No we are not giving away our girls!!! But today we did let them out to try out free-ranging…
Our poor farm does not have good drainage and therefore neither does our chickens’ run. I just couldn’t stand watching them wade through the swamp anymore. I don’t like it so why would they? In reality, I think it bothers me more than it does them…
So after spending a lovely sunny morning mucking out their coop, putting out fresh straw and water, Chris came out and suggested that we try letting them out in the yard. The timing was Providential! I had just been thinking the same thing.
Now we’ve been a little nervous about doing that in the past. We have quite a few critters in the woods behind our house that would love a chicken dinner! But we haven’t seemed to have any trouble so far. Hopefully they have enough street-smarts to head home after dark…
I am also not real excited about finding out that they are laying eggs just willy-nilly all over the place. I’m sure the neighborhood wildlife would love it, but I’m not running a rodent food pantry here! Thankfully hens are creatures of habit and after nearly a year of laying in their boxes, they all obediently wandering back to their nests to deposit their eggs!
The boys were a bit concerned about how all of our animals would get along. Betsy, our lab-mix, is a bit territorial and still doesn’t get along with the cat. But the dog, cat and chickens all seem to get along famously in the backyard! They pretty much completely ignore one another…
If this all works out, we’ll have to move the fence around my garden. I love our girls but not enough to share my garden… :o)
No comments:
Post a Comment