A balmy negative 5 degree morning

I remember I used to occasionally think back in frigid Nebraska that even below zero days don’t feel that bad when it is sunny and windless outside! And so it is today. All of the animals were perfectly fine in last night’s ridiculously low temperatures, and Steve and I even managed to get a few hours of sleep each.

However, because of my extreme animal husbandry guilt last night, I had Steve install a heat lamp in the coop this morning so hopefully the chickens can have a slightly less rugged experience tonight. And even though it won’t be quite as cold as last night, I will also give the donkeys an extra bale of straw to curl up in tonight. But honestly, these Northern animals are completely fine in the cold temperatures.

And since Steve has not mentioned moving South today, I guess it goes for us, too!

The rigged-up heat lamp. Also notice the award ribbons and trophy by the window - I collect them at antique stores/shows and display them in the coop to help the flock’s self-esteem (don’t let them in on the secret that they didn’t really EARN them.)

I try to leave the coop front door open (and/or windows) for a few hours every day, esp. while it is nice and sunny, to encourage the birds to get some chicken exercise and for ventilation to keep the coop as aired out as possible.

Steve also adjusted our automatic side coop door timer, which was still set to summer sundowns, meaning it wasn’t closing until 10:30pm. Even though the days are slowly getting longer, it’s still pretty much dark before 5pm, and all of the birds are settled well before then.