Battling Against the Cold

Over the past couple of days the temperature has barely lifted much above zero. With the water now off on site, it’s back to lugging numerous containers full of water down to the plot, trying to bully frozen fingers to work properly. The gate and padlock this morning weren’t frozen (thankfully!) however, they were so cold, my fingers nearly stuck to the metal!

Chickens are very robust against the cold, keeping warm by fluffing up their feathers and huddling together in the nest box. Well, everyone except Flora who insists on sleeping outdoors on the perch. I’ve tried shutting her into the Nest House but she refuses to stay where it’s warm and dry. I have been debating about how to keep Gertie warm in the Fortress of Gertie-tude. I have been giving her corn in the afternoon and covered the end of her coop with a towel to try and keep her a little warmer. If it gets much colder, I may put her in the Purple Omlet with Coco, Arcus, Aurora and Cumulus overnight.

The one thing that I had forgotten was the battle to de-ice the water bowls. This morning, the ice was so thick that I struggled to break it in several of the coops. The worst culprits were the Omlet Glugs which seem to specialise in freezing the entire way around the bowl. Most water bowls we use only freeze over at the bottom, but the Glugs are something else. I had to resort to running hot water on and around the Glugs for several minutes to begin to get the ice to melt! Unfortunately the frost killed off the water bowl in Maude and Mavis’s coop so I had to rig up a temporary one which will do for a couple of days until we can get to the shop. As for the quail’s water bowl, it was frozen solid.

With another cold night (currently minus two degrees!), it’ll be the same battle again tomorrow morning!