Or is it, change can be hard….for humans. Our flock of 17 heritage breed hens made their annual trek (a whopping 50 feet) from their Summer Coop and the sprawl of 2 fenced-in acres of pastures to their Winter Coop and a less sprawling 8’ x 20’ covered run. And once again, they did so with such ease.
This event serves as reminder of how I have again been schooled by our farm family. Their ease in acclimating to this new coop space and the things in that space is large in part due to their lack of emotional attachment. They are unknowingly practicing the concept of impermanence; nothing lasts and everything changes. A practice that can assist in accepting change and in turn, less emotional struggle when change happens. And we all know, change happens. We humans can spend a lifetime practicing this and still not fully achieve it.
See you next Spring, Summer Coop.
This seasonal change is also an excellent time to de-worm all of our ladybirds. We use a herbal de-wormer and garlic through much of the year, but once or twice a year all of these happy hens receive a chemical de-wormer. We learned the very hard way what happens when a chicken’s body is over run with internal parasites. We used Valbazen this time and re-dosed after 10 days. We continued egg withdrawal for 14 days after last dosing, which thankfully results in minimal egg tossing right now since egg laying has slowed significantly due to the decreased daylight hours and of course, The Molt.
There is peace of mind knowing that our ladybirds will have access to a Ready for Winter coop and that they are all starting this season of change off on the healthiest chicken foot possible as we all get ready for another Wisconsin winter and thankful for the gentle nudge towards the practice of embracing change.
Welcome to the Winter Coop
Soaking up sun in the Winter Run.
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