Is it Spring yet?

James Gibbon - The weather is starting to change around here and Spring is on the way. March has been off to a magnificent start with great weather. This has been bad for skiing, but great for getting outside and enjoying the day. Our chickens have really enjoyed the nice weather and the melting snow. They are now able to move freely around the outside of the coop without running into inches of snow pack. The chickens hate the snow.

As for our horses they are ready for spring and the grass to start growing. Having been cooped up during our February cold blitz, they are finally getting some much needed time out in the field. It has been fun to see them enjoy this time so much. I’m excited for when we have fields full of green grass for them to graze in.

Our dogs have been enjoying the new warmer weather as well. During the cold blitz they were hardly able to walk in the snow without their paws getting too cold. These warmer temperatures are a welcome surprise for them.

I have also been able to do activities that I haven’t been able to do in months - like ride my bike. I recently road down some roads nearby and really enjoyed it. Plus the weather was absolutely gorgeous.

I know these days won’t last forever, but I also know that we are getting much closer to spring and even summer. I love how the seasons change here in Montana and am enjoying every last minute of winter as we enter spring.

Waiting on Winter...

James Gibbon - Typically, winters in Montana are long and harsh, but this year has been a completely different type of winter. It is now January 5th, 2021 and we still barely have any snow on the ground. This has been great news for our chickens, but it has sadly put a real damper on the ski and snow sports. The chickens have really enjoyed the lack of snow and have spent more than their normal amount of time outdoors and out of the coop. It has been fun to see them enjoy this warm winter and get outside more than usual. Our horses have been enjoying this weather as well as they have been able to easily find grass in our pastures. Typically we have at least a foot of snow on the ground, and this prevents them from being able to easily graze in the pastures. However, this lack of snow has really negatively impacted the outdoor recreation activities we usually participate in during the winter. These include: snowshoeing, skiing, sledding, and playing with the dogs in the snow. We barely had a white Christmas this year and it just did not feel the same as our usual Christmas’. My wish is that we start to receive more snow so we can enjoy the fun parts that winter has to offer. I miss seeing the sparkles in the snow scattered throughout our fields as the sun shines on the blankets of snow. Hopefully we start to get some snow soon and I can update the blog on how much snow we have gotten. Until then, we will have to wait and see what mother nature has in store for us.

Caring for a sick Chicken

As a chicken keeper, when one of your chickens gets sick it is absolutely terrifying. Concern for the chickens health and well being becomes the ultimate priority, and it becomes time to do what needs to be done to bring the chicken back to health. One day we opened our coop to find one of our chickens severely ill. She was weak, only able to walk for short periods, severe diarrhea, loss of egg production, loss of voice, and total loss of personality. What made matters worse was that this was our favorite chicken in the flock. We could not afford to lose her. I instantly went to backyardchickens.com and began researching to find an answer. After a few searches in their forums, I was able to find a close match to her symptoms. The illness looked to be something called Coccidiosis - a parasitic disease. The good news… there was a cure; something called Corid. This solution became our only hope. I rushed down to Murdochs and purchased the Corid and a syringe. We immediately started putting this solution in the chickens water and drenching her with the solution through her beak.

After a couple days she was still very sick. We were experiencing some hot summer days and thought it would be a good idea to separate her from the flock and get her to a cool place. We captured her and put her in a dog kennel and transported her to a cooler location. Here we were able to provide her with corid water, gatorade, and Hen Boost. We did this everyday for the next 5 days or so. With time she started to get better. Her personality started to come back, and she was speaking to us again. I instantly became overwhelmed with gratitude. I really thought there was a chance she could die, and for her to make a full recovery is nothing short of remarkable. I am so thankful to backyardchickens.com for helping us diagnose and cure our precious chicken. I hope all of you use this resource as it is very valuable and helped save our chicken’s life.