seven o’clock this morning. MUCH easier to get up when it is light outside! There has been a lot of talk on the news this week about the possibility of our country passing on Daylight Savings Time altogether. We are now on Standard Time – and will be until spring. If we stayed with Standard Time there wouldn’t be any long summer evenings … at least not nine o’clock sunsets. And it would mean weird twilight at five in the morning come summer. Not sure which I prefer …?