Had a rough day ... thanks for the verbal hugs!!

[Mrs MIA]

Made it home. The side roads are "&(&$#^!$%!" but the main highway, at least until you slow down in Kenai, is just bare and wet. I did hit a couple of 2" thick ice patches and caught a little slippage, but nothing serious. The hardest time I had was getting up driveways that are slicker'n snot right now... no traction whatsoever.

I picked up 3 bags of shavings (the big heavy compact ones) and a bale of hay... both for the rabbits to nibble and for nesting material. After dinner I'm going to go out and *gasp!* muck out the sludge-hole that is my chicken coop, try to dry it out a little, and get fresh shavings in there so the birds don't get sick. The younguns haven't quite figured out how to roost yet, so they just huddle in a corner on wet shavings... NOT good.

We'll be revamping the whole set up either tonight or this weekend. Right now you walk in the door, and the nests are on the back wall with roosts in front of them. I have to lean on the roosts (ew) to get to the nests, so instead, I'm going to move the nest boxes lower and on the left wall, and have ladder-style roosts coming down from the right side ceiling to the floor, with a vinyl covered dropping board underneath. I LOVE being able to go in and scrape up the poopies a) so there are no shavings in them so people can use them for fertilizer, and b) they don't go in the shavings so they stay cleaner longer.

I've got it all planned out... now, if it would only stop raining...

 

[Cracker]

Tori, maybe this will make you feel a little better. This morning the temp. at my house (Fla.) was 25 deg., and when I checked the temp. in your area, you were almost 10 deg. warmer. Tonight you are to be in the lower 30's, while I will be in the upper teen's.

Enjoy your heat wave.

 

[Mrs MIA]

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/656003.html

That's crazy talk, Charlie!

But it's true. It's 43°F this morning, and the wind/rain just hit hard. That first storm that ripped through Anchorage had a top gust at 122 mph... another is supposed to hit today. Then hopefully we'll crawl back down to a nicer 20-25°F range...

I spent 2.5 hours mucking out the 8x8' layer coop last night. 8 bags of stinky soggy muck... just call me Queen Muckity Muck Muck. I was EXHAUSTED. But the girls are happy this morning.

That makes it worth it. Our oldest actually volunteered to help me, despite the disgust, bless his heart, and made it go faster. In between bag dumpings (using a wheelbarrow, cuz of the weight) he would practice his Chukar-whispering talents and carry a chukar around cooing at it.

I think he was having fun.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Oh dear god... thank you for the heat wave... we just got our electric bill... over $500

Wahhhh...

I feel

That's it. No more incubating from Sept 1 to Feb 1. I can't afford to keep my birds warm. Rate hikes for both electric and gas brings us up to an average of $500/month at the rate we're going, even with budget/level pay. Can't do it. Unless I can get $10 per chick for my birds.

 

[kodiakchicken]

Oh man! So sorry about the electric bill! I feel your pain. Just the few Christmas lights brought our bill up to $250.00 for the month of December. I don't even want to see what it was this month with the cold snap.

Hang in there - we may have to take up a collection!

Erin

 

[ninjapoodles]

Our August electric bills are ALWAYS over $500.

And I think you jinxed us, because despite the forecast calling for it to be twenty degrees warmer, it was 12F this morning when my daughter went to school. That's nearly unheard of here!

Supposed to be 54 tomorrow.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
YOW!! Ours usually run in the $200-$250 range in the spring and fall, right around $100 for the summer. But this is nuts. We lost power for 4 hours today... that ought to help.

I hope it warms up for you!

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
I'm scared to open the next one. Seriously. I don't know if my heart can handle it.

 

[luvmygirlsinAK]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

Oh dear god... thank you for the heat wave... we just got our electric bill... over $500

Wahhhh...

I feel

That's it. No more incubating from Sept 1 to Feb 1. I can't afford to keep my birds warm. Rate hikes for both electric and gas brings us up to an average of $500/month at the rate we're going, even with budget/level pay. Can't do it. Unless I can get $10 per chick for my birds.

Tori, if Alaskan hen house in Wasilla can get $10.00 each for their birds, you can too!! It was just a freak accident that my boys just happened to be in Wasilla when they advertised on Craigslist-we were delighted to pay $10.00 each!!! I even paid $15.00 each for some of my others! I'm sure there are others who are crazy enough like we are to pay that price!!! People are looking at the possibility of a depression, and are looking for a good source of eggs! Go for it!!!

"Can't wait" to get our bill!!! With the furnace running non-stop through that cold spell, the heat lamp out in the sheep lean-to, and the heater in the coop, I'm sure ours will be over $500.00!! I think we'll be eatin' the chicken food for awhile!!!!

 

[Mrs MIA]

I'm just afraid we'll have to resort to eating chickens...

That would be counter-productive! LOL! I hear you, with the economy the way it is, I sure am glad my mom insisted that I learn to bake, and cook, and garden, and all the self-sufficient activities we're going to need. I thought I wanted a milk goat, but I'm balking at that now... the thought of HAVING to milk it twice every day... not so appealing anymore... at least, not on top of everything else.