Lights On!

With the days growing colder and shorter, the chickens once again have simulated daylight. With the help of a 40 watt lightbulb screwed into a utility light and a timer, the girls will have an extra four hours of day added to their wintery evenings. If all goes according to plan, the light will click on at 3:30 PM and click off shortly after 7 PM. I'm contemplating adding warm cereal to their evening routine. I thought Cream of Wheat or hot oatmeal, but that seems a little excessive. Maybe I'll just round up a bag of mash at the feed store. Apparently, you add hot water and mix it up and there you have it, instant hot meal for the chickens. They seem a little thin to me, so I think adding a bit more meal to their day wouldn't be a bad thing with cold weather coming on. If the Almanac is correct, it's going to be a cold and snowy winter and the girls are going to need the extra calories.
In other news, I am once again celebrating the joys of having a handyman on call. While I was at work this afternoon, my rabbit barn got cleaned, plywood was nailed up over broken plexi-windows on the sunporch, and my two freezers were leveled which my handyman swears will keep the compressor from burning out. He's coming again to put plastic around the covered chicken run, once the wind dies down and the plastic sheeting won't take flight and sail off to Michigan. It is simply wonderous how many items got checked off my to-do list while I wasn't even at home. I wish I could say that I have been half as productive since I got home this afternoon....