Really going to miss summer pasture

[Olive Hill]

Quote:
You don't know how to run a mower? Maintain it yourself.

 

[savingdogs]

I was wishing my man would mow at all......

 

[gryeyes]

I have chickens who take the vegetation (whatever kind of non-lawn grass there is) down to nuthin' in their run. Nothing to mow there! They also scratched in the dry grass all over the place - they range freely - so that there isn't anything to mow, really. Now that we've had some rain, there are little bits of grass sprouting, and the chickens are THRILLED!

Of course, it doesn't snow here.

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

Quote:
I see I have been unclear and led you astray.

I do mow, and mow all of the chicken pasture and trim the 735 ft of electronet around it. So trimming around a much smaller run is not really the issue.

The DH wants nothing permanent built in the yard realted to chickens. Winter quarters are built to later be used as insulated workshop. The summer huts can be covered with plastic film for mini greenhouses. The electric fence can go around the garden to prevent coon attacks on the sweet corn.

I have "justified" every chicken related expenditure and construction project in order to have chickens and still have a reasonably happy DH. He is not fond of chickens, but admits they have been beneficial to our sons.

I have not been able to explain away an outdoor enclosure that has no other use than as a chicken run and a chicken (varmit) sized hole in HIS shed wall.

He states it is because he does not like mowing around them, but I live here, and I know it is because he is afraid the chickens are a short-lived phase and he does not want anything approaching permanent structures related to them. He can "justify" as well as I can. I think it is allowable.

I am really happy with my DH. While the birds and I will miss summer pasture, we will get through the snowy months in ways that keep the DH happy too.

Have a good weekend!

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

I live in North Western WI and I feel your pain. I don't even want to put a heat light in my new coop because I had one burn down a couple of years ago. I shovel out their run whenever they need it and keep the water in a heated dog dish. My coop is too small to keep them inside so they will have to go out in the snow everyday or go insane.

 

[ChooksChick]

For those interested in a no-fire way to offer heat in a coop, I have used the flat-panel oil -filled radiators with great success. They aren't too hard on electricity and won't start a fire. They don't get too hot, but radiate enough to heat a small area well without risking burns, etc.

I love this model: Flat-Panel Dayton

I have also used the big oil-filled heaters on wheels that you can find just about anywhere for the big coops, and those are wonderful, too- but you need to put them under something or they try to roost on it, and I worry they could burn their feet. They only get heat when it's well below zero for extended periods, but that happens a lot around here.

I have unheated coops, too, it's just depending on the breed.

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

That sounds like a good heater.

The birds are going in tonight. We definately waited until the last minute, but the weather has been in the 50's and I hate to put them in too early. Now there are little ice balls coming down.

Can't wait for spring.