Evening Chores

The winter months are a bit slower as far as farm work is concerned. The shorter days and winter rains here in western Washington are to blame for a lack of "productive farm work". We still manage to fit in weekend projects on Saturdays and Sundays but all of my other chores are done with a headlamp and barn boots.

When I get home from work I put on the headlamp and head down to the chicken coops to put food away. In an attempt to keep mice out of the food, I hang it up in the hen house and keep the bulk feed in a garbage can. I still see some droppings around the coop on occasion. In the daylight a mouse doesn't stand a chance, we have seen the flock battling over a mouse, chickens are meat eaters too.

After I hang up the food, I gather any eggs in the nest boxes. I have found that clean bedding helps keep the eggs clean from the dirty chicken feet. I have seen nice plans for a coop with a droppings board. The board is suspended under the roosts and the chickens can pass under the roosts on their way to the nests without having to step on their own waste which is caught on the board above them.



On my way back to the house I usually stop by the garden site to hunt insects. We still have carrots, leeks and peppers. The leeks do not seem to have many enemies and the peppers are lasting a surprisingly long time under the hoop house plastic. It is in the carrots where I have the most success catching insects. The pests come out under the protection of nightfall to do their feeding. I think the caterpillars are cutworms, they are fleshy and curl up when they are disturbed. The caterpillars are stripping the carrot tops and are easy to see feeding with the headlamp. I also kill any slugs I find, I hate slugs.