January 17, 2012

-30 out there this morning.  But no wind thank goodness!  Sounds like we are in for a week of steady cold...

Wow! The 17th of January already...and winter has finally arrived.  There is about 6 inches of fluffy,dry snow on the ground.
H loaded the wagon with 40 bales yesterday and they hooked it behind the tractor to feed the cow herd out in the Rastadt Pasture today.  Yesterday they took out 20 bales and found quite a herd bunched up so they are expecting lots to be waiting for breakfast today.
E curled last night and it was pretty cold already when he got home around 10:30....pretty late for him on a school night and this is a busy week for the senior high as they have to complete their online courses by Wed. and next week is exam week. With the semester courses, most of them will be sitting finals not midterms.
G still has two online courses to finish up as well.
It was only -7 in the henhouse this morning, -11 in the roo house so not too bad, they looked pretty content, although the roosters tend to huddle a bit more than the girls who are always busy scratching around.
Last night I checked the hens on the roost and saw R's little black silkie hen looked strange.  When I looked closer I saw there were "things" hanging down all around her face.   They were icicles, hanging off each feather in her headdress "poof".  When she drank out of the open water pail, her head feathers must have got wet and then froze solid in the cold.  I got the scissors from the barn and gave her a nice boyish "do" and she seemed happier for it as she jumped up onto a higher rail of the roost when I put her down.

All the dogs to walk with today because they don't usually follow the tractor...there was a slight wind which made it cold on the face heading West but not too bad on the way back.
I let G's ducks out as it seems too cold and dark when he gets on the bus to let them out then.
His ducks do  pretty well in the cold but they do like straw to sit on instead of the snow...they kind of "body surf" across the cold snow, keeping their feet tucked up under their wings!