Wonky weather

What a week it has been! It was 63 degrees in Chicago on Tuesday. The heat wave corresponded nicely to my lecture on the carbon cycle and climate destabilization (a better term than global warming). In the last 10 years, record highs have outnumbered record lows 2 to 1. A lot of the time we don’t notice. On Tuesday, we weren’t saying to each other, “Whew! What a scorcher!” No, it just seemed like a nice day. But it was a record high nevertheless. It isn’t supposed to be in the 60’s in northern Illinois in January. It didn’t last long. Temps were below 0 two days later. Wonky. It’s still cold. We left the girls in the coop on Friday and Saturday. We had to let them out today to air the coop more than anything. They came out long enough to eat some carrot peelings I saved for them. They were back on the roost by 4:00 even though there was still quite a bit of daylight left.

We have put a heater in the human side of the coop for these cold days. We didn’t want to put it directly with the chickens because 1) there was no room, 2) the extreme dust is a fire hazard even though the heater is supposed to be very safe, and 3) we didn’t want it to get pooped on. It keeps the coop in the low 30’s, which seems warm when it’s 5 below zero outside. I probably like it more than the hens because my fingertips don’t freeze while I’m doing the chores. I had a mild case of frostbite in my foolish youth. It turns out that once that happens, your fingers and toes go white and numb quite easily after that, and the thawing out process is remarkably painful. Funny how you never know at the time how the stupid things you do will seal your fate the rest of your life.

The heater in the storage room

But I digress. The morning after Hilda fired up the heater, she came into the coop to find 6 of the chickens crammed into the three nesting boxes, which are along the wall next to the heater. I have not personally witnessed this. I would have taken a picture. Even with the heat and supplementary light, egg production is down. Some days we only get two eggs. A good day has 5 or 6. It takes energy to stay warm. Nothing left for egg-making.

Another big improvement in the coop is a heated water bowl to replace the other waterer that was such a pain to fill. The water bowl is easy peasy—dump, wipe out, position in coop, fill, done!

Bridget and Sara line up for a drink of fresh water.

In an odd way, it is a relief that Ellie died. We have always known that we would lose chickens along the way. Ellie broke the seal. I’m no longer holding my breath for when the time will come. It has come. We are dealing with it. It’s sad, but we carry on. The first cut is the deepest….