An update on some sweet chickies in the midst of Minnesota winter

Here’s a little bit of a background on our small, feathered flock!

I have this thing about wanting ALL sorts of animals on our farm for the kids and myself to enjoy and provide care for… cows, horses, sheep, goats, and pigs! You name it and I’ve probably already asked Ben for it, ha! When I was young, my siblings and I were actively involved in 4-H, specifically showing dairy cattle. Looking back I realize that the hours of walking our calves/cows, washing and clipping them for show, cleaning pens and stalls were some of our greatest life lessons in stewardship. 

A couple years ago, I got a bright idea to get baby chicks on our farm, hoping this venture would instill a sense of responsibility and pride within Savannah. Bryce was not even one at the time, but since then he has jumped right into the role of care-giver (or egg-collect/thrower/dropper), too! 😉

My knowledge of chickens was slim up to their arrival, but I made sure to research and ask for help and advice from some friends that have chickens for a hobby to be confident that we were up for the job!

When it comes to laying eggs, our chickens have been hit or miss for the last month or so. And before that, they were molting. Molting is when chickens shed their old feathers and replace them with new feathers. But recently, we’ve started seeing more eggs in the coop again. Hooray! Now I can make my family’s favorite egg bake recipe. (I’ll be posting that later on this week! Be sure to subscribe at the bottom.)

In Minnesota, the temperatures often drop below zero for a couple days at a time. Brrr! We use a heat lamp to keep them warm, but I also found a great heater on Amazon to help, too. (I’ll link that item when we get our blog set up for that… soon friends, really soon!) What I liked most about it is that it’s not open and doesn’t blow air, so there is no way of it being a risk for fire. It gives off a good amount of heat, is sleek and hangs right along the wall nicely like a picture would. I just stepped into the coop today and I couldn’t believe how comfortable they have it. #spoiled

On occasion, when the weather warms up a bit (for us, 30 degrees is a bit of a heatwave 😂), the hens like to wander around outside until it gets dark again. Then, you will find them roosted up until morning. 

We love our little ladies and are thankful for the eggs they provide us with for most of the year, as well as some great life lessons!

Rooted in ag and led by faith,

-Jess