Labels

20081215

"Bert saves baby from freezing to death"

It was above freezing during the day but late afternoon the very strong wind and snow started and the temperature dropped below zero. Normally about 1/2 hour before dark the Chickens prepare to go into the coop for the night. Most of them did, but with the wind and snow, Betty and baby Puff were afraid to cross the snowy yard so didn't make it to the coop before dark... the temp continued to drop. It was Nasty cold.


I knew little Puff would likely freeze to death if she wasn't in a  sheltered place So we went out with flashlights and looked everywhere.  Betty then found the courage to dart across the yard to the coop, but tiny baby Puff was nowhere to be found in the dark. She's very tiny and black so is hard to find when she hides.  When we got close to her hiding place under the deck, she came out and I picked her up and carried her to the nice warm coop (about 45). She was very happy to be rescued. Bert followed me, he had stayed with the baby to keep her warm or else she would have certainly frozen (Bert has done that on 3 occasions with other hens, risked his life to save the hens).
Today, it was below zero all day but it was about 60-65 in the solar heated Aviary. The Chickens were basking in the sun like tourists on a beach.
The Pigeons stay in the aviary at night (Ambient temp) so I have covered nests for them with a small elec heater.  Sometimes they sit in the heated nests but at night they prefer to sit in the aviary on perches, even at 20 below zero (like tonight, the WindChill will be -30). I put them into the heated nests (about 20 degrees) but they come right out again. ? oh well, they don't seem to mind the cold.
Maybe they need electric blankets?

10 comments:

  1. When I die, I'm coming back as one of your chickens.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Baby Puff is a very odd looking chicken. She looks a little like a Rastafarian Chicken really.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad you found the baby, better known as the Rasta chick! LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Donna - She is a very sweet little bird. She actually likes to be picked up and held. I guess she's kinda like me ~:<)

    Debo - Oh don't die... just come as you are..... now.

    iriani - She is odd, but oh so cute, a little charmer, and she talks (peeps) a lot.
    Vee -
    kats -
    Na, she's much to sweet and innocent to be a Rasta Chick. Her feathers though are rather unique. They're skinny feathers and they curl backwards so the tip is facing forward. She can't fly very well (Not to aerodynamic) but it's amazing she can fly at all. She now has about 4 "feathers" on each wing that stick out quite far like a piece of tough rigid stiff black wire with a tiny plume of feathers at the tip.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Swag - Puff doesn't know she's a Chicken, she'd like to be a house pet if she could.

    Recon - I looked and looked but couldn't find electric socks for Chickens in the right size. They were all too large.

    ReplyDelete