Change of Season Chores

I know all households have the 'change of season' chores, but our mini-mountain menagerie has brought all sorts of new-to-us chores to our list.

Before moving to the 'wild west' our change of season chores entailed bringing out the winter clothes, making sure the furnace was serviced, putting plastic on windows (this didn't happen all that often), and being sure the snow blower was ready to fire up when needed.

Now that we live in the mountains of the west and have added 29 animals to our family.... these chores have multiplied.

We still have to swap out summer and winter clothing; get out the winter boots; unpack the heavy coats; and gather up the gloves and hats -- but we also have to do a whole. lot. more.

We put plastic on all the windows in the office and craft camper - that was accomplished back in late Sept early Oct -- in the office, anyway.  I may not do the windows in the craft camper as I am not out there THAT often in the winter.

We have to get all the propane stoves serviced or cleaned AND we have to light all the pilot lights.  (Some  will most likely need to be 're-lit' multiple times throughout the winter as the strong winds often blow them out at the most inopportune times.)

We also still get the snow blower ready to run -- we just need to do this earlier than we'd ever have to do back east.

In addition we have to consider all our new animal friends.  Those we choose to have and those that just like to visit.  :-)  Much of our winter preparedness is to protect our animals from some of the visiting critters that like to hang out on our property.

The rabbits need to be moved this year because our current hutch is located in an area that results in heavy drifting.  Digging a trench in a 5ft drift each morning to be able to feed and water the bunnies gets old... fast.  Not to mention, our hutch is leaking like a sieve.

Our rabbit hutch than I assembled 2 years ago with old wood shipping crates.
It's leaking and the snow drifts in front of it tremendously,
so the rabbits have been moved to the garage.

Moving the rabbits before the first BIG snowfall was high on our priority list.  We managed to do this mid-November -- what a chore and adventure.  Our garage has rabbits E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E!!!!

Then there's the rabbits we need to process.  It's best to do THAT task while the weather is still 'slightly' warmer.  The colder it gets, the harder it is.  One's hands get quite frozen as you butcher rabbits hour after hour.  (This has yet to be done, but I do keep selling a couple rabbits here and there AND have a phone number for someone who will most likely help us.)

Then there's the camper to winterize -- although, fortunately that has already been accomplished as Techno feared frozen pipes when our first snow fall was predicted back in September.

The ONLY picture I could find of our camper.  Weird.

Speaking of snow, the perimeter of the property needs trimmed to avoid drifting along the roads from tall grass from our yard.  Always a joy to compete this task on 3 acres of land.

The dog run needs to be set up in preparation for the drifting that WILL occur as the snow begins to fall.  Leads need to be tied out as it won't take long and the drifts will be so tall the dogs can just walk over the fencing.  (This was an easy accomplishment, but we now will need a third with the addition of Kuno to our pack.)

In addition to the tie outs for drifting, I wanted to extend Titus' little 'dog shelter' and make a 'front' for it so snow wouldn't simply drift right into the opening making it rather useless in terms of a warm place to get out of the snow/rain/wind.  I managed to finally accomplish this by adding a pallet and some old scraps of wood we had around the yard.  Now the shelter is bigger and has a front wall with just a small opening along one side of the house for the dogs to fit through.  Hopefully this will keep the snow mostly out and allow a place for Titus to huddle when the weather turns snowy.  (Not that we don't bring him into the house, we do.  He simply tends to prefer being outside as his thick fur results in him overheating when he stays inside too long.)

It ain't pretty, but so far it's functional.  Maybe next summer we'll paint it along with lots of other structures that could use some sprucing up.

Our 'make shift' dog shelter for Titus.  Made completely from recycled wood/pallets we had around the yard.

The opening near the wall of the house is where the dogs can enter their new expanded hut.
Hopefully this will keep snow from drifting inside the shelter making it less than useful.

Inside the dog shelter.  Where the beds are located,
 Titus dug a nice 'hole' to keep himself cool in the summer.

Then there's the chicken coop and run.  First a good deep clean to prepare for the cold months is always in order as deep cleaning in the winter just. ain't. happenin'!  Putting down bedding in the coop and nest boxes to help keep the temps a bit warmer is useful too.  Getting the heat lamps and water heaters set and ready has to happen along with timers for lights and warmers to save on the electric bill a bit.  (Some of this is done, some is still in process -- like getting timers and the heat lamp set up.  Plus with the extended warm weather we've had, I think we'll go ahead and do another deep clean of the coop.)

Finally, I'm attempting yet another plan for keeping the run a bit less snow filled.  Last year I tried to put tarps along the far side of the dog run to help prevent some of the drifting INTO the chicken run and the area directly in front of the run door.  That backfired, however, and the drifts were in fact worse.  Mostly as a result of the tarps being partially torn off due to the wind generating strange drift formations.

This year, my plan was to 'wrap' the chicken run with the tarps which would allow for a lot more points of attachment.  Not to mention, the wind will be blowing against them so hopefully they will simply plaster themselves more solidly to the run structure.  (Nice dream, eh?)  I finally accomplished this just recently since we've had such a mild fall.  Prayerfully, this will keep the run from 'filling' with snow and allow the chickens to roam a bit more outside the coop throughout the cold winter months.

The side of the chicken run w/the door.  I wrapped the door separately so it still opens easily.

The back/end of the chicken run.  Hopefully this holds up through our harsh, windy winters.
Can't be any worse than last year, anyway.

Phew!  Living in the mountains and owning animals adds a lot to ones 'change-of-season-chore-
list' but... I wouldn't have it any other way.

We still love our mountain home and adding the animals has simply made for a more interesting adventure.