Poor Pete!,i know all my felines were inclined to remain housebound,they kept me on my toes!,mischief and more mischief!,how do you fare for pipes freezing?,we have had no water for nearly a week now,and the shops don't have any,luckily i saved containers full of water from the thaw.
great pics philip! that's awful about your pipes. the only trouble we've had is one pipe that goes outside (grey water) and froze in the wall! ed fixed that the last freeze we had. ed just found this dor feeding the ducks...(he's on the 'prowl' so to speak now, for ideas!)... http://communitychickens.blogspot.com/2 ... dium=email
Great link,you never know what you will find on the internet!. Love it,its like a toy,don't chickens and ducks learn very fast where food is concerned. Next door had two pipes frozen and burst,the main water supply tower to the town froze and burst,the main pipeline froze and the ice expanded so much it opened up the road,we are not used to such low temperatures as minus 19C,and water pipes are not deep enough to avoid that heavy frost,still its interesting to see how people cope,i have lots of water from the thaw,for washing and flushing,now its raining and so water for cooking, .
right about ducks and chickens. ed thinks if a chicken can do it, so can a duck! that water situation for the town sounds serious. glad you're thawing and getting some rain. when we've had problems before, i've just melted some snow on the woodstove. where there's a will, there's always a way, eh?!
hi ed, we're still in the cold here...in the teens both night and day. crazy weather for us, but not breaking any records. snow's coming in a couple of days...hopefully it'll warm us up. we're hauling water to the ducks three times a day now. their pond froze!
Delighted to hear from you,i was wondering about,food and water for ducks,hens,and of course the horses,not forgetting yourselves. No record breaking temperatures is good news, it has being unexpected highs over this side of the pond,chin up both of you and keep well wrapped up.
thanks philip! we're keeping pretty warm in the cabin....it's just when we have to go outside! all the critters are doing remarkably well...especially the ducks. this is their first winter. they must be doing what comes naturally! i just don't understand them staying outside in the snowbanks together at night, rather than sleeping in their hay filled cabin?! i'm going to have to assume they know what they're doing. they've been doing this since the pond froze. if the sun ever comes out again, i'll take some more pics. with the fog and cold temps, it's really beautiful...frosty sparkles everywhere on the landscape.
Hi Bunkie, i had the same problem with my duck population,no matter what the weather was they would be found outside huddled together,doing their own thing!,so i always had to visit the paddock to drive them into the duck shed,as for the hens,no problem,off they went to roost in the shed,i only had to close the door until next morning. My worry was not the Fox population,of which there were many,nor the Otter,and there were some,but the Mink,just one was enough to see,knowing it would kill everything and probably take away nothing.
when they were little philip, i could manage to ge them into their little cabin and close them up for the night. but now that they're big, and their big cabin has no door, they don't get closed in at night. however, they're in a caged area within a caged area....so they are locked in the small area at night. ed got the pond open day before yesterday and boy are they having fun in it! they have started molting, so i imagine the water's feeling good to them now. they managed to keep it open all night and more melting happened yesterday. well, lookie here...looks like Curly's not the only dog that loves sleds!!! Dogs Love Sleds http://www.care2.com/greenliving/dogs-l ... video.html
Hi Bunkie, its a joy to watch the ducks when they take a notion to start splashing about cleaning themselves,its great that you have the pond,i had to cut plastic barrels in half,3 foot long,and fill them each day as once the ducks were fed, in they went to clear the beaks of food. I just went back through all your pages in this thread,very enjoyable,there seems no end to all the chores you do,and do them well,i got hungry when i looked at your, "Blackberry Pie" and the "Honey Oat Whole Wheat Bread",i can only imagine how the bread tastes.
thanks philip about the kind remarks about the food! that was my first blackberry pie ever...and i'm using only 100 percent whole wheat that we grind, and are in the processing of growing. they were tasty! well, it snowed all night and is still snowing at 19F. and, amongst all this 'stuff', the ducks are relly molting???! i would think they'd want to keep all the feathers they could muster in this cold weather?! maybe they know something we don't...like we're in for a long warming trend?! they spent the night in the corner where water is always trickling into the frozen pond. it took them a whole hour to walk to their cabin in the deep snow this morning...2 steps forward 4 back...
Hi Bunkie, yes looking at food encourages me to eat,and as i remarked your pictures of food set me going,not that i really need any encouragement,just looking or thinking food,and off i go,i burn it off so never worry about clothes not fitting, . Your Ducks are a tad out of sync with the molting,its supposed to be in Spring or Fall,but as you say maybe they know something,but why suffer the cold without feathers?. Years ago i purchased a De-Icer for a pond i had,electric of course, but inexpensive where electricity consumption was concerned,these days they cost about $60,i didn't mind the cost as i made it back selling the eggs. Oh nice one about grinding your own wheat,you and Ed seem to be a good team,nearly self sufficient as well,you both have to be admired.
