Disaster on the coldest day of the year. The outlet that runs my water buckets, keeps my pipes from freezing, and provides a head warmer for my drake failed tonight. By the time I saw everything was off, his caruncle was completely frostbitten. Not just the knob, the whole thing. I can't replace the outlet until tomorrow at the earliest, as I have to get an exterior outlet assembly, and since there is no fuse for that line to shut it off, need daylight as I would be working on a live outlet. The lines to everything are buried under over a foot of ice and snow, so I can't move them. I am maxed out in terms of indoor ducks, with the Saxony pair living in my bathroom while mom is down on eggs, but feel terrible with him outside. He has his shed for shelter from the wind and snow, but the windchill is so bitter he flash freezes the moment he goes to get a drink.
I feel terrible. If I brought him in it would result in an instant battle as the saxony drake is very protective of his family. He goes after the other birds through the glass of the back door when his hen comes out to bathe in the cats' water dish (because as we all know, the water that comes out of the tap for them is way better than what goes into her bowl) It is also way too warm for him inside while he has his full winter feathering. He would have a sore face, be overheated, and harassed by another drake. I am fighting the urge to scoop him up and cuddle him and drag him indoors. This is absolutely breaking my heart!
another example.
