Darned Weekend Blizzard

[Colin King]

The northern half of Minnesota had one of those rare late April blizzards this past weekend. Well over a foot of snow fell Friday and Saturday.

The snow put the brakes on the planned field work, but I was still able work on Eleanor in relative comfort, out of wind. A female pheasant also sought shelter in the garage, sitting above me in the rafters all day Saturday.

Did an oil change, replaced coolant, jacked up the front end and tightened the castle nuts on the front wheels, adjusted the toe-in, and put on the newly painted bumper. I still need to tackle the bearings on the left front wheel, but that will have to wait until we're done planting.

All of this was done in time to move the mobile chicken coop to their summer location away from the garden. I was really surprised at how well the 8N handled the snow.

https://nnalert.com/4cas5l</img>



Ready to get into the field!
https://nnalert.com/3zj7yw</img>

 

[Davy Fireball]

i live in iowa and we went from snow to mowing the yard. to flooding it's still gets down to 30 at night.this weather just an't right

 

[Colin King]

Sure is something else!

We looked at some of the old calendars that we record temps and weather in. The last snow this late in the year was April 28th, 1994. 15" fell.

Hope you dry out soon!

Colin

 

[Danny in CO]

Colin,

It this Global Warming that's causing these late snow storms! LOL

Danny

 

[Colin King]

You said it, not me ;-)

It's interesting how the mind works - or doesn't work. My family remembered a late blizzard, but we thought it was the middle of the month. We also thought it was in '96. Keeping records solves the memory problem.

Weird weather happens. And it messes up schedules. Our market garden is less dependent on an early start than other farmers in the area who are putting in corn and beans, but the snow means a slow start and a May that is bound to be stressful.

Colin

 

[jon]

Sorry to get off topic but I'm curious about how well the mobile chicken coop works.
I've saw some pics but would like to hear first-hand knowledge of one.

 

[Sean (TX)]

We felt the wrath of that cold front...Record lows in the 40's 2 nights in a row... Ill take it. That is great for this time of year...

 

[Phil9N3667]

I could feel sorry for you about the snow, but I was at work Monday only one mile away from one of the the tornados that hit in Suffolk, Va. As it turned out no one was killed and only a few serious injuries. As the Parkay commercial said a few years ago, "its not nice to fool with Mother Nature". We live in an area that sees the extremes of weather. Hope your snow gets gone soon and you can get to your gardening, etc.

 

[Mark Pearce]

Colin,
Yah got a picture of that chicken coop that moves? I'd like ta see that one. A movin chicken coop sounds like a good idea to spot fertilize the yard.

Mark...

 

[Colin King]

Mark,

I'll certainly take one for you and Jon. I won't be going back up until the weekend after this coming one, though. Fertilization and fresh protein (grubs) is exactly what's behind the idea of a mobile chicken coop. This one, however, is used more to keep the hens out of the garden during the growing season, and close to the house during the deep snow season.

Colin

 

[Colin King]

Phil, I'll take snow any day over tornadoes. Your weather sounded terrible. Glad to hear you and yours are safe and sound.

Colin

 

[Colin King]

Hi Jon,

Our system (it's actually my uncle's) is under utilized. As I was telling Mark, above, it used more to keep the chickens out of the garden during the summer, and bring them close to the house in the winter so no one has to trudge too far in the snow to get eggs. They do run free in the garden after the killing frost, and they do a nice job cleaning up.

Ideally, you'd run one through your pasture behind a rotational grazing setup for your other livestock. Insect/parasite control + fertilizer for your pasture. You could also run them through a hayfield after cuttings. They'd eat the grasshoppers, and add some nice droppings.

I'll take a photo and post it next time I'm up at the farm. It'll be a couple of weeks, though.

Colin

 

[Greg in MN]

Jon,
Mobil chicken pens work great! We used one last year, and we are expanding to sevn this year. My expierence with them is to keep them moving and at least 100 yds away from the woods to keep preditors away. We use little giant waters connected to 5 gallon pails, and eve troughs for feeders. The pens are great because you don"t have to clean up the chicken coop, and the field gets fertilized. We use them for both broilers and laying hens.

 

[Dunk]

We are still looking for pictures, Greg....