Our Christmas card to you, 2009

Wishing all the best to all of you out there for 2010! Love, peace and happy hens to all.

Freeze proof chicken waterer

Today's post might be useful to other chicken keepers in cold winter climates. I've been pondering how to keep the hens water from freezing overnight. Some people use an outdoor heated dog dish with the waterer placed inside but that's quite costly with shipping to Canada.

I made this contraption with some leftover floor tiles and I think it will work splendidly. My friend with the right drills cut a hole in one of the side pieces, a snug fit for a trouble light fixture. Then I cemented the pieces together with mortar, holding them in place while they set with a picture frame clamp. So the bottom and sides are one unit. Then another whole tile sits on top and the waterer on top of that.

Here's Fancy , the rooster checking it out. ...goooo fancy....go towards the light...!

The finished product. Theres quite a bit of heat coming through the top tile and I'm using a 40 watt bulb. I'm thinking a 25 watt might do. I'll only need this on the coldest nights anyway. The chicken house is very well insulated and in the daytime if its sunny out, they get lots of warmth with the window open from the  adjoining greenhouse. Speaking of which, we are still enjoying salads daily from the bounty in there. So far, just covering the greens at night with 4 layers of polyetheline and 2 quilts has kept everything going and growing.

Yum!

Just ducky

Another in the acrylic bird series. This compact little guy is a Ruddy Duck painted on a 6x8 canvas board.

In winter, Ruddy Ducks inhabit shallow, protected, saltwater bays and estuaries along the coast or ice-free, inland lakes and ponds. Breeding habitat is freshwater marshes and ponds with marshy borders mixed with open water.
Ruddy Ducks are often found in tight flocks. They forage by diving under water and straining mud through their bills to find food. Like many small-winged ducks, Ruddy Ducks must get a running start across the water to become airborne. I've only seen them in photos but I think they're just  downright cute.

Readying for Christmas

This time of year Jim and I are tossing about ideas for the homemade Christmas card. This year's creation is still in the fine tuning stages, it's always fun and each year we tend to either collaborate or take turns as the inspiration strikes. This one with our mini stallion Prince Charming was the card of several years back. At the time there was constant controversy about stifling political correctness stealing our Chrismas traditions, and with the majority of the letters to the editor steaming with indignation, we thought it would be topical  and fun to compose a poem on the inside of the card to add our own protest to the mix. It was our most popular card ever judging by the feedback, but try as we might, we can't find a surviving copy anywhere. And because we're old and forgetful neither of us today can remember a single line of that inspired Christmas  rhyme. Merry Christmas everyone! Happy Hannukah, happy wintertime, happy Everything! Let the public squares be resplendent in Christmas trees, manger scenes and menorahs. Just let everyone be happy.