NY chicken lover!!!!

[JLaw]

Well i know ya'll probably tired of hearing my news but cant catch a break. Well actually breaks we catch easy. We have been running heat up stairs to sleep since downstairs lines are frozen somewhere. well i guess they unfroze and we have a break somewhere cause i woke up with wife before she left for work and no water pressure in the system and down to 62 up there.Back to sleeping in the living room. Water line from well to house still frozen so wont be able to find the leak since i cant put water back into the system. I hate to do it but maybe trying for a home depot card and buying a pellet/corn stove.

 

[featherz]

And my barred cochin hen that featherz gave me flew out of the coop that she and my mille fleur pair were in and joined the main flock. No scuffling at all, except with the fox bait gang, and I'm going to leave her. Since my little buff barred cockerel passed away in the cold I don't hav anyone to put her with anyway so her and her daughter would have joined the laying flock this spring sooner or later.

Good to know you still have the tiny killer hen =). I have to keep her sisters locked up because of the dog threat.. Speaking of the dog(s), I put out a game cam yesterday and caught the rear end of at least one black dog, so it looks as if it may really be my neighbor dogs with non-working electric collars. I'll probably regret this, but I left them a very nice note this morning (super non confrontational just wondering if they were aware their dogs might be getting loose around 3PM every day) since I don't have their email or phone and I leave and get home when it's still dark. Told them to disregard if it isn't their dogs.. So if they get mad at me - oops!

Chickens are all still locked up and unhappy about it, but not much else I can do. Might have to send the rest of the cochins to pyxis or county boy if I can't get the neighbors to restrain the dogs - those chickens are the ones in the most danger and are in the coop 24x7 now. =(

 

[Xovan]

62 is about where we have been since our last national grid Bill. Hope it warms up enough for your pipes to start moving again. Just remember to use a hair dryer not a propane torch. Someone just burned down their home here last week trying to thaw the pipes with fire. Good luck.

 

[JLaw]

Good to know you still have the tiny killer hen =). I have to keep her sisters locked up because of the dog threat.. Speaking of the dog(s), I put out a game cam yesterday and caught the rear end of at least one black dog, so it looks as if it may really be my neighbor dogs with non-working electric collars. I'll probably regret this, but I left them a very nice note this morning (super non confrontational just wondering if they were aware their dogs might be getting loose around 3PM every day) since I don't have their email or phone and I leave and get home when it's still dark. Told them to disregard if it isn't their dogs.. So if they get mad at me - oops!

Chickens are all still locked up and unhappy about it, but not much else I can do. Might have to send the rest of the cochins to pyxis or county boy if I can't get the neighbors to restrain the dogs - those chickens are the ones in the most danger and are in the coop 24x7 now. =(

Shoot the dog or call dog warden.

 

[Xovan]

Yes she does, doesn't she.  

It took a cup of coffee to get the joke. LOL

 

[featherz]

Shoot the dog or call dog warden.

I'm not home when the dogs come around, so can't do either. =( (I doubt I could bring myself to shoot a dog, but I can certainly call animal control -- if I was home).. The only way I knew there were visiting dogs was the tracks in the snow and the 'presents' they leave behind. And now the game cam pics, which just show 'generic black dog'.

 

[featherz]

Speaking of the power bills - every time I hear the furnace cycle on, I cringe. I keep the house at 55 most of the time and we still are paying a mint since we use oil. Our furnace/boiler is very old and we definitely need a new one. Just don't know what to get - there's no natural gas here, propane is $$ also and I'm not sure if my sinuses could survive wood unless it's an outside model. Bleh. Only one time so far (knock knock) this year with frozen pipes and that was because there was a window left open in the sunroom. It thawed within a day - so far so good with the rest.

 

[Xovan]

Speaking of the power bills - every time I hear the furnace cycle on, I cringe. I keep the house at 55 most of the time and we still are paying a mint since we use oil. Our furnace/boiler is very old and we definitely need a new one. Just don't know what to get - there's no natural gas here, propane is $$ also and I'm not sure if my sinuses could survive wood unless it's an outside model. Bleh. Only one time so far (knock knock) this year with frozen pipes and that was because there was a window left open in the sunroom. It thawed within a day - so far so good with the rest. 

I had that happen to us a few years ago. The window in the laundry room was not closed all the way and the washer was next to it. It froze enough to crack where the water went in . Then must have thawed a bit and we woke up to three inches of water in the laundry room. The washer no longer lives by the window.

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Morning all. Warmer this morning (21) so not bad letting the cheeps out and filling waterers. Since I am feeling better, I will be cleaning coops today and putting in fresh litter. It has been so frozen that nothing is really drying out and it bugs me to have that mess in there. Normally I dont change things till spring but the deep freeze has not helped much this year with the litter. Gives me a workout anyways.

Jlaw--good luck with your projects. Covering the basement walls and a stove is a good idea. Make sure you get everything you need to install said stove and follow the mfg directions. Just remember that the good Lord never gives you more than you can handle. Get rid of whatever alcohol you have in the house as well. If its not there, then temptation is not there.

Lynzi--let me know when you are headed this way to ct. I would love to meet you.

Featherz--hopefully you will get a better pic of the dogs in question. If they are your neighbors dogs, they cant argue with pics.

Rancher--good one!

Everyone have a good day!

 

[Glasshen]

When we lived in Syracuse our house was built about 1920 and had no insulation, and we did some remodeling. We ran a pipe to the relocated shower/tub up the south wall to the second floor. It was fine, until we insulated. The insulation was blown in and did a great job in most of the house, what a difference. But the bathtub kept freezing. We had to uninsulate that strip so the warm air from in the house could reach the pipes, and we would leave it on a trickle each night when it was super cold. My hair dryer was our thawed of choice.

Some people use bales of hay or straw to keep foundations warm, don't know if that would be less expensive than plywood? Much more bulky to transport, I guess. Sounds like a great project in your son's room. Will you then Sheetrock or panel?

We do lots ourselves, but I don't get to do most of the hardcore stuff. Since DH is a pro trim carpenter, if what I did wasn't perfect, it would be a disaster. I am allowed to paint, and stain, but only first coat of polyurethane, the second coat has to be DH. I am allowed to fill the nail holes, since my color sense is good...picky picky. But to tell you the truth, power saws frighten me. I will stick to the gardens and animals.