Jimmy

A few of you caught sight of Jimmy a few days ago, so I thought you might like to see a close-up. His “hat” is usually even fluffier than this, but I guess the winter weather is giving him bad hair days.

We’ve had bitter cold here this week, with lows at 12 below and highs at 4 above. But surprisingly that’s actually been good for egg production, I guess because the cold is driving the hens into the coop. From a low of 4 or 5 eggs per day a couple of months ago, I’m back up to 12 to 15 eggs a day. Still not where it should be for 45 hens, but it’s improving.

Though it’s been cold, the wind hasn’t blown and the sun is out so it doesn’t seem so bad. I can say that because I spend most of my day sitting at the computer, not outside working 40 feet in the air like Matt. I haul hot water out to the coop a couple times a day, and pick up eggs 3 times a day. Still I usually find a frozen egg ball or two.

The rest of the livestock seem to be faring well in the cold. They have shelter but they’re usually found standing around the bale feeder or lying on a mound of cornstalks in the sun. In one of those wish-I-had-my-camera moments, I saw our sow today carrying around the huge hunk of ice that started out as water in her pan. She carried it into her shed and dropped it with a big clunk. She’s goofy.

It’s supposed to warm back up to around 30 by the weekend. Downright tropical.