Beyond cold…

It’s difficult to describe how truly cold -11 with a wind chill of -32 degrees feels, unless you’ve experienced it.  It is so unbelievably cold that it feels as though any exposed skin freezes within minutes; so cold it knocks the wind out of you (in reality, the freezing, dry air is probably constricting your bronchial tubes).

I worry ceaselessly about the hens and sheep in this kind of intense cold.  We have made them as safe and warm as possible, short of bringing them in the house (which Nora won’t allow, although I don’t understand why).  The heat lamp has been on non-stop in the coop since yesterday afternoon when temps really started to dip.  It will remain on until this ridiculous arctic blast moves out of the area on Saturday.  I added more pine shavings to the coop yesterday to provide a little more insulation, and thankfully with the heat lamp, the water in the coop remains unfrozen.  The hens have been eating like crazy.  We went through a 50 lb bag of feed in 2 weeks.  It usually lasts 4-5 weeks.

The sheep have not been allowed out of the barn since yesterday.  The straw on the floor is a good 12-14 inches thick to provide warmth.  They have been getting a little extra sweet feed in the morning and evenings and have a constant supply of hay.  Although their water bowl is also “heated” – as in the water remains unfrozen, provided they don’t knock it slightly off the base as they like to do – the water is very cold, so Nora and I have been bringing buckets of warm water out to them 2-3 times a day.  Rationally, I know they will be fine inside the barn with their 4-5 inches of wool.  But it has to be uncomfortable, even for them. 

I also topped off the bird feeders outside the house this morning.  This is no time for the wild birds to go without food.  They need to keep their little engines going as well.