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We are at 5F right now and the furnace just came back on. We did wood in the house for years. It was so nice and cozy. We had a wood burner hooked into the duct work in the house and it heated the whole house. I got to the point where I was tired of carrying the wood inside, going down the steps and being concerned about falling. Hubby did fall once as we would have snow on our feet and then walk on wooden finished steps onto glazed tile to get to the stove. I decided since I pay for the utilities that we would stop using wood in the house. He still uses it in his shop and large shed he just built. Wood heat is the warmest however and I miss the warmth but enjoy not falling down steps.
You are right: There is nothing better than the radiant heat from a hot wood-stove. The warmth goes under the skin, straight to the cold bones.
I know it is a lot of work to cut, chop, stack, dry and howl, but i am planning to do that as long as i can. - And i only have three steps to the patio...
 
Thankfully we don't have to carry wood down steep steps I just have to make sure I have on my ice cleats to get it from the wood shed to the back door.
Those cleats are on my amazing wish-list for years now, and i always remember to order them when its already too late...
:idunno I'm a dumbass…
 
We're at 3 this morning with wind chills -15F :hitI lost my tiny OEGB hen yesterday to this horrid weather. I have a tiny Cochin bantam inside too. I am pretty sure she'll make it now.
I am ready for spring anyone else?
😢 So sorry for the little one!

That's one reason why i have abstained from getting bantam chickens. I don't have proper housing for them yet and chicken are way more at risk by cold weather than dux, especially Bantams.​
 
Mine seem okay. Although I worry a bit about how much they've been eating these past few days (the ducks, the chickens will eat anything in sight). I don't want to feed them in their coop, but they dislike the cold so much they've been leaving food out. My chocolate barred drake lost his webbing to frostbite. :( Apart from that, they fared fairly well. Even the OEGB. They're in with three fluffy banties, so I assume they all pile together for warmth at night.
I am amazed how good the dux are holding up in that horrific weather! No frostbite anywhere, and they all eat like they have tiny little conveyor belts in their throats. A full bag of scratch grain alone over this weekend. I'm not sure if they eat out of boredom or to stay warm. The dux-house stays below freezing during the nights, so they may really need to burn those calories.
And for the first time since they were duxlings, they huddle! That was Friday night:
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With all that cold weather topics, i have forgotten to report about Blanca Duck!
That's her, enjoying the warmth on the patio on Friday, just before the cold rolled in:

Today she is still unable to walk more than three steps before her right leg just collapses. So
we decided Water-Therapy might be good for her. [She also started to smell, but don't tell her, she is a very vain duck…]
Very happy duck in the tub, me not so happy because i will have to mop the bathroom now…

While in the water, she moves her right leg almost normal, but it curls up when she is just bobbing around:
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more detailed:
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As said, she is able to slowly walk, but after a few steps it is like her leg gets pulled to the back and she falls down.
 
Any idea what is wrong with her leg did she hurt it that day you and her slid down the hill? maybe a sprain? I hope Blanca recovers. Also good to see you got them off the pond during this mess. I told @New duck mommy 2021 that was enough frigid temps coming down from Canada not to send anymore. You either @Canadian Wind ;)

My OEGB must have had something else going on that I didn't notice [they are so good at hiding ailments] becasue she is 5 yr old and has gone through many frigid winters. I even have heat on in my coops a heat lamp in one room and a coop heater in the other. Her hatch mate my OEGB roo is fine. But he does like to snuggle up to the big hens where Button was a loner. I'll never know but I sure miss her.
 
I cannot install a woody in the house right now, the insurance companies go crazy about open flames inside of houses. You cannot get home-insurance if you have a wood-stove or a fireplace (except fake or gas ones). Still have to pay off the mortgage and the lender insists in carrying comprehensive insurance. - So technically, a wood-stove on the patio isn't inside the house is it? 😜
I would check with them Frank. If you enclose that patio as you talked about I would think they would try to say it is part of the house and not cover you if there were a fire. They worry about fires and since the patio is attached to the house and will be enclosed I would think they would think if it caught on fire the house could go with it. My brother-in-law a few years back burned his house to the ground with a wood burner and boxes stored too close to the stove. They had coverage though since it was in the basement like ours is and were able to build a new house on the site of where the old one stood. He was fortunate no one was home when it burnt.
 
With all that cold weather topics, i have forgotten to report about Blanca Duck!
That's her, enjoying the warmth on the patio on Friday, just before the cold rolled in:

Today she is still unable to walk more than three steps before her right leg just collapses. So
we decided Water-Therapy might be good for her. [She also started to smell, but don't tell her, she is a very vain duck…]
Very happy duck in the tub, me not so happy because i will have to mop the bathroom now…

While in the water, she moves her right leg almost normal, but it curls up when she is just bobbing around:
full


more detailed:
full


As said, she is able to slowly walk, but after a few steps it is like her leg gets pulled to the back and she falls down.
I pray that she feels better soon. I am sorry that she is injured. Sometimes it just takes time. She is soooooo pretty.
 

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