I know war rages in Europe and across the Middle East (see It is Raining Missiles in the Middle East) and appears to be escalating around the globe, but war is not affecting us here on the homestead as much as the local weather does. Thankfully, war is still far away, at least for now. Seven or eight inches of snow in my driveway, however, is a more immediate issue as we are housebound because of it. Meanwhile, temperatures are plunging with single digits expected at least three days this week. In six hours, our temperature dropped 17 degrees into the teens. Surprisingly, this was during daylight hours, not after sunset.
Because of the snow, I moved an appointment to Thursday and my wife changed one to next week. We could probably get out of our driveway and down the road, but chances of us getting back are slim. One neighbor already slid down the road and had to get rescued by her husband in his Gator. She may not get her car out until we have a thaw.
There have been power outages in the area, but not at our house, knock on wood.
This type of local emergency is one where Facebook groups are useful. My wife subscribes to several serving our county and local towns, so she relays news to me about open roads, fallen trees and power outages.
How Many Eggs is Too Many Eggs?
Meanwhile, the chickens have laid 18 eggs per day for two days in a row. Pretty good considering we have 19 hens. Seven eggs were large, 11 were small, what we call pullet eggs. We have five dozen eggs in the fridge waiting to sell, but no way to deliver them until it melts. A minor problem in the grand scheme of things.
My wife is trying to find a quiche recipe that uses half-and-half so she can bake a quiche using lots of eggs and some of the Christmas ham we have in the freezer. Her normal recipe uses sour cream, and we’re out with no chance of getting to the store, so she is hoping to replace it with the half-and-half. I would just wing it, but she likes to work from a recipe. I joked we should make egg noodles as homesteaders Eric and Ariel did in this recent video:
Don’t those tortellini look good? We don’t have a pasta maker, but we can roll it out and cut the dough with a knife.
Time to Water the Chickens
This photo illustrates what happens to the chickens’ water in just six hours. This is why I give them fresh water at least twice a day when it is this cold. I have seen them eat snow, but their body temperature will stay higher if they drink water at 55 degrees instead of eating snow.
When I go out in the morning, half of the chickens are still in the coop. I know it is warm in there because when I open it up to replenish their food, my glasses fog up. (We feed them inside and water them outside.) Also, the eggs don’t freeze. Still, I check the eggs twice a day when it is cold, just to be safe. So far, they are laying only in the morning, which is the way we like it. By late afternoon, the majority are underneath the coop where there is no snow. Why? I guess they want some fresh air.
Our rooster is now head and shoulders bigger than all the other birds, and I have seen him mount one hen, so we know he is mature. He has gotten better at crowing, too, but he is still nowhere near as loud or as frequent as our last birds. He is also not as aggressive towards humans. I don’t know if this is because there is only one of him, while the other roosters had to compete with each other, or simply a difference in breeds. Either way, we like it. He may not have fancy plumage, but based on his behavior so far, I wouldn’t hesitate to get another Red Star rooster.
Weather Then and Now
I wonder if these polar vortexes and nor’easters are more vexing today than they were 40 or more years ago because we can predict them. We used to get surprised by the weather, so we had to be prepared all winter. Now computer models help meteorologists predict a coming arctic blast or East Coast storm a week or more ahead of time. While some people use that time to prepare, I think the constant news coverage and utility earnings encourages panic.
I’d like to know 48 hours in advance. That would give us time to carry in firewood and go grocery shopping. It would also reduce the chance of false alarms and minimize changes to the forecast. Even with today’s technology, the weather can still surprise us and we need to be prepared. We should not become complacent.
