Fall is on its way, too bad i'm not quite ready for the rain's to set in for the season..  Doing the chores in regards to the chickens seems like it will be a super drag in wet weather, guess we're about to find out very soon.  When the hubs and i decided to finally quit talking about chickens and go out and GET them we did (ok, i did, i'm the one who does most of that research junk in our household..)  lots of research..  How many chickens, how big the hen house needed to be, what to feed them, how to care for them..the list went on and on..  Leave it to me to make it all complicated and stuff, i can't help it, i'm OCD about some things..  Plus i hate making mistakes..  Anyway we proceeded in a logical manner after buying the ultimate chicken raising handbook, following most of the instructions.  Out of 12 chicks we only lost the one, which from what others say who have raised them is pretty good for a first try.  I'd read up on the Deep Litter method of housekeeping, which means you're basically composting their poo in pine shavings and there's supposed to be no smell..  Well composting is harder than it looks, i know, i've been trying to figure it out for ages..LOL  Now after having the chickens for months i find out the deep litter method doesn't really work unless your using an earthen floor, in other words it has to be IN contact with  the bare dirt..  I spent the last 2 days raking dried maple leaves and bagging them up for the wintertime.  Turns out you can use those for bedding and save some $$ while keeping your yard clean as well.. i dumped one entire bag in the hen house and the next day it smelled better but there's just no getting around the need for more ventilation..  That'll go over real big with hubby, having to put yet another window..  Funny how you think they should have an insulated, WARM spot for the wintertime, not true..  What they really need is ventilation or they get sick and die.. That ammonia stink will flat out kill them deader than a doornail quick, or so they say..  I'm a stubborn person and if what we've been doing isn't working, i'm bound and determined to FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE THE DARN THING WORK, ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.. Tearing out that nice flooring isn't where i want to go because that's alot of work, then you have to dig trenches around the thing and bury fencing a foot and a half deep to keep rodents and nasty's from digging under..  What a pain.  We have a 2 yr old Rat Terrier that has a leg injury, his x-rays showed nothing obvious so he's on pain meds and anti inflammatory for awhile, fun part is he can't climb steps or jump or hop, or run..  He's not happy with me right now as i'm making him spend most of his time in his kennel, otherwise he ends up overusing his leg and limps more after.. Luckily i don't work outside the home right now, otherwise i'd be too busy to bother doing this here blog..  Or much of anything else for that matter.