March Madness: Snow And Chicks Don't Mix!

The crazy weather has made for crazy chick duties here at Sojourn Farms. Needless to say, we're learning a lot! We have a list of improvements planned for the next iteration of run and hover design. Our initial design catered to more mature birds in more friendly conditions. We weren't quite prepared to care for chicks in gale force winds, icy rain, hail and snow from all directions! We scrounged around the farm for ways to protect the chicks from the wind, which was the worst for them. The wind whipping in would suck all the heat out of the hover and cause it to swing on its hangers. You can see what we found -- tables, chairs, boxes, boards, an old door (left).

The weather also forced us to clean out the shavings and re-bed the chicks' "nest" under the hover. Our design didn't "plan" for this -- we intended to move the whole run, hover included, to a new patch of grass with a new nest all set up in the right place. But, with the grass covered with snow, that wasn't an option. So, in Milan went. Talk about a nasty job, huh?