Disaster Averted

[theoldchick]

The heat is deadly this week, and I have been vigilant about keeping my small flock as cool as possible. Meanwhile, the hubby has been working with the automatic door opener for the last week. This device worked fine until we tried to convert to solar. Something is just not right with the timer and the door has been opening and closing at the wrong times. The solar panel is not charging the battery, so we had adapt the system to another type of power source. The digital timer is PITA with all the options if offers.

So, today's temps reached 102, and between working in the auto shop and checking on the animals, I decided to take a nap around 1:30. Simply to hot to do any type of work. Just as I was dozing off I heard my inner voice:

The coop door is closed

Knowing better than to ignore that voice, I got out of bed and went outside. The heat was blistering, and I went to the coop to find the door closed. Several of the gals were trapped inside and several were outside in the pen. Little Sister gave me her opinion of the closed door complete with a peck on my leg. I propped the door open and checked on the girls inside. Since I had put ice in the water a few hours before, and the fan was working, they weren't not that stressed. But the girls outside rushed inside and started jumping in the nest boxes. There was much clucking with Little Sister guiding the girls to the boxes. Fortunately, I had water outside and inside so nobody went without water.

I added more ice to their water and tossed them a snack of green clover as an apology. Little Sister was having none of that and gave a few more pecks on the leg.

I returned to the house and settled down for my nap.

Thank God I listened to my inner voice.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Wow, thank goodness for that inner voice.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Thank heavens the problem with the door timer only resulted in a disgruntled Little Sister and perhaps just a bit of extra panting from the flock. This heat is too much, and it is only the beginning of the summer...

Good luck figuring out the door timer.

 

[theoldchick]

The timer is a bit too much for my simple blonde brain. All I want is the door to open at 6 am and close at 9 pm. Apparently this digital timer has multiple options for multiple times. The only reason we got the auto-door was for vacation time, but I don't trust the timer to work like it should. The gals were upset. I found eggs all over the place, and Speedy needed assistance to get hers out. Bless her little heart. Once I got the egg out, she gave herself a good shake, and joined the gals who were lounging against the frozen water bottle.