Without a Net

There's a bit of a sparkle out there today. Everything is covered in ice and hunched beneath the weight. The feeling of panic from a lot of folks is inescapable. I guess there are tree limbs falling, power lines breaking, and roads getting slick, but it still looks pretty just the same.

The weight of the ice was the first winter test for the new chicken pen. As I said in an earlier post, we gave the ladies a canopy made out of netting used to cover fruit trees. Another alternative is deer fencing as you can see at Fast Grow the Weeds. We went with the fruit tree stuff because it's tough as nails and there was an abandoned section of it in the lower shed. There's nothing wrong with a little harmless pillaging.

By the way, if you're smart about your materials you can do some impressive things for a modest price. The total amount we spent on coop, pen, and chickens came out to a smidge less than $200.

Back to the ice. So, the amount of ice we got here is pretty average for an ice storm in our area. As you can see there is a noticeable increase of sag, but the bamboo supports are holding up well.