As is typical of NYE, I woke up with a sore throat. bleh.
I can't remember the last time I got to enjoy NYE... last year I was flat on the couch with the flu. A few years back, it was pneumonia. Good thing Hubby and I are pretty laid back for NYE.
Then I look at the thermometer... -30°F at 7am ...holy cow.
It's only 8°F in the breeder coop, so I'm sure all the water is frozen. Including any eggs the quail laid last night. Hubby's off to Anchorage for the day to pick up feed and deliver quail to someone in the Valley, so it's just me doing the morning rounds for the bunnies, ducks, chickens and gamebirds. Hubby made a comment before he left that Thumper (one of our older rabbits) should have been named something a little more masculine, because at -30F he's the only one out and about in his pen. Right... the reason he's out and about is because he expired from the cold.
So I call hubby to let him know that there is a pen available for the 20# flemish giant that we're getting in exchange for the quail. That was fun...
Then I head out to the breeders coop, and there's Chip, my extra little mille fleur d'Uccle cockerel, just sitting on the floor in the middle of the pen. He's a momma's boy, so as soon as I come in he's trying to get out of the pen and into my arms. I said "Hi Chippers!" and nothing. He's cold. He's been nudged out of the warmth of the other bodies, and he's cold. He is now sitting in a warm box soaking up warmth from the furnace. He's not looking good. It's been almost 2 hours and he still won't move without encouragement.
While Chip is warming up, I bundle back up like the Michelin Man and head out to the duck runs with warm water for them, only to discover that one of the Rouens must have tried to take a bath last night and is now dripping with icicles. Again...
She's in the bathtub, drying off after a luke-warm shower and bath.
I'm afraid to ask "What's next?"
Then I look at the thermometer... -30°F at 7am ...holy cow.
Then I head out to the breeders coop, and there's Chip, my extra little mille fleur d'Uccle cockerel, just sitting on the floor in the middle of the pen. He's a momma's boy, so as soon as I come in he's trying to get out of the pen and into my arms. I said "Hi Chippers!" and nothing. He's cold. He's been nudged out of the warmth of the other bodies, and he's cold. He is now sitting in a warm box soaking up warmth from the furnace. He's not looking good. It's been almost 2 hours and he still won't move without encouragement.
While Chip is warming up, I bundle back up like the Michelin Man and head out to the duck runs with warm water for them, only to discover that one of the Rouens must have tried to take a bath last night and is now dripping with icicles. Again...
I'm afraid to ask "What's next?"
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