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Sunday, January 5, 2014

Nestled All Snug In Their Beds

It was something like 50 here this afternoon and tomorrow morning they are calling for -6. Actual temperature. The wind is predicted to be blowing through around 20 miles an hour, creating brutal wind chills. Time to batten down the hatches.

I'm not really concerned about the majority of the sheep staying warm.  They are all in good flesh and full fleeces.  The barn provides plenty of shelter from the wind and they have a good warm straw pack.  Hank loves cold weather, but this is going to go way past comfortable for him so I made a big, deep straw bed for him in the small stall where he likes to sleep.


We decided to move Elizabeth inside and under a heat lamp.  This worked really well when the weather tanked right after shearing last year and probably saved her life.  I set up the small pen and hung her lamp.  I doubt Renny will even notice the cold under all that wool ;-).


Back in the summer when I moved Elizabeth into the lamb pen, I caught quite an ear full.  The other night when it got pretty darn cold and I moved her back in with the main "prison population" I caught another ear full.  You can tell by the look on her face that when I ask her to move back in at feeding time...I'm gonna hear about it ;-).


The horses are blanketed (Hickory's blanket is brown ;-).


Saint Tim built a hay wall to stop the wind and snow from blowing under the front barn doors. 


Maisie topped off her tank with some extra horse hay scraps. 


We added some extra plastic sheeting and turned the Adventure Chicken's lamp on.


"Thanks, lady!"


Eli and Claire Bear took advantage of the warm afternoon out of the wind to nap out on the chairs.  They'll move (back) into the heated condo as the temperature falls.  Comby's already reserving his spot ;-).  Iris and Tilly have beds in the kitchen and Betsy's taken over a counter there as well.

       *     *     *     *     *     *




When I went out to do the evening chores, this is where I found Hank :-). 


Maisie was in the little stall with him.  When she first moved out to the barn, she had a pen similar to Elizabeth's in the big stall.  She slept there every night and I assumed that's where she'd always sleep.  When she buddied up with Hank, she moved into his stall.  She is a polite room mate and he doesn't seem to mind. 

And Elizabeth?  She walked right into her pen like she remembered how (after a couple days of yelling at me about it) she ended up liking the heated pen last winter so I was hopeful this would be a peaceful transition.  Yeah, right ;-).




That's Emily in the YouTube preview picture.  She's feeling much better :-). Jester's standing behind her, Beanie Baby is in the doorway, that's messy Boudreaux's backside (why is he always the only sheep covered in hay?), Blossom's (Baba) chubby cheeked white face and Annabelly and Ford watching from behind.

I think we're all set.  I put out extra hay for everyone and will head back out before bed to turn Elizabeth's lamp on (it's still fairly warm) and make a final barn check.  I'm sure I'll get talked into a midnight snack ;-).

Hoping everyone is able to stay warm!


26 comments:

Michelle said...

You have been very busy but it looks very warm and cozy for the animals. Be warm and safe.

Willow said...

Oh my goodness that looks SO COZY !
All my animals are asking to move to your farm .
I just posted more snow photos if you want to see what might be on the way ! lol

Deb W said...

"Good flesh," .....that's one word for it! :-)

Lori Skoog said...

Join the club with that nasty weather. You and Saint Tim have done a great job preparing for the cold . We expect windchill of -30 by Tuesday night. What an outrageous winter. Love Maisie and Hank bunking together. Great shot of him in the straw...you are a very thoughtful mom.

small farm girl said...

I'm glad the sheep are doing well. We have also been getting ready. Can't wait until it's over.......

Tombstone Livestock said...

looks like you are ready for whatever Mother Nature throws at you. I spent today picking hay and chaff out of fleeces. How do you keep all that straw out of your fleeces. Hank looks ready to hibernate.

Stay warm.

Unknown said...

You animals so so lucky to have you and St. Tim to take care of them. This is such a wonderful post; one of my favorites:-).

We are expected to go down 2-5 degrees Fahrenheit tomorrow night. I covered my beehives with 2-inch thick styrofoam panels and added a very loose tarp over the top of the hives in order to prevent the freezing rain from encasing the hives in a sheet of ice.

Such low temps are very unusual for our area. We are expected to go up to 54 degrees by Sunday.

Unknown said...

Correction:
we are supposed to go down TO 2-5 degrees Fahrenheit:-) (It is 30 degrees right now.....)

LannieK said...

Oh, burrr! Stay warm! Sounds like everyone will be snug in their beds :-) 10pm here is -12 and dropping. Dang, can't begin to think about Stock Show weather (late Jan) It's always the beginning of the cold weather here.

Sandra said...

Hey, it is my first visti to your blog and I can only say I am so looking forward to reading your posts :)

Susan said...

Looks like you did an excellent job battening down the hatches. Also looks like the sheepies are getting the message, Mother knows BEST!

Jan baby said...

It's in weather like this one can tell who really loves their animals (like you). City boy loves me (his animal) because I've been forbidden to leave the house because the wind chill is -40. He just left for work. Being laid off has its advantages. . . . ..

Michelle said...

Obviously you take the best of care with your animals. I adore that sassy expression on the chicken's face!

Anonymous said...

Winter barns are one of my favorite places to be. Very peaceful. Hope you all stay warm. We've warmed up to -12 F (it hit at least -25 F last night) but we are calm unlike they predicted. We were supposed to get wind. Knock on wood, the wind hasn't hit us so far. Looks like a good day to sit by the fire and spin. :)

Jean said...

Love the sheep all warm and cozy. In SE MN it is -18 and feels like -40 with wind chill. Didn't get hit with the snow that Celi did but did get the cold and wind.

Bummer about the Packer game --

suz said...

I love your family
you take such good care of them all
love the tinkling bells
thanks for the video
It's -13 here with a -40 wind chill
ouch...and my kids are visiting here from Laguna Beach California..hee hee on them

Alice said...

We could all use a fleece coat in this weather. I'm jealous !

Jenny Glen said...

You've done all the same things we do and we get cold like that all the time. Everyone will be good!

Maureen said...

What good parents you are ;)

Everything looks so cosy...

Just be glad you don't live up here - Winnipeg was actually colder than Mars... we've hit minus 50 C a few times already with a huge dumping of snow.

Ridiculous!

The only critter I take care of when we get this bad are the bunnies and birds in the yard; alfalfa and bird seed every other day for them.

farmlady said...

Looks like you've done everything you can to keep the critters safe and warm enough. Hang in and buckle down.

Unknown said...

I just took another (probably not my last:-) look at the video. The sheepies are so adorable!

Pam said...

Good flesh-baaahaahaa!! maybe I'll put THAT on my next driver's license...

Far Side of Fifty said...

You are so kind to your animals! They looks all snug and warm:)

Anonymous said...

I read an interesting article on (not) coating horses that a friend linked to Facebook. Not that I have a horse currently, mind you.

Your animals all look so cozy! When we were in the deep freeze a couple of weeks ago mine mostly wanted wind breaks and extra food. Even the whiny goats didn't seem too put out by the nasty weather. I was really glad when we returned to normal (40 in the day, 20 or so at night). I'm really looking forward to spring!

Ed said...

Looks like everyone is set for the big chill, stay warm. Great shots..:-)

Tiggeriffic said...

I wish everyone cared about their animals in the winter time like you do.. It's so cold here in Iowa and we have plenty of snow.. I see dogs chained outside with a dinky dog house with no straw or anything to protect them. Yikes~!
Love all your pictures..~! I was so happy to be able to hang up my new 2014 calendar.. I put 2013 in with all my other calendars... and frame the ones I really like to hang in my kitchen..
have a blessed day~! Stay warm and keep up the good work in keeping all your animals warm...
ta ta for now from freezing Iowa:)

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