Kristen’s Chickens and Farming Ventures

[rjohns39]

Good morning Kris

 

[WhoDatChick]

Thanks... appreciated muchly. I’m hoping the owl is no longer one of my problems. I still want something a little more versatile than the old 22 though.

Good news Is: We are now sitting on 130 lbs of propane, so we have heat again... the frozen pipes I can live with. We are at 21 Fahrenheit outside, which is quite unusual for here, and not likely to last too long thankfully. Inside temperature is now approaching 40, so the cats are no longer having fits, although they are still burrowing into all the blankets.

I’m quite frustrated with hand watering everyone though... mr Marans, his girls, and Chickie Hawk and his ladies were the easiest. Mr Marans flock remembers this from last year. And Chickie Hawk’s ladies follow his lead, and last year’s February “snowmaggedon” he was still in with Mr Marans. All the younglings were the hardest, constantly spilling their Tupperware dishes, pushing, jumping in the water, and generally being annoying, I guess Barney and Bob don’t remember last February quite as well, or their young ladies just don’t take heed of their advice properly.

Hawk and I didn’t even have the inkling of a confrontation today... his “aggression” is mostly just showing off for his girls in the mornings, and he doesn’t really have a beef with me. When things get tough he knows we are both on the same side, like when herding his “lost” (outside!!!) GF back into the tractor together, or him not attacking my oh-so-vulnerable self as I offer water to everyone directly in the confines of the roosting box. That is when he could do some real damage, if he wanted to... when my face is exposed, my hands tied up holding things, and my mobility severely limited... yet he is simply watchful, with no attempts at all of violence or “aggression”. Chickens are quite smart really.

I’m so sorry Kris.. I hope things start looking up soon..
What I find so interesting is that you seem to have almost the same weather as we do here ... except that you def get more snow than we ever do.. and one of your pics from summer around a pond looked as if it were taken from somewhere here.. I find this fascinating as you are waaaay up there and we are waaaay down here... it’s such a trip!

 

[WhoDatChick]

Also, I hope you killed the owl! I like em too.. but...

 

[Kris5902]

Good morning Kris

Morning Bob

Had troubles logging in this morning, had to reset my password and have to say... not loving the new format. I will adapt though

Also, I hope you killed the owl! I like em too.. but...

Sad to report the Owl is still with us... I watched it take a shot to the chest... it was a clear hit, rocked the little bugger back and it proceeded to climb up the hay bales, sit down and blinked like it was passing... we left it to die in peace, but half an hour later it was gone, and this morning it was back and looking for warm snacks. It still has access to the five it killed yesterday morning, but I guess it prefers heads? I was awoken again by the alarm calls. It flew off just fine. Maybe there was something wrong with the ammo? We have killed ravens, coons, and sheep with the 22, it should have dropped the owl fine and DH was a foot or two away from it, he didn’t miss. My new plan involves pulling my birdnetting around it and a shovel... if it will leave my live chickens alone and return to the dead ones, which are likely fully frozen.

 

[Kris5902]

Even with the propane heater now on high I can still see my breath in here this morning... I woke up at 2 am to relight my flowerpot heater, which I may move into our bedroom tonight...

That is ice on our bedroom windows... it is quite pretty but I don’t like what it indicates about the outside temperatures. Charlie has climbed into bed with us three times, which is unusual. And Bullet is parked right in front of the heater. I feel just awful for my poor chickens in this cold, but they seem to be doing fine, even though they have no interest in leaving their roosting boxes. I forgot 1/3 of a jerrycan of water in the barn last night, and it it frozen solid. Luckily the ones inside the trailer are still liquid so I will be able to water everyone once I get going.

My eggs mostly froze yesterday and I spilled the cats water into their kibble so the chickens will be having about a dozen and a half eggs and a few cups of soggy cat food for a warm breakfast treat. I M seriously considering going outside again to start up our generator for some extra heat.

 

[WhoDatChick]

Even with the propane heater now on high I can still see my breath in here this morning... I woke up at 2 am to relight my flowerpot heater, which I may move into our bedroom tonight...View attachment 2002148View attachment 2002149
That is ice on our bedroom windows... it is quite pretty but I don’t like what it indicates about the outside temperatures. Charlie has climbed into bed with us three times, which is unusual. And Bullet is parked right in front of the heater. I feel just awful for my poor chickens in this cold, but they seem to be doing fine, even though they have no interest in leaving their roosting boxes. I forgot 1/3 of a jerrycan of water in the barn last night, and it it frozen solid. Luckily the ones inside the trailer are still liquid so I will be able to water everyone once I get going.

My eggs mostly froze yesterday and I spilled the cats water into their kibble so the chickens will be having about a dozen and a half eggs and a few cups of soggy cat food for a warm breakfast treat. I M seriously considering going outside again to start up our generator for some extra heat.

Girl.. I don’t know how you do it

 

[Kris5902]

Hunker down and light big fires are usually our coping methods... and remembering that at most this awful weather only lasts a few weeks, if we are very unlucky. One of the first responders put out an IMO obnoxious Facebook post on the local forum about the weather

Ummmmm, really? emergency services may be challenged and slowed by the weather conditions? I would hope emergency services would still be “available” despite a little snow!

Sheesh, I’m a cold weather wimp and I still ran outside in just two layers of shirts and yoga pants at the alarm call of my chickens. We were “advised” by one ambulance volunteer that if we have a medical emergency we should “start driving towards the road”. DH and I both have more first aid training than some of the ambulance volunteers (well that one in particular) and in the event of an actual emergency, they can land an ambulance helicopter in any convenient hay field! The fire department has no issues getting to our house site if needed... we needed an official letter to that effect for our building permit and the fire chief actually was one of the people who helped pour our foundation walls. And we just got an advisory text the ambulance won’t drive down the hill to this side of the island...

 

[BlueBaby]

When it come's to the cold that you have up there, I'm a wimp. I would definitely follow the advice of staying at home with a blanket and the heater! Of course I wouldn't be able to have any chicken's neither, and that would be sad.

 

[BY Bob]

Thanks, it has been a crummy morning. And it

Even with the propane heater now on high I can still see my breath in here this morning... I woke up at 2 am to relight my flowerpot heater, which I may move into our bedroom tonight...View attachment 2002148View attachment 2002149
That is ice on our bedroom windows... it is quite pretty but I don’t like what it indicates about the outside temperatures. Charlie has climbed into bed with us three times, which is unusual. And Bullet is parked right in front of the heater. I feel just awful for my poor chickens in this cold, but they seem to be doing fine, even though they have no interest in leaving their roosting boxes. I forgot 1/3 of a jerrycan of water in the barn last night, and it it frozen solid. Luckily the ones inside the trailer are still liquid so I will be able to water everyone once I get going.

My eggs mostly froze yesterday and I spilled the cats water into their kibble so the chickens will be having about a dozen and a half eggs and a few cups of soggy cat food for a warm breakfast treat. I M seriously considering going outside again to start up our generator for some extra heat.

It is easily colder than you indicated Kris. The birds will be fine, they have feathers just for this situation. Make sure they get water but most importantly, take care of yourself.

 

[BY Bob]

Hunker down and light big fires are usually our coping methods... and remembering that at most this awful weather only lasts a few weeks, if we are very unlucky. One of the first responders put out an IMO obnoxious Facebook post on the local forum about the weather

View attachment 2002167
Ummmmm, really? emergency services may be challenged and slowed by the weather conditions? I would hope emergency services would still be “available” despite a little snow!

Sheesh, I’m a cold weather wimp and I still ran outside in just two layers of shirts and yoga pants at the alarm call of my chickens. We were “advised” by one ambulance volunteer that if we have a medical emergency we should “start driving towards the road”. DH and I both have more first aid training than some of the ambulance volunteers (well that one in particular) and in the event of an actual emergency, they can land an ambulance helicopter in any convenient hay field! The fire department has no issues getting to our house site if needed... we needed an official letter to that effect for our building permit and the fire chief actually was one of the people who helped pour our foundation walls. And we just got an advisory text the ambulance won’t drive down the hill to this side of the island...

That is a sorry state of affairs. I bet the mail gets through. Where you live they should be ready for this.