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

[debilorrah]

OH NO TORI!!!! Chip is gone? oh dear.

I should have kept up with the thread better. IAM SO SORRY!

 

[Mrs MIA]

I just updated today, so you didn't miss much

It all kind of happened really fast. Sometimes it's easier to make those kinds of decisions when you have someone that is understanding enough to take care of it for you. He lets me do the luvin's and he takes care of the dirty work. I know he doesn't like it any more than I do. My skin is definitely getting thicker when it comes to putting hurt birds down.

Now hopefully I can keep the skin on my hands from turning black like his toes... I may have pushed it a little far today with the cold. I can't work with the springs and water bottles with my thick gloves on, so I wore thinner gloves like the electricians use. I didn't realize that they had gotten wet until my fingers started to burn. So I quick high-tailed it back to the house, but those 50' of exposure to -24°F while still cold REALLY hurt. Really bad. I think I caught it in time, but it is scary how fast your fingers will go numb at those temps. Won't be doing THAT again. Can't use rubber gloves, either... my sister got frostbite on her hands this year while working outside with rubber dish washing gloves. Her hands sweat, and then chilled so fast... she thought it was an allergic reaction to the latex until the doctor saw them.

I had to bring in a couple of my 3 month old babies to let them thaw out today, too... even with a heat lamp in the coop, the ones that like to stay on the floor are literally standing on ice. The poopies freeze in like 5 minutes, then they stand on them. Anyone standing on one foot is brought inside immediately and checked for frostbite. Even with the deep litter, I can't keep up with the cold temps. I think we set a new record for the longest "cold snap" since 1999.
We got above 70°F all of THREE times this summer. The absolute maximum temp was 71.1°F. The last time we saw HIGH temps above 0F was Dec 27th... since then our highs have been around -20°F and our lows around -30°F. Now, this is NOTHING compared to Tok, Fairbanks, North Pole... Barrow... so I'm not complaining. I don't know how they do it. It's just starting to wear on us. I've decided that this Fall I will not, unless specifically requested to, set any eggs between August 31 and Dec 31. Certainly I wasn't expecting the temps to drop and stay like this... it usually goes down for a couple of days, then back up, down, up, and so on. The birds can handle that pretty well. We've gone 8 days now below 0°F. I've been lucky that I've only lost one chicken egg to freezing so far, and that was one of the new girls' this morning. Within a half hour they freeze, so I literally go out every 30 minutes to check on eggs. Good thing I work from home, huh?
*sigh* Well, today is almost over. And the forecast looks hopeful for some relief around Wednesday. Chance of snow for Thursday, which brings the warmer temps... I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

(sorry for the novel... it's nice to be able to just ramble now and then...

)

 

[crtrlovr]

so sorry you lost your Chip... I was really rooting for him to make a complete recovery.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
Thanks... me too. But I know in my heart I made the right decision, tough as it was.

 

[kodiakchicken]

Take care of those hands, Tori. But I promise, if they are frostbit we won't let Mr. AK-Bird-Brain cull you. (Sorry, a bit of dark humor after the last few rough days for all of us).

I grew up in North Pole and since it's been in the 20 above range here I'm questioning how I ever lived with those minus temps.

Funny that you mention it being the longest cold snap since '99. I was in a meeting today and one of the guys was saying that he didn't think Kodiak had had a cold snap like this since '99. Apparently it got down in the single digit range and froze everyones pipes. They aren't prepared for that kind of cold here like you all are.

As the recent slogan goes "Alaskans For Global Warming!!!"

 

[luvmygirlsinAK]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

I just updated today, so you didn't miss much

It all kind of happened really fast. Sometimes it's easier to make those kinds of decisions when you have someone that is understanding enough to take care of it for you. He lets me do the luvin's and he takes care of the dirty work. I know he doesn't like it any more than I do. My skin is definitely getting thicker when it comes to putting hurt birds down.

Now hopefully I can keep the skin on my hands from turning black like his toes... I may have pushed it a little far today with the cold. I can't work with the springs and water bottles with my thick gloves on, so I wore thinner gloves like the electricians use. I didn't realize that they had gotten wet until my fingers started to burn. So I quick high-tailed it back to the house, but those 50' of exposure to -24°F while still cold REALLY hurt. Really bad. I think I caught it in time, but it is scary how fast your fingers will go numb at those temps. Won't be doing THAT again. Can't use rubber gloves, either... my sister got frostbite on her hands this year while working outside with rubber dish washing gloves. Her hands sweat, and then chilled so fast... she thought it was an allergic reaction to the latex until the doctor saw them.

I had to bring in a couple of my 3 month old babies to let them thaw out today, too... even with a heat lamp in the coop, the ones that like to stay on the floor are literally standing on ice. The poopies freeze in like 5 minutes, then they stand on them. Anyone standing on one foot is brought inside immediately and checked for frostbite. Even with the deep litter, I can't keep up with the cold temps. I think we set a new record for the longest "cold snap" since 1999.
We got above 70°F all of THREE times this summer. The absolute maximum temp was 71.1°F. The last time we saw HIGH temps above 0F was Dec 27th... since then our highs have been around -20°F and our lows around -30°F. Now, this is NOTHING compared to Tok, Fairbanks, North Pole... Barrow... so I'm not complaining. I don't know how they do it. It's just starting to wear on us. I've decided that this Fall I will not, unless specifically requested to, set any eggs between August 31 and Dec 31. Certainly I wasn't expecting the temps to drop and stay like this... it usually goes down for a couple of days, then back up, down, up, and so on. The birds can handle that pretty well. We've gone 8 days now below 0°F. I've been lucky that I've only lost one chicken egg to freezing so far, and that was one of the new girls' this morning. Within a half hour they freeze, so I literally go out every 30 minutes to check on eggs. Good thing I work from home, huh?
*sigh* Well, today is almost over. And the forecast looks hopeful for some relief around Wednesday. Chance of snow for Thursday, which brings the warmer temps... I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

(sorry for the novel... it's nice to be able to just ramble now and then...

)

Well, we're getting tired of our cold snap here as, well, it's been 45 to 50 below for far too long!!!!!!! Every time I touch the door handle on the coop, it is sooooo cold! Even with gloves on. I'm so glad I had the foresight to put in one of those handles that you just have to press down hard on for ease of opening the door! But more importantly, I have to tell you how sorry I am about little chip-chip!!! What a difficult thing to go through!!! It pains me to even think about something like that happening to any of my babies!

Here's to spring, and 70 degree weather for you, and 70 to 90 degree weather for us!! Think spring! Think spring! Think spring!!!!!

 

[luvmygirlsinAK]

Quote:

Ain't that the truth!!!

 

[monty590]

Big Hug!

 

[Sissy]

Hugs to ya'
and lots of them.

 

[mom'sfolly]

My BIL is one of those Alaskans for Global Warming. There were no fish is Southeast this year because the water was too cold for them to come in.

Sorry about your Chippy.

I like reading all the posts from you Alaskans. It reminds me of home.