Our three hens were not amused when I went out to feed them shortly after 7 a.m. They were not alone.
Last night’s storm brought heavy rain and strong winds that gusted to 50 miles per hour or more here in central Maine. Schools are closed in many communities. The storm snapped a neighbor's tall but skinny tree and sent it crashing into our yard. Part of our driveway is now blocked too, by a second casualty: long, thick branches from a maple tree. The storm isn’t over as I write this at 8 a.m. In fact, the winds may get stronger today. But while many Mainers have lost power, we have not (so far), for which we are grateful.
As for the chickens, they were agitated but dry when I opened the coop door this morning. The pen that abuts our small coop is covered with tarps — top, sides and front — for the duration of the storm, so it too remains dry, although I had to adjust two of the tarps where they had come loose overnight.
Not surprisingly, Snow, Nellie and Hope showed no interest in venturing out into the pen, at least initially. After a night of howling winds, coupled with the sound of rain pelting the metal roof above their heads, they had a case of the jitters. Perhaps, too, “the girls” had a bit of trouble deciding if morning had broken, what with the gray dawn and the gloomy pen, which remains dark and uninviting because of its covering of tarps.
Still, their food and water bowls are out in the pen, dry and waiting. So the hens will venture forth eventually, if they haven’t already, once hunger, thirst and curiosity get the better of them.
Last night’s storm brought heavy rain and strong winds that gusted to 50 miles per hour or more here in central Maine. Schools are closed in many communities. The storm snapped a neighbor's tall but skinny tree and sent it crashing into our yard. Part of our driveway is now blocked too, by a second casualty: long, thick branches from a maple tree. The storm isn’t over as I write this at 8 a.m. In fact, the winds may get stronger today. But while many Mainers have lost power, we have not (so far), for which we are grateful.
As for the chickens, they were agitated but dry when I opened the coop door this morning. The pen that abuts our small coop is covered with tarps — top, sides and front — for the duration of the storm, so it too remains dry, although I had to adjust two of the tarps where they had come loose overnight.
Not surprisingly, Snow, Nellie and Hope showed no interest in venturing out into the pen, at least initially. After a night of howling winds, coupled with the sound of rain pelting the metal roof above their heads, they had a case of the jitters. Perhaps, too, “the girls” had a bit of trouble deciding if morning had broken, what with the gray dawn and the gloomy pen, which remains dark and uninviting because of its covering of tarps.
Still, their food and water bowls are out in the pen, dry and waiting. So the hens will venture forth eventually, if they haven’t already, once hunger, thirst and curiosity get the better of them.
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