We’re just coming out of our second spat with very freaking cold temperatures. And by that I mean nowhere near the polar vortex that some of you experienced. I couldn’t survive those temperatures…I honestly think I would die. That is one reason I’ve stayed here, in the Pacific NW, where we think it’s the apocalypse if the temps drop below 20. Last month, it dropped down to 12 degrees. This month, I think the lowest was 15.
Each time, I get a ton of questions from folks asking how the chickens/quail are surviving…so here’s the answer: The chickens (being sun-worshipers at heart) don’t like freezing temps – but only because it makes it more difficult to forage for bugs. Frozen ground = no bugs. Otherwise, they couldn’t care less. I don’t heat my coop in any way, and when I check on them at night they are puffed up and cozy (even their combs are very warm to the touch!) In the morning, they are lined up and whining to be let out into the yard, and all day long they are running around like normal. To look at them, I’d have no clue it’s so cold!
And how are the quail coping? The quail are so indifferent to the cold that they won’t even bother sleeping inside their nest boxes. They just settle down out in the run, then in the morning, they are revved up and ready to go. I picked Loki up and held him for a few minutes, and wow. The heat that was radiated through his feathers! He was like a little pocket warmer! They’ve obviously put on a nice plump layer of fat in preparation for this winter – something they wouldn’t have done, had I been heating their coop. God knows how to care for His critters. As long as they have shelter from wind, proper ventilation, water, and food, they need fear no freezing temperatures.
Me, though…I’m not so comfortable. I’ll be very, very glad to see this cold warm up. Until then, I’m starting some seeds inside and dreaming of Spring.
Out of Eden 