Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Arctic Express

When the mercury drops to 20'F in Canada, they call it awesome ice fishing weather.  
Here, in the deep South, it causes nothing but headaches.  Plants, animals and plumbing are not designed for such shocks.

That's where the work starts.

Everybody gets bundled up.

He's not wearing a dress, he's just short-- leave him alone.

The horses don't really develop a full Winter coat when the temperatures fluctuate so wildly, so we blanket the seniors below 32'F and all below 25'F.  And below it has been.
Real Feel in the single digits.  Lovely running weather, I'd say!

Dax and I went to check on the plumbing at all the houses.  He wore Cole's old hat to keep his ear tips from freezing.

Even the wetland ponds were iced over!
Frozen tight.
Plumbing inside the barn office works, in the aisle... not so much.
We load the buckets in the wagon and take them over to the hot water faucet to give the horses hot water.

Yes, they are appreciative.  Working hard to avoid any colic cases caused by dehydration.

Yesterday, it didn't warm up enough to disrobe the horses until noon.  Angus wasn't wanting to part with his.  
We have a neighbor who keeps her horses blanketed throughout the day, it can get up to 60'F and the poor creatures are hiding under trees to find shade.  One day, she'll find herself in a parka, staked out in the middle of her pasture in the sun.  We'll see how she likes it then.  

7 whole nights of this before temps get close to 32'F again.

Welcome to arctic Alabama!

Even my chickens come in at night.

My 5 year old hens need all the help they can get.

The dogs don't even suspect we have hens in the house!