Cooped up

Yes, I did take last week off. It was Christmas. We had a quiet dinner at home. I had a really busy semester and am compensating by not doing much of anything during my break. I sleep late and take naps. By Christmas, I the only thing I’d crossed off my list was cleaning my refrigerator. I thought of posting a photo because it was a thing of beauty, but it seemed like too much information, like putting up a picture of what you have for lunch every day.

We are welcoming the New Year with bitter temperatures. It’s still warm by North Dakota standards, a mere -3° in the morning, but the wind cuts right through you. We’ve had two snow events of about an inch each. The good thing about having solar panels on the ground is that you can go out and brush the snow off and continue to generate kWh. The good thing about having solar panels on the roof is that when it is below zero, you can resign yourself to not doing anything about the snow and put your feet up with a cup of hot tea and a lap blanket.

Anyway, I bundled up yesterday morning and went out to clear the panels with the temperature at -2° F and a brisk wind blowing from the northwest. Unlike the first snow, which stuck everywhere, the most recent snow had mostly blown off.

Solar panels before brushing

Our method is to put a soft brush on the end of a telescoping pole. This is as far as I can reach.

The brush on the solar panels up as high as I can get it.

Then I pull the pole toward me to brush the snow to the bottom of the panels (and onto my pants). The last time I did snow removal, it was marginally warmer, and only the snow directly beneath the brush would move, one 12” strip at a time. I was at it 45 minutes. This time, when I got the top started, often the snow on the whole panel would slide down, taking all the snow below with. I was done in 20 minutes. Good thing, too, because even wearing my most serious mittens, my fingertips were numb when I was done.

Solar panels brushed off and ready to generate some kilowatt hours

My most serious mittens

I am worried about the hens. We’ve been leaving them in the coop because even if we open the door, they don’t go out, and the coop stays warmer with the door shut. Literally cooped up, they get bored and start pecking each other. Poor Dorothy has no tail feathers left at all.

Poor tailless Dorothy

I found one of their toys, a Coke bottle with holes in the side, filled it with scratch grain, and hung it from the ceiling.

Chicken toy--a Coke bottle with holes in the side filled with scratch grain

I thought they would eagerly attack it, but instead they took to the roost and stayed there, mortified.

On the roost, afraid of the new toy. Juanita is third from the left; note that she looks less scruffy than her companions.

While I was watching, I saw Juanita pecking at Lupita. This would explain why Juanita is the only chicken who does not look hen-pecked. I reprimanded her severely. Fat lot of good that will do.

When I went out to give them their Sunday carrot peels, the Coke bottle was half-empty (or perhaps half-full), so apparently they have been entertaining themselves. I also ordered some pinless peepers with expedited shipping to help with the pecking problem. Stay tuned on that one. I hope Dorothy still has feathers when the pinless peepers arrive.

That brings us to my last post of 2017. Happy New Year!