snow and rain. phooey. bad for me, good for them.......

[emjay]

Well, being that I live on an Island, we get varying elements. In winter, it rains ALOT !! needless to say, lots of mud. Ducks love it, my chickens hate it.
The ducks had their coop and run right beside our natural pond, with all the rain, the pond got nice and close, but, not too close for any sense of urgency. On the top of their run I have (had) netting. Two nights ago we had a huge dump of snow. Heavy snow.

I had to work at 5am, so, didn't see the aftermath until after work. All my chicken runs need fixin'. The tops of the runs anyways.
The duck run was a mess, tore netting off the wood, and trees it was attached too. Did a quick fix.
and then today, I get home from work, my hubby, oh bless him. He has completely torn down the duck run , dismantled their coop and has built a deluxe 8' x 6' house, that will have a shingled roof, it stands about 8' tall, so a nice size coop/shed.
we moved their original coop into that new house, so they now have double the protection from the elements. Put a new lid on the original coop. oh so cozy. A nice solid bottom. and now their run is 3x bigger. we kept the original boundaries of their run, as the door opens right beside the pond. but with their coop (for sleeping) being put into the new house, that much more room. so tomorrow the finishing touches , predator proofing again, all the wire in the run.
the good news is, that the new building can house a second sleeping coop for my next breed of duck that I plan to get in the spring.
So, a good day that way. expensive but, will be just lovely in the end.

the snow also brought down a tree onto our paddock fencing and not just a little tree.


anyone else having snow issues that is forcing them to do some quick structure changes??

 

[mommyofthreewithchicks]

We have changed buildings for winter and then changed plans within the buildings. Wasn't going to have an enclosed run- Ducks were too messy and have now built an enclosed run. Wasn't going to have a net over the run- ducks started flying and I still don't have the heart to clip wings. I for one am learning as I go with the poultry- we got our first chicken in June, chicks in July and ducklings in Aug. I think that I have absorbed several books about chickens and ducks but book learning is one thing living and learning is another. We are flying by the seat of our pants but I think for now I have the hang of it. I am sure next week I will find a question to stump me but for now I am pretty ok with my info about "my" birds

Right now we have mud puddles in the run and the ducks are pretty much staked out in there while demanding the hot water I have been bringing them each morning.

 

[Where The Wild Things Are]

I'm new to poultry as well. It seems to be a process of "live n' learn". I read everything I can get ahold of, but there is nothing better than real world experience. Do...and do over, but it's worth it. They are very rewarding pets.

 

[emjay]

this is so true. You learn as you go, and I think for the most part, the birds are pretty tolerant of all our thought processes and alterations. hahah. I think people learn better through experience, then a book, a book summarizes the 'norm', but there will always be a situation that is not in that book. I know it...

as we were building the new one today, hubby kept saying how he wished it would have been done this way to begin with, ah hindsight is something isn't it? but, one can't predict the weather either. well, I can't.

 

[Where The Wild Things Are]

"norm"?!?

there is nothing normal about chickens and ducks. They are so random, quirky, and totally off the wall. Ya just got to love em'