Track Loader Tuesday 2/20/18

A week ago Tuesday (2/20), it had warmed up to 60*F, and 

 there were multiple outdoor "farm" projects calling my name. 

First, the DC coop doors were too close to the ground and after trying to keep enough of a clearance to close the door, the stress caused the screws in the bottom hinge to come out.

The solution was simple - cut off a few inches of the door, and 

just put an extra boards on the inside of the coop.

 With both doors able to open again, I started cleaning the coop. 

 Four big wheelbarrow loads later, I was down to the deep litter that was still nice and "fluffy".

Below, is the pile of what was cleaned out of one coop! 💩

  

The next step was to add more "fresh" litter. The only issue was that when we got the dump truck load of sawdust in November 2016, we didn't have a dry place to store it. So, it's gotten wet and as a result, it was almost completely frozen solid. 

 

So, instead of just scooping up the sawdust, I had to use the Dingo's bucket to "chip" away the frozen sawdust, to access the non-frozen part way at the bottom of the pile. So, of course, that took way longer than expected! 

 

Now, most people wouldn't use this sawdust because it's no longer dry. But with deep litter, it can be

slightly moist, as that aids in the decomposition process, while still in the coop. That being said, once we use up this load, our goal is to make a sawdust storage area where it can be kept dry. 

Success! The DC coop is "clean" again. 

Here's a video I took while operating the Dingo, so it has a few mistakes,

but thought you might enjoy it. 

I then, focused on the grow-out coop (originally build for the turkeys, but now they roost in whatever coop they like). To add sawdust to that coop was more tricky, because 

the pathway is only like 4 ft wide and Dingo is 3 ft wide. 

As you can see, in order to get inside the coop door, I had to carefully turn the Dingo on a 45 degree angle, raise the bucket and dump the sawdust. The first attempt, only 1/2 the bucket was inside the door, so I had to shovel some of the sawdust back inside the coop. 

The second time, I went to the right as  far as I could, then slowly swung the front end to the left. Success! The bucket just barely cleared and the sawdust could just be dumped inside the coop!

(But somehow I didn't take a photo of that!) 

It's so much easier than hauling it in a wheelbarrow, especially since both of ours are in the process of falling apart! Saving time and energy, will make it much easier to maintain everything. 

Plus, it's great for hauling an extra heavy bin of food scraps!

Meanwhile, my mom came over and carted about 20 bins of shredded leaves to cover the pathways that were in need of mulch due to the snow and ice melting. The chickens have grown accustomed to walking on the snow (when it's not too deep), which is great until everything starts to melt!

  (And yes, that's plastic I put over the all-wire doors of the grow-out & brooder coops, to block cold winter drafts. But they were still well ventilated.)

 

 The shredded leaves made everyone happy, including McGregor 

who now had a soft, dry place to lie down. 

I was surprised this rooster felt safe enough to sun bathe this close to McGregor,

but apparently they've grown accustomed to him being in the chicken yard.

 

Last Tuesday was a productive day and I thoroughly enjoyed using the 

"track loader", even though my shoulders were still sore from using

the wheelbarrow to cart the "poop from the coop". 

Why didn't I just use the Dingo, I'm not sure! Next time, I will!

Clean coop = Happy chickens!

Can you spot the "one is not like the other" ?