With the greenhouse nearly complete and behind me, it’s time to get busy with other things.
I had to get plants in there, cause the weather is rapidly changing. I don’t remember seeing the trees drop their leaves so soon, and temperatures could be in the 30s at night shortly. Although I love the fall and it is certainly my favorite time of the year, I ain’t ready for it.
Before I could even start transplanting some of my plants into the greenhouse, I had to build a chicken run cover. After all, that’s what the greenhouse was supposed to be.
So, I quickly drew up some more plans and went to the store. What I drew didn’t resemble too much what I ended up with, but I finished it in a few hours. It was a tin metal roof on some 4x4s that kept the chicken run mostly covered.
It’s amazing to see where we’ve come from. When we started with chickens, we wanted them to be free as a bird, as the song goes. But they ended up being too free and they wandered. They didn’t read the books that I read, which said they wouldn’t go too far from their coop. We eventually had chickens everywhere and some of the hawks must have noticed because they had just started disappearing. After losing multiple flocks, we started confining them.
Now they are in a coop with a large run area, but the rain has been coming in large quantities that make things muddy. After we dealt with some bumblefoot, which is an infection on a chicken foot, we decided they needed a dry run. That’s what the cover was for.
Chickens hate the rain and that’s about the only thing my books and chickens can agree upon. Other than that, they need dry dirt or soil to bathe in. Laying in the dirt and kicking their legs around somehow cleans their feathers, and is how they maintain their hygiene. If they’re exposed to wet muddy conditions for extended periods, they can deteriorate.
In the past, we’ve seen egg production decline as well as other symptoms. Maintaining a chicken flock has proven to be quite an adventure. Additionally, it has been a huge learning curve of a process.
Chickens naturally peck at each other to establish a hierarchy. This is something I think my wife tries to avoid. She constantly yells at the chickens over their pecking at each other. It occurs more when new chickens are introduced. Eventually, they work things out and mostly get along, although they bicker back and forth when they’re bored.
They are easily quelled of this behavior if they have something to fuss over. This is why we like to give them undyed mulch in the run. They just go crazy scratching and digging. If they all have something to fuss over, they seem quite content.
Inside the coop, we use a tub of diatomaceous earth for them to do their dust baths. It is supposed to work on mites and other bugs that can get on chickens. But most importantly, our chicken flock seems happy, with clean dry feet, shiny clean feathers and a happy demeanor. But they are always happy to get out when we let them go an hour before sunset. It’s their favorite part of the day unless it’s raining.
