Snow And Hail

Sundays Snow

Having looked out of the window early on Sunday morning and seeing snow on the ground my first thought was lotty. Not just the chickens, but our recently planted onions and potatoes. They've so far managed to survive the frost but I was unsure if they'd be able to cope with a layer of snow. Luckily the onions seem to be just fine. As the potatoes are planted alot further down and then covered in a foot of hay I cant as yet tell if the weather has had any effect on them. Im hoping the hay has offered them some extra protection.

Aside from having cold feet (the bottoms of chickens feet are similar to ours) the girls didnt seem too put off by the snow, although they did seem quite keen to get into the hut as soon as the door was open. As Saturday was particularly cold, I took some tea to lotty to drink whilst I cleaned the coop out. I felt slightly bad as all the chickens had to drink was some near freezing water. So I got an extra mug and offered the girls some tea. It seems Rita may not live up to our impressions of her wanting to come home with us for tea and cucumber sandwiches after all, as none of them looked impressed and turned their beaks up at the offer.

Mondays Hail

Yesterday afternoon I watched from the kitchen as a huge dark cloud rolled closer and closer to the house, and eventually pelting down what I can only call the worst hail storm I have ever seen. As much as I love our chickens I have to admit that chickens in general are not intelligent creatures, so the concept of going inside during the hail probably never occurred to them. When I arrived to put them away they still looked ruffled and damp. Now as I said the hail was coming down hard, so much so that it snapped one of the thick posts that is part of the girls run. Although we no longer keep the girls in there anymore its essential for getting the chickens away at night. What made it even harder was that it was my first time putting them away on my own as the Blur had gone to a friends house straight from school. I put the tub of chicken mash in the coop which tempted two of them in. Alison and Betty were unceremoniously and in Alisons case indigently caught a placed inside. Marge on the other hand decided to give me the run around and escaped the run by jumping over the fallen fence.

Repairs

After letting the chickens out and giving them something to eat I found a new post, step ladder, gloves and a brick and proceeded to strengthen the fence again. The step ladder has a rung missing from my apple picking in the summer and its really not very steady, so very carefully I climbed the remaining steps and started banging the post in with the brick. Two blows in and all the concrete stuck to the brick shattered over my head. I was still brushing bits out of my hair whilst paying for my shopping.

To end on a high note I can say for definite that all five of the chickens are now laying. Payment pending we have sold our first dozen eggs to a neighbour. Now all we need is as many egg boxes as we can lay our hands on.