We have been treated to a Siberian Express for the last week or so, which means we have been lucky to have highs is the single digits. We are toasty enough with our ability to heat with wood (very important as the electricity went out recently), but caring for our birds has become challenging. We are happy we have both a chicken coop and a Duck Mansion.

Keeping the birds out of the wind allows their feathers to keep them warm. Even with 14° below overnight, they maintained coop temperature at about 20° above. Strength in numbers!

The ducks get to looking pretty bedraggled when they don't have access to open water. We usually have a tub outside for them, but the hard cold can freeze their feet and maim them.

The Duck Mansion maintains its heat about as well as the coop, which means our birds won't freeze, but their water buckets do. In normal cold weather, Michael breaks the skin of ice in the mornings and fills the buckets with warm water. In really cold weather, this doesn't work as well due to the fact that the water nipples freeze and don't thaw well. To cure this, Michael made extra water buckets.

After drilling holes, the nipples are glued in place with Shoe Goop, or its moral equivalence, which can take the flexibility of the plastic, is water tight, and isn't poisonous to the birds.

This way, we bring in one set of buckets to thaw overnight and start ice-free in the mornings. More hot water in the afternoon keeps the birds with access to unfrozen water during waking hours.

We have noticed a decrease in egg production during the very cold weather, but it may also be linked to the fact that we are down to about 8 hours of natural light...and less on cloudy days.

Michael does the majority of bird care in the winter, although I do run half of the morning bucket brigade. It keeps the floors from getting too covered in snow,

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. It took 20 years of living in northern climes before having the ground turn white didn't come as a shock. Cold weather requires planning and preparation, for ourselves as well as our livestock. Here's to keeping warm and drinking water!