We could be in for it this time! The weather report says 8 inches at 4,000 feet and 1-2 feet at 5,000. Let’s hope their right, the problem is the weather man is almost always wrong. I’m expecting about a foot of snow, it’s cold and it feels like it’s going snow and hard.
Which leads me to my other problem(s). We now have a cat, 2 dogs and 12 chickens, which are only 8-days old. I can’t believe how much they have grown. Yet, they still are so small. I’ve been having a time with the dogs and the cat. They get so excited, when I let them out to see the birds, that they try to scratch under the pen. But, realistically they are pretty good — all things considered.
I get a quite a work out, cleaning the pen and providing fresh food and water. It’s fun but I’m much more careful with these birds than I ever was, when we had or farm and raised chickens. The biggest challenge in going to be keeping them warm with all this snow coming. I have two infrared lights (I am not even going to thing about what that’s doing to our electric bill.
I know that it will be worth it in the end. We will love having eggs and fresh chicken but I sure am tired. Bundle up, stay warm. I’ll keep you posted if not here, on Facebook, join us.
Yesterday, my hubby and I bought 12 chickens — and to tell you the truth, Shawn was not all that excited about it. We got the chicken coop all set up, it’s already falling apart. We got it a TSC for $99. It’s not well made. But we can fix it.
We picked up a plastic feeder and waterer — I should have bought the metal ones. I don’t know what I was thinking. And we got some pine shavings. All they had at TSC was medicated chick starter, so we decided against it and went organic. They had organic starter at Sonora Feed Store but it wasn’t cheap.
The birds are all settled in. We’ve had fun trying to keep them warm through the night. It’s still getting down in the low 30’s. We’ve got a red heat lamp inside and some heavy blankets on the outside of the coop. That seems to do the trick.
I’ve been monitoring them, if they’re huddled tight together under the light it’s too cold. If they are panting and looking for the air conditioning, it’s too warm. It’s hardest for me, because I want to watch them and I can’t while keeping them warm at the same time. They are just so darned cute!
I feel really good about having the chickens. I may not be able to grow a garden up on this mountain, but I can raise chickens for eggs and meat — well at least I think I can. Time will tell.
I’ll be talking about our chicken adventures from time to time. I look forward to hearing from you, too. Does anyone have backyard chickens?
