The rain, it raineth every day

Over the last couple of weeks the deluge has continued. I have given up hoping the plot will be dry enough to dig over before Christmas. I suspect I will now have to wait until the spring as the next torrent of water is due to arrive shortly.

Today we bought six bags of landscaping bark for the coop. The relentless rain has turned the ground in the coop into a complete quagmire. The chickens legs are coated in mud which isn’t good for their feet. The six bags were incredibly heavy and we dragged them from the car to the coop, stopping several times on the way. As my husband pottered off to get more food for the chickens, I got busy hacking open the bags and spreading a thick layer around the coop.

As usual, my every move was watched extremely closely and more than once I nearly tripped over a chicken! They seem much happier now, enjoying digging and scratching the bark. Hopefully, it will have a good effect during the next storm.

We fed the girls in the coop, collected two eggs and headed up to feed Leia and Rey in the greenhouse. They look cheerful and happily scoffed sunflower seeds from my hands. I have left the roof window open slightly for ventilation but everything else has been closed to keep it a steady temperature in the greenhouse. Leia seems very susceptible to cold, probably due to her having hypothermia as a very young chick.

So depending on the flooding levels, I will either be digging over the plot next weekend or planting rice. Only time will tell!