Thursday, January 3, 2013

Cold, But Thriving

I was worried when we went to bed last night. Despite all the precautions we are taking to keep everyone warm, safe, and most importantly healthy and alive, it is COLD. At the risk of being indelicate, my nose nearly froze closed just trying to breathe through it. My hair wasn't even wet and it felt like it was freezing into icicles. After caring for the afternoon chores, my butt was so frozen solid, the bathroom throne actually felt warm- that's real COLD. The thought of our herds and flocks suffering through the night in the unheated barn and coop in that kind of miserable weather made it difficult to sleep.

I know wild birds: turkey, grouse, and partridges winter here. The deer, moose, wolves, foxes, and such all manage it without barns or mounds of hay to sleep in. Or people fussing and fretting, but that did little to convince me to sleep soundly. Still, I had mentally prepared myself for the worst.

The animals did just fine. The chickens were all active and ready to be released from the coop for the day. They poured out of their coop and settled into eating their warm oatmeal. (Today's had raisins in it.) We prop the door open to allow them to come and go as they please, but not open so wide as to allow the windy air to rush inside forcefully. Everyone was present and accounted for. No signs of frostbite on toes, wattles, or combs. Unexpectedly, but appreciated nonetheless, 3 cold but unfrozen eggs were waiting in the nest boxes for me to collect this morning; 2 more were present at lunch time. The other creatures came through the night as well as the chickens. Though their outside fur was cold to the touch on the goats and Jasmine, their undercoats were toasty warm. They hadn't even finished off their last, extra helping of hay! The piggies were snuggled into their mound of hay, but happily popped their heads out at the sight and sound of me and in anticipation of their breakfast.



Sean assured me that everyone would be just fine this morning. I am so pleased he can say with his private, little nudge, a teasing, "told you so". Will that prevent me from fretting again tonight? Nope. But, I hope and pray he'll say, "I told you so" all over again tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by to visit with us today. We're sure happy you came.
Sean and Sonja ♥

P.S. Since the ladies have begun giving us more eggs on a steady basis, this week, we have an extra 2 dozen on hand that we can part with. We sell our farm fresh, cageless, all natural eggs for $3/dozen. If you from the area and are interested in purchasing eggs, drop me a message.

4 comments:

  1. Im glad all is good at the farm. I had no doubt that it would be fine. That is how Jehovah made the animals.
    cherie

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  2. I know it did your heart good to see those piggy noses burrow up through the straw! Thanks for sharing that video. I am a worry wart too, so I feel ya.

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  3. I'm glad everyone is doing ok in your harsh weather! When we were under our blizzard warning after Christmas it was hard to sleep because I was so worried about all the animals outside. But of course they did ok :)

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  4. I think you're right to worry a little--it keeps you on your toes! In the wild, animals do have survival techniques like digging, burrowing, and denning together. As domesticated critters, it's your responsibility to provide those conditions yourselves, and I think you do a good job of it.

    Becky

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