I’ve cared for numerous animals, and so I can tell you that it is the modest chicken that makes a mess of every inch and nook and cranny in your barn. These birds scratch and shred anything that is underfoot. They produce copious amounts of manure, which gets turned into dust by their scratching. They shed keratin from their feather shafts which is also minced to bits by their feet. Mix this powdered manure/bedding/feather material together (as they do, what with their dinosaur feet grinding everything into bits) and what you have is a fine, sticky dust that coats everything.

For the sake of my bird’s health, and my own, and also to simply enjoy being around my flock, I keep the coop tidied up. I skip out manure twice a week. Every weekend I do a more thorough job (to read about manure management read this post.) I sweep down cobwebs with a broom. My barns are very well ventilated with fresh air, and sunlight streams in. Still, at the end of the winter, dust has accumulated.

It piles up in the windowsills.

The dust is so thick that it almost obscures the labels on the storage cans.

Cobwebs drip down.

This is not just unsightly. Cobwebs and dust hold viruses and bacteria. The dust itself impairs breathing. It all contributes to respiratory disease. So, at the end of the winter, which is finally now, I do a thorough coop cleaning.

All of the bedding is shoveled out.

Notice that I wear a dust mask. As well maintained as my coop is, that protection is necessary.

The old bedding is dumped into the manure pile at the side of the pumpkin patch.

I sweep every last bit up. See all of the dust that was under the bedding?

Next, I get out the shop vac. I even get on a stool to reach the cobwebs that have been blocking the cupola and the soffit vents in the eaves.

I wipe down all surfaces, and wash the windows to let the sun in. The storage area is tidied up, and forgotten bits and bobs that  accumulated when it was too cold to bother with them, are stored properly or thrown out.

I don’t wash the walls. This is not a disinfecting cleaning like a commercial barn does between selling off old, and bringing in new stock. Not only is it still too cold, but I need to get the hens back into the barn. A washed barn remains damp for days, and that’s not good for the chickens.

Lastly, I put down fresh bedding. I used pine shavings for years, and it’s excellent. Recently, I’ve switched to Koop Clean, which is chopped hay and straw with a desiccant mixed in. The chickens stay active looking for tidbits in the hay, and it keeps the coop very dry and sweet-smelling.

It’s a lot of work to do this sort of thorough end-of-winter coop cleaning, but it is ever so satisfying. The air in the barns feels fresher, and it’s wonderful not tot kick up a puff of dust when feeding the hens.

The animals always come first. Now that their home is readied for springtime, I can get into the garden. I’ve already begun raking the leaves out from the perennial beds. I surprised a toad! Springtime is definitely here. The last bit of snow will be gone by the end of this week.  I have a good deal of satisfaction knowing that my coops are ready for the warm months to come.

What do I see? Springtime color in the leaves?

Yes! Even the white croci are cheerfully colorful. Look at those yellow centers. Harbingers of the hot summer sun that will get here soon enough.

Yesterday morning the ground was covered by a hard frost. Croci don’t care.

Lovely.

Over the last few years, I’ve taught numerous introduction to chicken keeping workshops. I’ve also written about how to get started with backyard hens in The Farmstead Egg Guide and Cookbook.

What I haven’t done is teach an in-depth class focusing on chicken health, the issues that arise with aging hens, and problematic chicken behavior. But, I’ve been working on it, and the first Advanced Chicken Care Workshop is being offered on May 17. Sign up through my Upcoming Events page.

Meanwhile, I have a number of programs coming up that I’d love to see you at! Yesterday’s Boston Globe book section had a wonderful write-up about what I do by Kate Tuttle. Tomorrow night I’ll be expanding on that conversation at Porter Square Books. I’ll bring a hen! There will be time for Q & A, so bring your chicken keeping questions.

Also, looking ahead to June, I’ll be at one of my favorite places, Tower Hill Botanic Garden, for a short talk and book signing, at 7 pm on June 11. Tower Hill has a lovely cafe, and I’ve reserved a table for 12 for dinner before the event. If you’d like to join me, let me know via email.

The Beast and her minions survived the winter.

Despite the state of suspended animation that the fish were in all winter, somehow they managed to double in size! I will have to find homes for some of them.

Meanwhile, although patches of snow remain, the sun came out and I have begun the springtime yard cleanup. I raked and deadheaded the perennial herb bed. Those brown leaves on the ground? Frozen solid. I’ll have to do another quick raking in a week or so.

Yesterday, I cleaned up around the raspberries and lopped off old canes. Luckily, the bushes are on the right side of the fence. Three feet of snow remains piled up on the left, a reminder of the snow plow that we saw so frequently this past winter.

There’s so much to do! The butterfly garden needs attention.

The Gems have offered their assistance and have been loosening packed down leaves and destroying all lurking larvae.

Yesterday I was in a store looking at gardening tools and noticed the seed display. There was a two for one sale! Despite the fact that I have not yet taken stock of the seeds leftover from last year, I couldn’t help myself. I bought 18 packets. Even those of us who are frugal and careful shoppers suffer lapses and go on seed buying sprees this time of year. Kale will be sowed today.

Spring is here.

Horses are generally quiet animals. They do most of their communicating with their bodies. Why talk when a flick of an ear can bring all of your pasture-mates to attention? Once in awhile, though, a horse will use his voice. Some horses don’t like to leave the group, and, when ridden away from home on the trails, will holler to let his friends know that he is returning. That neigh can resonate so loudly that it will rattle his rider’s bones. Sometimes, a horse, when faced with new horses, like when she is unloaded off of the trailer at a show, will stand with head raised, tail up, and shout. That neigh pierces through all of the show hubbub and can drown out the announcer on the PA system.

Sometimes the quiet in the pasture is broken by a horse’s squeal of displeasure. Perhaps someone got into someone else’s space, and was then presented with a haunch and a lifted hoof with the threat of a kick. A squeal adds punctuation to the body language. If you have mares, then you know what happens when they come into season. There are moods. There are flirtations and then (for the geldings) many confusing “go away” squeals.

But, for the owner of a horse, the most wonderful sound of all is the nicker. Imagine a horse chortling. It is an expression of the anticipation of pleasure. You’ll hear nickers in the barn at feeding time because horses do love their grain. The feeding time nicker is an urgent sort of sound. During the rest of the day, horses rarely nicker. A nicker in the field is reserved for only the best of friends, and it is softer and more melodic than the feed me! vocalization. Some horses never nicker at all. When you do hear it, you know that two very good friends are greeting each other. It is a clear sign of affection.

I’ve had Tonka now since the beginning of December. Last week, when I was walking out to his paddock, he nickered for me.

This is how we greet each other.

Hello, Tonka!

He looks my way.

Tonka turns.

Come!

He thinks about it. I let him think. Sometimes, not rushing a horse makes what you want to have happen, happen faster.

Good boy!

Hi, there.

Hmmm, I think that we have some grooming to do.

Now, we can do something interesting. The trails are no longer icy. Let’s go!