The coop and pen were covered with cobwebs. There were sticks and some leaves cluttering up the top of the pen laying on the anchor fencing. Love that fence. It keeps the bears and raccoons out.Cobwebs are a good thing to have in the coop because they catch all kinds of bugs we really don't want around. The spiders will soon be back building new webs. I don't use any chemicals that might kill the spiders.
I like to wait until there are hot summer days to dry out the coop and pen because the way I get rid of the cobwebs and leaves on the anchor fencing is to use the hose and shoot them off with water. It is so hot out that it doesn't take very long at all for everything to dry out.
Pen (outside) - Next I raked out the pen and used the wheel barrow to bring in loads of dirt I dug up from under the oak trees. The chickens like to have new dirt in the pen to scratch around. There were a few hens checking for edibles when I was moving and leveling the dirt.
The chickens free range the property most of the day, but sometimes we need to keep them in the pen if there are predators around. Or if we leave the property the chickens are safer lock up.
Coop (inside) - Inside the coop where it stays dry all year, I have read that some people put down a deep layer of pine shavings (add to it as needed) and only change it out once or twice a year. The chickens scratch through the shaving and bury their droppings. It is called the Deep Litter Method here.I guess I am kind of doing that... my method is to put layers of pine shavings and dirt over the chicken poo under the roosts. The coop floor is dirt with a layer of tin. I dug down about a foot and put down some old corrugated panels to slow down any critter that might try to dig their way inside. Then I filled it up with dirt. The light stuff in the photo is pine shavings.
Morgan would like to get in the pen with the chickens and chow down on the chicken feed.
(July 25, 2009)
[7 eggs today]
~:>
Smiles
