In the path of "BRUTUS"

[western edge]

Hey our first "named" winter storm. Unfortunately were right in its path with one half inch of ice on the wind side (east) of everything from the last 12 hours of freezing fog and freezing rain and now its starting to snow with 3 to 7 inches forcasted in the next 36 hours along with 25mph winds and plummeting temps. Got that picture? Roads were already becoming impassable due to solid black ice on every surface. Tomorrow should be interesting.

 

[kreagerm]

Good luck and be careful on that ice. We get lots of broken bones in the OR after a nice ice storm!!!! We just had Athena (the first named storm) come up the east coast hitting all those unlucky souls who were just hit by Hurricane Sandy.

 

[western edge]

Had a temp of 18 for a hi today with NW wind at 25. the chickens dont care much for that sudden cold temp, barely comming out of the coop today to eat or drink Got about 4 inches of snow ontop of all that ice ,stills a little tough to get around. Never lost power though. all in all we are lucky.

 

[what did I do]

Brutus hit hard here. Tonight is the last night. e it is clear, not snowing, tonight. My chickens have been locked up for days. The chickens do so much better when they can get out and free range. Tomorrow they can be free again. Tonight will be tough on the two in the infirmary. "Purple Chicken", a leghorn, has bloody feet for some strange reason. The other looks too be either egg bound or internal laying. My almost 3 month old babies seem to be doing just fine with their mom. Tonight it is the first night below 0 for them.

The Canada Geese are high overhead these days. Last year we had so much fun watching the chickens watch the geese head south.

What a way to start winter.

 

[western edge]

Hard for everything, including us, when that first cold snowy blast hits. The canadians and snows have been flying here too. We dont have many and yes its enjoyable to watch them move south with those cold fronts although when you see them it means cold weather on the way.

 

[what did I do]

Last year on our first cold snap I had a chicken freeze her feet. She ended up loosing parts of her toes. I felt so sorry for her. This year she has chicks that she is still mothering and I'm sure she is teaching them to be cold savvy.

 

[western edge]

I attempt breeding so i have a large assortment of roosters and in order to keep them from frostbite i have those coops insulated and also on the bitter cold nights i have infared heatlamps above the roosts for those overnight hours..... too cold for chickens in these parts!