Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[Hurley]

Had to cuddle the littlest chick. Can't wait to see how it turns out. Lavender feathers with black bars and feathered legs?

 

[ParkfieldFarm]

Oh no, Hurley! I agree, a woodburning stove is indispensable. If we ever get to buy this place I'm putting at least three more in, around the house. What a hard time for electricity to go out.

Around 4am this morning we lost water to the house. Someone who lived here before us used pex tubing to supply the house from the well closet--and then poured concrete over it. I'm not surprised it froze. A little frustrated, but not surprised. On the plus side(?) I'm home again today, because neither car will start. But everyone is home, safe, warm, and fed, and we have firewood, so we're doing okay. And the barn hasn't dropped below 18*.

 

[bigzio]

Double dang Hurley, when you hear the power just went out.... it's the biggest worry once the eggs are set. Time will tell if you lucked out or not..I'm sure you did all you can to keep the eggs warm....and yep a wood fired source is the best solution for survivors if the grid goes down. Even cooking in the fire place is a simple solution without the power, and you can't beat the taste of wood fired meals. When they toss the large weber grills at the recycle center, it makes sense to grab the grill grate and clean it up for future use in the fire place or even the fire pit outside in the summer. One can buy them new, but I prefer free.

bigz

 

[Hurley]

We lucked out, power back on. I've got cast iron, though, so was actually just starting to poke around looking for something to firecook for lunch.

 

[ParkfieldFarm]

Water's flowing! We heated bricks in the woodstove to put on the floor above the seam. Worked a charm (over, y'know...four or five hours). Also, we have a congested rooster, and I feel bad because I can't stop laughing...he's so squeaky!

 

[babylady4]

Jim, you need to check in PDQ...... need to make sure you are ok.

 

[bigzio]

Yep, in regards to cooking in the fireplace, cutting a piece of re-rod to fit across your grate works really well for holding the weber grill grates that can be used for either cooking on by themselves, or using as a grate to hold your cast iron pan nice and level above the ashes.
Still below zero here all day...can't wait till the temp moves above negative.

bigz

 

[Hurley]

Power still on. Candled my eggs after they were back up to temp. Saw movement in the ones I checked, so fingers crossed no lasting effects on them. Phew.

Outdoor chickens aren't eating much, but they have plenty of food on offer and have warm water twice daily. They're looking good, just not doing much.

Indoor chickies all survived and are warmed up and happy, dust bathing in their new digs (moved them up to a larger brooder area, while I was at it today). Same exact bedding as the previous cage, just a bigger cage, but somehow it was soooooo much better. They all dust bathed for an hour, like it was just the coolest, neatest, newest thing they'd ever seen. Goofballs. They're big chooks now, apparently.

 

[Kildare49]

After Tuesday and Wednesday, it was downright balmy working outdoors today.
Will be in shorts and t shirt by sunday! Chickens thought the same, and were outside today. I have a wood boiler..so I plow a very large area for wood & moving equipment for the business, so they have a big play ground to scratch in all winter. And of course they are like dogs waiting for treat, every morning when I dump out the ash from the boiler.

Coop is large with deep litter and straw in the boxes. This is a hardy group.
Rank right up there with my 1st batch of layers we got from " Cuties " years
ago.
Have 2 hens that have decided late January is great time to go broody.
If they are successful, I can separate hens/chicks from rest of flock & put lamp over them...if needed.

 

[No More Empty Nest]

Here are 3 of my bantams when it was -18. These little chickens really surprise me. I was so worried about them and they're doing fine. My heated water is not doing so well, I have to break the ice in it every few hours. Guess it just wasn't made for this cold.
Sooo glad it's warming up now!
Edited to add the picture, lol.