One of the neat things about being here at WoodSong Hollow during this time of year has been helping the farm make its transition from Winter into Spring. Part of this process has been moving the laying hens from the barn out into the field, which we finished last week. 

This is the egg mobile. It is on wheels and hitches to the back of a truck to be moved from place to place. It is the chicken's shelter and includes their nest boxes, food, and water. The idea behind it is that it allows you to move your chickens to different places so they can help you with scratching up weeds (especially the garlic mustard here!) and fertilizing the soil. You can set up as large or as small of an electric fence perimeter around it as you'd like, giving your chickens plenty of room to roam while keeping them protected from predators like foxes. When they've dug around for a while, you can re-hitch the egg mobile to the truck and move them and the fencing to another spot. 

The chickens are quite happy with this arrangement, and very pleased to be out of the barn after the winter. 

Dust baths are the best! 

We found two mice who had made their way into a feed sack at the bottom of a barrel, which is impossible for them to climb out of. A few of their friends clearly hadn't made it, but we were able to let these guys out into the wild, making for some very happy mice. 

The chicks have grown so much since we've been here! That's been another neat thing about staying for a month...getting to see the chicks grow along with all the other springtime farm transitions.