Thursday, July 8, 2010

Steamy, Hot Chicks, and the Gardening Challenge

We've certainly had a lot of steamy days here in Michigan. Other states are feeling the heat, too, as I've seen on the evening news. We've got some HOT CHICKS to take care of - and one way to ensure they remain healthy through the heat is to make certain they have a lot of water to drink! I clean their water container with bleach and rinse well before delivering the water supply to the Egg Producer's Official Headquarters...and I also add 1 Tablespoon of Cider Vinegar for each gallon of fresh water. It helps sanitize, and also refreshes the hens during the heat wave and high humidity.

The coop that Mr. Wonderful designed has ventilation with screens near the top of the house, and the front and back doors will latch open to cool the entire interior on days like we've had this week. It's nicer for when they go indoors to lay eggs, but they still prefer to be out of doors, as the location of the hen house is in the shade for the most part. The girls linger underneath the coop when they want a dust bath or just to have some 'alone time'!
The gardening challenge I have going with Angela from W. Virginia has slowed down considerable. We've BOTH had extreme heat and weather disruptions. It rained last night here, and the skeeters are out in full force, and humidity has prohibited me from doing much of anything since last weekend. Above is my 'before' picture of the garden area I selected. And BELOW is the picture of how far I got, taken yesterday.
You WILL notice a difference in the appearance, but I'm not done yet. Angela and I decided to extend the deadline to Wednesday of next week. She needs time to convince her hubby that he really DOES need to get the landscaping fabric down from the barn for her...that it's an actual project, not just a 'whim'! I hope he cooperates before the frost sets in.....!!!


Stay Cool!

8 comments:

Troy said...

Landscape Fabric: Cool! You just sew yourself a landscape and throw it out there. No need to dig, plant, weed, paint, or do any other heretofore necessary tasks, Just get out the fabric and sew yourself a mosquito free garden.

We really need to get some of that ourselves!

Carmen S. said...

It is HOT here too and I hope it goes away soon! Hope your chicks keep cool and isn't cider vinegar a wonderful thing? So many uses, I have an itchy rash on my lower leg and I read to try the ACV and I spray it on and it does help some with the itching:) Enjoy the day!!!

Love Of Quilts said...

Got a good laugh out of before the frost sets in... lets hope he does...you have gotten a lot done on your garden. The heat is hard on all of gods living creatures. Trish

Rose said...

temp. in Ga is 100. i'm staying in the hose. i can't imagine being a chick outside. hope they can handle the weather. sounds like alot of work cleaning

Angela said...

Baby it's hot outside! It was 104 degrees when I was out today! I got the mulch I need!

I wonder if your hens know how lucky they are to be your hens? I don't think other hens get the royal attention that you give them.

Hopefully it will rain here tomorrow and it will cool down here too!

Hugs,
Angela

Chatty Crone said...

Can't wait to see it - much too hot for me. Garden fabric? Sandie

Diann said...

Hi Monica!

Glad to here the chicks are fairing well in this hot and humid weather!

It is nice to see the temps drop a little today. We are up a our trailer with my parents this weekend. My oldest nephew has baseball games all weekend up here.

We didn't get nearly the things done this past week we wanted to outside due to te heat.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Mulberry Lane Folk Art said...

Hi Monica! Love your chickens! You have a beautiful place. I use apple cider vinegar for heartburn. Works great. Miz Procrastinator (me) finally wrote a new blog post.Check it out when you have time. Blessings! Jennifer