Winter chores

It is finally feeling like winter here in Central Indiana. 11 degrees and snow is falling - I love it. 

The freezing temps do cause a bit of a problem, though. Yesterday, we noticed the chickens hadn't come out all day. Their food is in the coop because the moisture ruins it, but their water is outside sitting on a cinder block that has a 100 watt light bulb inside to keep it from freezing. I put their water in the coop to see if they were thirsty and they all swarmed. So, I decided to leave it in there for the night. 

Well that wasn't a great idea, because this morning it was frozen solid. I am so glad I cleaned my bath tub, wouldn't want to clean a chicken waterer (that they kicked a ton of wood chips into, and poop. Yay!) in a dirty tub, right?  That was fun to clean up. 

Once I got the water cleaned up, I suited up in my favorite Berne coveralls (I highly recommend them, so cozy!), got my chisel and hammer and went to unstick the coop door. With no trees, we get weather from all directions. The snow and ice froze the door shut. 

Don't mind the unpacked box on the floor from when we moved. Almost 4 months ago... Ha!  It's an old sewing machine I don't use and haven't figured out where to put it. On top of it is a cabinet shelf I haven't found a place for. The rest of my house really is unpacked, I swear!

I tried to talk the ladies into coming out of the coop, but they weren't having it. I guess they will come out when they are thirsty enough. Keeping water in the coop isn't a good idea for a couple reasons. One, it will freeze. 😁 Two, it will release moisture into the air that will also freeze and can cause respiratory problems, frost bite, etc for the chickens. 

One thing about all this that makes me really happy - all throughout this morning chores, I enjoyed it. You know you're on the right path, doing the right thing when you love what you're doing, even when it's not sunshine and green grass. Not that I had any doubt, I knew this was the right life for me, for us.