Winter has been slow to arrive this year. THe ground has remained covered in leaf litter and such under the trees. THe birds looked for goodies everyday. Scratching around tree trunks seems popular. of course I supported their efforts by tossing out whole corn and whole oats. lol I kept their feeder full in their coop, and replenished their water. But other than a few sips, that was largely ignored as the group trooped off to the stream. Cold runoff. All the birds run right into the water to drink. Stand, survey the area, and continue drinking.
Eventually thirst slacked, they wander off and scatter far and wide for the day.
With the recent heavy snows, I have kept the birds in their large coop. Mostly to simplify my life as digging out from 2 feet of snow is a long drawn out process. AL long drive way to clear. ANd a path to each coop. Even snowblowing the pad in front of the horse stalls. While shoveling or following the snowblower it gives one time to think. How much we have come to rely on mechanization: snowblower faster than a shovel; a snow plow on a truck faster than the snowblower. Is it better??? It certainly changes the amount of time necessary to clear snow. ANd that leads thinking to how fast our chicken is produced from hatching to plate . .. . . is it better?? It certainly is faster and as it is high tech manufacturing of a sort, it is efficient and makes the final product affordable. Much to think about for sure.
When the snow clearing was done, I spent a few minutes with the buckeyes. I opened their door. PUlled out the big rubber bucket to knock out the now block of ice. TOok a few minutes to get the ice to release. THe birds were patient and watched from the door. Not eager to hop out today. ANd I was glad of it. THe snow was deep and a soft fluffy snow. What if a bird flew up and landed in it and sunk deep into the fluff? Would he get out, would I find him to help him escape the white trap? THe latter scared me, I might loose a precious buckeye. My starting stock. Bucket filled and birds gathering around it, I took up the pitchfork. Starting farthest from the birds I turned over their bedding. Previously I had tossed in corn and oats, and I hoped a few seeds still remained. As I continued to turnover the material, a few started to scratch in the loose material. Good!!! It will keep them busy for a while. I know being "cooped up" is boring. I could close the door knowing I had done my best.
