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- It’s Time To Prepare!
– Glad you could join us!
“There’s no better time than the present – and theres no better present than time with our chickens”
Here’s what’s been happening on our farm this week and a reminder that winter is just around the corner.
It’s time to think about preparation!
Our Hens Have Gone Broody
Not just one, not just two. All of our hens seem to have gone broody at the same time!
My first thought was:
Or even that they were sick!
But no, they’re just broody little things. A well-deserved break for laying so consistently throughout summer, I suppose.
Of course, being broody is pretty natural for most heritage chicken breeds, and even more common in some specific breeds (like our Silkies).
If you’ve got particularly broody hens, or simply want to know what breeds are known to get the most broody, check out our guide here.
It’s Time To Prepare…
Summer is long gone.
As the days grow shorter and the temperatures start to cool, now is the best time to prepare for winter – for both our own AND our chicken’s sakes.
Here are the top 5 actions you should tick off your to-do list before winter sets in:
Change your chicken’s bedding, particularly if you’re using the deep litter method.
If your water often freezes overnight, you’ll need to find a way to prevent it from happening in your chickens waterer. Lisa Steele has a few good ideas, from using a few ping-pong balls to using a black rubber tub.
Stock up on some hearty, protein-filled chicken feed. We make a shift to 18% crude protein layer feed and keep a bunch of protein-filled warming snacks on hand.
Last-minute editions/fixes to your coop, to make sure it has adequate ventilation but doesn’t get awful drafts running through it!
Don’t forget to add roosting bars (if you don’t have them already) to keep your chickens off the ground – this helps heaps with keeping our fluffy-butted friends warm
A Quick Giggle
That’s All, Folks
That’s all from us this week.
Not a lot to report seeing as our hens have been extremely broody this last week, completely refusing to leave their coop (unless literally picked up and plopped next to their food).
But, we’ve made some inroads to preparing our coop for winter – have you?
See you all next week,
Blake,
BFL’s Daily Dozen