Brrrrave Chickens

Yep, it’s still cold. We don’t have a nice thermometer to photograph, but pretty sure it hovered around –15 most of the day, even in the sun. The coop warmed up pretty well with the passive solar, but the older rooster is showing some signs of frostbite on his comb. He got it a bit last year, too, but it seemed to heal OK. But I have a bit more empathy now, with my sore frostbitten earlobes. Maybe that was cosmic retribution for not giving the chickens more heat? Hmmm.


So tonight, the fluffed-up chickens are enjoying their new window quilts (hastily constructed by WF and I this evening). We hope it will hold in more heat at night; should have done it long ago, probably. I think they approve! We’re still getting eggs, and only a couple have frozen before being collected.

I also dashed outside a bit today to try a favorite ultra-cold-weather activity: blowing bubbles! Deb posted about the instantly-freezing boiling water; I’ve never tried that. Bubbles are fun because they freeze in the air, then crumple into little cellophane clumps when popped. It was fun for a few minutes; not long enough (and too windy) for pictures. Ah, cold. I’ve also heard that you can hammer a nail in with a banana when it’s colder than 20 below- maybe we’ll try that tomorrow if the temps keep dropping!