Off course we are not living in that sphere of world where it snows a lot that is why i did not know this very useful technique; spread the straws. Wonderful usage of straws to minimize the blindness create due to heavy snow. I do believe straws actually produced certain friction so that running & walking can be made possible. In some of your previous blogs i saw this usage as well where you put all these straws under the Hens to provide them warmth.
This is indeed a perfect usage of these straws to ensure the safety ;)
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Wood ash works very well for putting down on ice to prevent slipping as well. The straw bedding helps absorb some of the moisture from the hens but most importantly, the carbon in the straw absorbs that ammonia that comes from their manure. If the chicken barn smells, there is not enough carbon!
Yes, we just cleaned out both coops and replaced the wood chips with clean hay. The hens were in there scratching around immediately. 😀 We rebuilt our coops this year to allow them a small snow free area to roam around in. They were built like little lean-to's attached to our large parking structure, which is going to be converted to a greenhouse next year. Unfortunately, we hadn't taken into account the amount of snow that slides off the roof and into their pens so the roof will have to be redesigned, but that's ok. All that shovelling made for a lesson we won't soon forget! When designing a structure, in any season, keep all 4 seasons in mind!
Our place is still covered in a good 1-2 feet of snow, but our road is a muddy potholed mess. It's not county maintained and there are few of us neighbors that work to maintain it, so I actually prefer driving in the snow as at least it is a smooth ride then.
Good advice there my friend. I agree with snow travel. I prefer it over pot holes on gravel roads. The only exception is when it snows before it is cleared off the road. Traffic on fresh snow is nice and smooth if you are the first one. But after 10 or 15 it gets really rough!
My Uncle has many pets including Hens and i do believe this idea is going to help him a lot, Thanks Rob :)
You are welcome. If he has chicks, then don't use straw, but instead use wood chips. The chicks lungs get plugged up with the dust from the straw and die. The older hens are okay with the dust.
Oh i see this is the case, sure i will let him know all the details Rob :-)