Tools of the Teeny Tiny Farm

 Certain tools are essential for everyday chores.  Some are seasonal, some are perennial.

In the winter, when the flow of water from the house to the barn is shut off, we must haul water.  Next to trudging on an icy driveway my least favorite thing to do.  It's just a pain in the rear.  I most certainly prefer the sled while Rick chooses the cart.  Personally I think he's nuts as it takes considerably more muscle power to pull the cart in the snow.  But you can see his bike at the ready to go pedaling down the snowy driveway to the mailbox.  Yes, nuts...

Baling twine is almost as essential as the bedding flakes.  Here we use it to keep the hay aisle door closed.  The wood expands and contracts with the temperature of the seasons and there are times the latch will just not latch.  Baling twine is just the ticket to make sure nosy noses don't work the door open.

And how the heck did I not know about wormer sandwiches when I owned horses and struggled to get wormer in thrashing heads.  No, bread isn't the best food choice for the donks but on the relatively infrequent wormer days, it's just the ticket.  A treat they cannot resist.

And then there's storage.  Our barn is modestly small.  How handy to have a horse trailer available to hold

extra hay and straw

different types of chicken feed, empty bags and, oh yes, an unused saddle lurking in the back

(who knew a trailer dressing room would hold hen food)

 and the miscellaneous bags of shavings, bedding pellets, chicken scratch, mineral salt and 

diatomaceous earth

Now what kind of blog poster would I be without some chonkey shots.

All hens happy and healthy...