• Appelget Farm
  • Flower Garden
  • About
  • Flower List
  • Photos
  • Contact Us
Appelget Farm

Winter Greeting

2/19/2015

2 Comments

 
Picture
Our most recent snow storm brought about 5 inches of snow. Thankfully, the snow was the light fluffy kind that made for easy plowing. The tractor doubles as a snow plow during the winter months and actually makes shoveling a long driveway kind of fun.
Picture
Temperatures have been below freezing most days and it has presented some small challenges - mainly keeping fresh water for the animals on a regular basis as it can turn to solid ice in just a couple hours. In the late afternoon, we check on things outside - most importantly, the water pails. Each night, we bring the water pails in the house to keep them from freezing and then return them to the coops first thing in the morning.

The three younger hens are still being kept in the barn. They are younger than the original flock and their smaller size makes them lower in "pecking order." Our initial attempt at introduction didn't go all that well so we're still keeping them separate for now. It went something like this. "Oh! Who are you?" And before any of the larger girls would listen to reason, they were proving their superiority with sharp pecks. Kevin recently set up a new coop in the empty horse stall. The younger chickens are happy but will certainly enjoy being on pasture in the Spring. One of them just started laying this morning!

On the coldest days, we toss a handful of scratch (cracked-corn) to the full-grown chickens in the outside coop. This helps them to have a full crop overnight, sort of like a nice warm bowl of oatmeal before bed. The chickens don't much care for walking in snow but will tolerate a little of it. They prefer the warmth of their coop and the feathery body heat of their sisters. When we lock up the coop at night, the hens are lined up on their roost bar, eyes half-closed. It's amusing to watch them jostle for their preferred spot on the roost bar, everyone wants to be in the middle.

And inside, we are all staying warm too ~ busily planning for Spring. A huge thank you to our friend Ben for fixing our computer. We will hopefully be able to post updates more often!

Stay Warm!

Picture
2 Comments

    This blog is about our small family farm and homestead located in Central New Jersey. We grow for our own table but we also grow for the tables of our families, friends and neighbors through our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.

    Archives

    June 2016
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.