Falling Down Heights, my daily life

[fluffycrow]

I have a couple of whiny ladies - they go on and on and on.... sheesh!

They are just bored and tired of the snow and cold.

Yeah, prolonged confinement, and low temps can make even the most easygoing chickens moody.

I can't even let them out on Mount Poopmore (my manure pile) it's too cold and it's all covered in snow too! Which is unusual, normally the heat it generates keeps it snow free, but the extreme cold has it covered in snow.

Well that’s a whole different way of putting it into perspective just how cold it is! Manure and decomposing litter piles is where a few species incubate their eggs, and it’s managed to get snow all over it! I’m shivering just by reading this.

Another month and hopefully will see some milder weather. Though I have seen extremely cold and snowy weather end of March and well into April many times.

Are there usually any signs that the winter is going to overstay its welcome, or none at all?
Isn’t there a marmot or something that supposedly predicts how long the winter will last? (Not that there would be much precision or truth to that but…)

 

[fluffycrow]

Don't have any worry about frost bite, it's not windy in the barn and they are good at staying under the IR heat panels.

Broody: I have my two silkies broody again - Georgie and her daughter co-broody - they do this all the time. Last Fall I gave them those 4 Noirans to raise up they went 6 weeks broody and wouldn't stop! I told them 'wait until April and I will give you both a bunch of chicks each'. I have 23 chicks arriving mid April, so I am hoping I can throw some under a few broodies - it would be great if I have 5 or 6 broodies to raise them all hahahahahahah!

Good that frostbite isn’t an issue. Full single combs can be quite magnificent!

If they break soon, they might just be ready for the chicks in April. Of course, being silkies, if they break too soon, they might be ready long before then!
Broodies always seem to be abundant when you don’t want them. At least that means that you’ve managed to make their space warm enough that two girls decide it’s good enough to raise chicks. That’s quite the achievement!
I’m hoping you don’t run into that problem. Seems like you hate artificial brooding just as much as I do .