Chicken Chat – Not Snow Fans

If you haven’t heard, we have had a little wind and snow around here as of late. We did not have as much accumulation as some of the rest of the state. My family on the South Shore still have no power and got a lot more snow than we did. The winds were worse than the snow. We lost power for a couple of hours in the middle of the night, but it came back before it got cold enough in the house to start a fire. Our snow was heavy and sticky. Stuck to everything. Tree limbs were all weighed down with a layer of ice and snow. Shoveling was heavy and back pain inducing even though it didn’t look like much. Now whatever you missed is frozen stiff. It ain’t budgin. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow.

In anticipation of this fun event, Husband and I prepped the coop and run with a layer of plastic on the three windward sides and added some straw bales to make sure it stayed. We usually leave it open year round. The girls like the view and the roof keeps most of the regular weather out. In the case of a Nor’easter or hurricane this is the set up. It protects the girls from most of the wind, rain, and snow. While leaving one side open so they can see out and the air can circulate and keep it dry in there, which is one of the keys to the deep litter method. Air circulation is also a key to avoiding frostbite.

The girls are not fans of the snow. Husband shoveled a nice path earlier in the day yesterday. So, at the usual time I went out to let them out in the yard. I figured they may follow the path around to the side yard and I would throw them out some treats. Well it started out ok, I got to the run door and they were all waiting by it like they wanted to go out. So, I opened the door. They all looked at each other, had a small conversation, and voted Betty *piranha cow.

 

She looked out, tasted the snow.

She peeeeeked around the corner. Straining to see around the straw bale. “Yep more snow. Maybe if I step out.”

“Look at all that snow, we’re not going out there!” And that’s as far as they got. Betty turned around and went back in and they acted like the door wasn’t even open. We’ll see if they have cabin fever enough to go out today.

*A piranha cow is the brave (sacrificial) cow the herd sends into the river first before crossing to see if the piranhas are biting. It can also refer to wild turkeys and cars but car turkey doesn’t have the same ring to it :)