Happy Hens in All Seasons

     The old rabbit hutch we built received renovations recently.  With the rabbits having grown old and moving on, we had a great old hutch not getting use.  Getting it weather ready for the ducks was fun.  They need a space to huddle up in during the cooler and snowy days coming ahead.  They have their main coop for at night to keep the predators away (their fortress, I call it, is by our house), but they needed something during the day when they are in their large outdoor pen (their day pen is a large enclosure with garden greens, flowers, raspberries, etc. away from our house).  They prefer sleeping under flowers and nestling in the raspberry patch.  However September and October strip our region of the floral and lush greens they love.  Accommodations were made.   And the hens responded very well to their new and improved Fall/Winter outbuilding. 

Great new place for them to lay their eggs.  

Enjoying the new leaf ground cover.  I rake and bag all of the maple
leaves in our front yard and bring them back to our hens. 
They enjoy rummaging through Fall leaves for bugs.  

Lights were added.  As the daylight becomes scarce, we provide light
to keep the hens safe and aware of their surroundings.  We use both solar and
timed lights to keep parts of the yard aglow.  

Hens in Summer

     Summer is the hens' favorite season.  The temperature is glorious, the bugs are out to eat, worms are everywhere to be shoveled out, garden treats are ready, rainstorms are a favorite, the pool is always open, and the days out are long and full.  They laid a great amount of eggs over Summer.  They created new nest sites with marsh hay, creating beautiful rounds spaces under nasturtiums.  We were able to share eggs with neighbors and friends.  And always the duck eggs were a hit - so good and so fun to bake with. 

   

I added morning glories and other flowers to their coop. 
As the season progressed the flowers blanketed the coop
and made a pretty, flowered cover-up.  

The three hens would take turns building and positioning feathers
and marsh hay for a shared nest beneath the nasturtiums.  

Their favorite spot in the morning - in the kiddie pool.  

After just laying an egg.  They still prefer to bury them under a layer
of marsh hay or below the shavings in their coop..  

The Ducks' New Neighbor

     After a little while the hens didn't seem to mind their new Possum neighbor.  It lived in our neighbor's backyard somewhere, and used their giant tree to climb up onto our fence.  It would balance and shimmy it's way over to our front yard where we guessed it was dining on our apples from our apple trees.  I was more worried about the Possum tangling with our dog.  Our dog did not want this critter anywhere in our yard, but no problems occurred. The Possum minded it's business - leaving my hens alone.  And yes, this Possum was out in the middle of the day when I snapped one of the  photos.  I'm guessing something scared it out of its daytime refuge - seemed healthy and happy scurrying across our fence top.  We would see it a lot at night, going from our neighbor's yard to our front yard.  But now that the season has changed I have not seen any critters outside besides birds, squirrels, and chipmunks.  This scavenger must have moved on. 

Our first sighting when it was tiny. 

A daytime sighting, after it had grown, a couple months later.