whitewash

While the laying hens are in tractors in the garden, we cleaned out the litter in the hen house and whitewashed.  One gallon of sour milk, four cups of salt, and twelve of mason's lime, made a good thick wash that went on pretty smoothly -- for whitewash, which isn't like paint -- and dried a nice clean, bright white.  We can't help thinking a coat of whitewash is equal to an hour of artificial lighting, as a daylight extender.  And better than either are our plastic-covered tractors, which keep the earth thawed under the hens' feet and give them somewhere they can scratch.  Leaves bagged last fall and stored dry make good litter; with hen guano, they should also prove a high-nitrogen fertilizer, or so we hope.