Before we went to bed last night, we prepared for the coming blizzard. We were under a blizzard warning and projected to get 6-12 inches of snow, so we didn't want to take any chances. Better safe than sorry, right?
First order of business was making sure the animals were protected from the wind and snow. We decided to put Duchess inside an enclosure under the carport with most of the guineas. She doesn't like to be cooped up, but with 45 mph winds and lots of snow, I didn't want her out in the open. I put lots of fresh pine shavings in the chicken coop and gave them extra food and water since I figured they may not venture out much the following day. I put the outside cat's house under the back porch where the snow and wind wouldn't get to it and left plenty of food.
Then I began to focus on the human needs. If our power goes out, we don't have access to water since we get our water from a well, so at my mom's suggestion, we put several buckets of water in the garage for the animals the following day just in case. Then my dad advised us to fill up the bathtub with water for flushing the toilet if need be. We stored several pitchers of water for us to drink and decided to call it a night.
Luckily our power didn't go out and we didn't end up getting a foot of snow. But when we went outside this morning to check on the animals, we learned that in spots the snow drifts were pretty deep.
I mentioned that most of the guineas went under the carport for the night. The first flock we hatched this summer (ones we call the "teens") decided to brave the storm outside on top of the fence for the chicken run where they normally spend the night. I tried everything to get them to take shelter, but it's pretty much impossible to catch guineas who don't want to be caught.
We knew guineas were really hardy birds after finding our flock last year covered in ice one morning and they were just fine, but David was concerned the teens may not make it overnight because of the strong winds. Apparently the teens are just as hardy as their parents because they were all alive this morning!
Once we let Duchess out, she seemed to enjoy running around in the snow and wasn't bothered by the wind at all.
As of right now, the chickens are still in the coop. I saw a couple of the younger ones who have never seen snow before looking out the pop door wondering what was going on. They turned around and went right back inside! Our chickens don't care for the snow too much and really hate the wind, so today isn't their favorite day.
Did you get hit by the blizzard in your neck of the woods?
