cold and colder

Its bitter cold here today even though the sun is shining.  There’s a spattering of snow on the ground that fell early this morning but it’s not much protection for the plants.  I managed to get all the ducks and turkeys shut back up Saturday evening, right before we had a huge windstorm in the overnight hours, complete with thunder and lightning.  On Saturday the hose ran and it was about 45 degrees.  Sunday it was bitter cold, especially with the wind.  Today it’s even worse.  Hard to want to do anything but eat and sleep, hiding from the cold.  At least we have our power, unlike some folks around here.

Days that the hose runs in January were rare before last year.  To have several this year is proof that things are changing but the next few days are right back to old fashioned winter weather.  We are supposed to get to zero a couple nights this week. Ugh.  I hope this is the last really cold weather.  I do hate all the bundling up to go to the barn.  It would be so nice to just go out without all that.  But I am being greedy since we had a day or two like that last week.

The turkeys have actually started laying but I am feeding their eggs to the cats along with duck eggs.  I had a look at a heritage turkey catalog and with the prices so high for chicks I ought to save those turkey eggs and hatch them but I don’t want to deal with chicks until the weather is a bit nicer.  If the turkey hens start sitting eggs I’ll let them, but any eggs laid in this weather and not sat on immediately will freeze.  I don’t know if the toms are fertile now either.

Our chicken egg production still isn't very good, even with the demise of two possums.  I attempted to set the trap again twice but it got tripped without catching anything.  I am going to wait until the weather warms a bit to try again.  We have gotten a white egg everyday for the last 4 days from our lone leghorn which hasn't happened in a while so maybe the low egg production now is just from winter.  It seemed the critters always went for the light colored eggs first. 

My very dependable olive egg layer is trying to set and she is hiding her eggs from me instead of laying them where she used to- a tub in the front part of the barn.  I think her sister is also laying somewhere hidden. 

Four of my red layers charged through my legs this morning from the coop into the barn and I couldn't shoo them back into the coop.  They want to scarf down cat food and then wander out through the barn door to the front yard and pick sunflower seeds out from under the bird feeder, even in this cold. 

The poor cats look very cold, although my original barn kittens look fat and sleek the two strays that showed up aren't faring as well, especially the white and black female who is declawed.   I tried to shut her in the empty dog kennel inside the barn where there is a doghouse full of straw, a sunny window to sit in and no competition for food but she manages to get herself out each time.   She desperately wants to come inside but that would be suicide with our dogs.

Deer have been coming up in the old horse pasture looking around where we used to put the hay for the horses.  When the horses were here their tracks were covered by hoof prints I think.  They probably helped that hay disappear last year faster than we knew.  Every time we go to the store we pass a run down farm that has 8 or 9 ponies and mini-horses in a field by the road.  I never see any hay and they are always grazing the almost bare dead grass.  So far they don’t look too thin so maybe they do get hay somewhere but I worry about them.  Steve thinks I’m crazy, but I can’t help it.