Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara logo

What on Earth?

What happened while we were sleeping?  We went into the coop on Christmas Eve . . everything was normal.  No one let us out on Christmas Day (and we weren’t happy about that!).   We were let out of the coop the day after Christmas and . . oh, my goodness . . everything was white!  This is what we see when we look out!  We’re scared!  We’re chickens!

I know chickens aren’t the smartest of God’s creatures.  Do you ever wonder what animals think?  I often wonder what the world looks like to Speck . . whose whole life is about 6″ off the ground.

Anyway, Vince decided to keep the chickens in the coop all day Christmas Day because it was so cold outside and we had the heater running in the coop.  I didn’t think it was a good idea keeping them inside all day but . . what do I know?  (Yes!  I do know the snow shovel should reside in the garage during the winter but we best not mention that ever again.)  Vince waited yesterday til it got a bit warmer and he used the leaf blower to blow the snow off the ramp to the chicken coop.  Then he had to use a hair dryer to heat the door because it was frozen shut.  Finally, he was ready to let the chickens out.  They came rushing onto the little porch, looked at all the white stuff and did exactly what I would have done . . turned around and went right back inside the coop.

One would walk out on the porch, looked around and go back inside.  In a minute, another one would come out and do the same thing.

Finally, a couple of them decided to brave the elements and walk out of the coop, down the snowy chicken stairs and into the snowy run.  Notice Ruby’s leading the way.  She’s just the best chicken!  One of those worthless Ameraucanas is almost as brave as Ruby.

Once they decided the snow was non-threatening, they loved it.  They scratched around . . had snow flying everywhere.  They stayed out in the run til normal bed time and went back into the coop as scheduled.

As cold as it is, the fresh snow is so beautiful.

But, this is what it looks like at my back door.  Thank goodness, we come into the garage and not directly into the house from the back door.

This little guy is the smartest of all though.

The minute Speck hears the heater come on, he races to the nearest vent and gets as close to it as he can.  Some of the vents he’s able to lay right on and some he just has to snuggle up against.  He loves to stay warm and snug.  Getting him out in this snow is requiring extra treats . . for me . . not him!  🙂

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Comments

  1. Aren’t chickens goofy?

    Mine haven’t been out of their coop for all the days of the blizzard, but the minute I go in to give them food and water, they RUN over to me to peck the snow off my boots.

    Silly animals!

  3. I’m glad you updated us on the chickens. I had been wondering about them. I lived in Michigan for 42 years — only miss the snow on Christmas Day. When I moved to Arizona, I left the snow showel, salt and snowblower in the shed. Do I miss it? NOOOOOO. Maybe you should knit Speck a little stocking cap?

  5. Aha! Now, I get a ‘drift’ of an idea of what our chickens might do if we get snow this year in Oregon! I wondered!

    And Julie says’maybe you could knit Speck a little stocking cap?’…I say, ‘What about the chickens?”

    Get knitting, woman…you do good work, show us your stuff 😉

  6. Speck’s a smart dog. He knows where the best place in the house is. And I think Vicki’s probably right about the shovel..he he he

  7. I love the pix and update on the chickens. They sure can surprise us. They need the fresh air and whatever sunshine they can get, I’m sure.
    Love your blog.

  9. Thanks for the chicken update…I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how they would react…good news on my fresh egg front…a local state cop has chickens and they started laying again, fresh eggs on the way for Kelly Ann…yeah!

  10. Chesty takes a lot of coaxing to get him out in this weather too and as soon as we turn on the fire he plops himself right in front of it.

    Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

  11. Judy, my dog does exactly the same thing with the heater vents in my house, she sniffs to see if they are on (she is deaf) then sits on top of one until she gets HOT then she will move off the vent and flop in the middle of the floor panting!

    I’ve put a photo on my blog… http://sundays-quilts.blogspot.com/

  12. Animals are wonderful, I wondered about the chickens and the snow, now I know. My dogs won’t go outside if it is raining, glad it does not snow where we live! Happy quilting.

  14. Thanks for the chicken update! I would have thought your girls wouldn’t like the cold nor blowing snow. My oldest cat loves to be outside. It was quite a shock to her to find her world covered in deep snow. She ran out onto the cleared stoop and came to an abrupt halt. She looked at me as if to say “Huh?! What happened?” There wasn’t much to see at 6″ off the ground.

  15. When I see your Speck I keep thinking “How did Judy get a picture of my Zoey??” LOL And she is the exact same way when it comes to heat. We sometimes have an electric heater going and she lays right in front, almost touching it and we can’t figure out how she can stand it!!!
    Love your chicken tales…..they must be so entertaining!!!

  16. I use a heating pad… If I get up for any reason – My cat will take up residence on the heating pad. Have you ever tried to remove a cat from a heating pad… It ain’t easy… Oh & if you just pick it up, the darn cat will lie on the warm spot that was previously under the heating pad.

  17. My dog does the opposite … she lays on top of the vents in the summer when the cool air is blowing. She’s a long-haired pound puppy and even though we keep her cut, she just can never get cool enough in the summer. We’ll walk into a room and wonder why it seems warmer … look over to make sure the vent isn’t covered up and sure enough, there’s Daisy laying on top of it. I think dogs must be pretty smart to figure this out!!