The Importance of Routine

 

Having routine built into one's lifestyle is important.  At any age from childhood through to an elderly age, routine has great mental and physical benefits.  Routine helps establish expectations which influence behaviour and helps maintain a healthy sleep-wake cycle.  This is also true for animals.

Chickens need a certain amount of daylight in order to lay eggs consistently.  In the winter months when days are shorter, artificial light needs to replace natural light.  Chickens cannot see in the dark so their day cannot be extended, rather needs to start early.  A light that is suddenly turned off in the chicken coop would result in the hens not finding their way to the roost bar where they sleep. Here on the farm in the winter months we turn the light on at 3am to wake the chickens up and gather eggs by 9am so they don't freeze or get damaged. The chickens determine themselves when they get ready for the night; they are very self-disciplined always making their way to the roost bar before dark.

Having chickens determines when I start my day and my morning routine.  I am still working on establishing my remainder of the day routine.  It may sound like a nice problem to have but without going into detail: it isn’t. When we moved there was a disruption in all of our routines. We were without furniture for a week. My dog seemed to want food all the time. It wasn't until I found her at a self serve buffet that I realized I needed to establish new regular feeding and walk times.  See the video for further explanation and a little humour. She is very clever and was careful not to leave any evidence.  We have since resolved those behaviour problems with established routines in which feeding and walking expectations are met.

And we heard a moose outside last night!  I don’t know how close it was but it was loud enough to wake us up.