Just popping in to vent for a minute… this is, by far, the worst weather I’ve ever experienced. Three days in and I still can’t even feed the chickens without falling flat on my face on SIX SOLID INCHES of slick ice despite using two fence posts as walking sticks.
My farm stays 4-8 degrees cooler than the rest of the county year-round due to our low spot right by the lake. It also gets more moisture. So, I don’t know if everyone’s place is as bad as mine but I am just hoping and praying that we get enough melted tomorrow for me to be able to get to the road, because right now it’s an 800ft uphill climb on solid slick ice that my 1800lb bull doesn’t even dent when he walks across it. If I can’t get to the grocery store tomorrow I’m gonna be eating a lot of chicken eggs for a few days.
All of the animals are alive so far, but we’ve had some close calls. Our main coop, which has around 40 mixed chickens, ducks, and turkeys crammed in it right now, is wrapped on all sides with tarps, has six inches of dry hay, and two heat lamps – it’s still 24 degrees in there and their water is frozen solid. I have two smaller breeding coops but had to abandon them yesterday when I checked on their tenants and realized they were very lethargic.
Yesterday, the coop roof caved in when the 2-3 inches of ice on top of it shifted. If I hadn’t been sitting by my living room window when it happened we probably would have lost all of our birds in the resulting fire. I was able to quickly run out there and pull the heat lamps off of the dry hay floor. I am very thankful that I shelled out for a good ladder two years ago with adjustable legs and extra grippy feet, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to get the ice off.
As it was, I still slipped and fell at least half a dozen times – once on my face. I’ve pulled muscles I didn’t even know I had. I’m using a full-sized pickaxe to bash a 2ft by 2ft hole through 6-8 inches of solid ice in my cattle trough once a day so the cows can drink for 5-10 minutes before it re-freezes. Thankfully we stockpiled enough hay this year to last us the entire winter, so their food hasn’t been an issue.
The dogs and pigs are loving it and are outside playing all day, they won’t go in their houses. The cows love cold weather but hate being covered in 12-inch-long icicles. The birds have no idea what’s going on and are just confused. The geese are angry at being stuck in a small coop, and just hiss at me anytime I check their food and water. Given what I’m going through to make sure they get fed, you’d think they’d be a bit more grateful.
It could be worse, though! At least it’s pretty. Here’s some photos from around the farm right now.. Praying for sun and above-freezing temps soon…
Middle Fork Farms 