Froze to Death and Thank You

 

First of all I want to say thank you to all of you wonderful folks who were so generous and made donations to Walkin N Circles Ranch Horse Rescue through yesterday’s post. Everyone at WNCR is so thankful for your kindness and the assistance and generosity of the local volunteers who jumped in to help. Because of everyone’s help, the horses now have fresh water and the water pump and pipes are getting repaired, probably as I type.

Of course, WNCR can still use any donations you‘re able to offer just in case of any other emergencies that arise as well as to feed and care for all the horses and one donkey throughout the year. So if you are planning on shopping on Amazon. com, please consider going through the WNCR link on their website, so a portion of the cost of your order can be sent directly to the horse rescue.

Thanks again!

 

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This really has been the coldest storm we’ve ever had here. We’re used to snow and those who live up here above 7,000ft expect it and actually enjoy it. But it usually melts in a day or two, and we rarely ever get temperatures below zero, and certainly not double digits below zero!

My llamas and goats are staying inside the barn even though they can wander out into their paddock whenever they want. Apache looks like she’s walking on high heel shoes with the thick snow balls on her hooves. She comes to me asking me to remove them every time I’m up at the barn. Zuni our GSD usually loves to play in the snow, but even she is finding a bare spot in her paddock to keep her feet from freezing.

And poor Dobbie, who never likes to leave my side and is always eager to head up the hill to the barn with me is unable to because the two times she’s tried, the snow on her paws has been so painful that she cowers and cries in pain. It’s as if the snow is holding the –27F degree temps within. So, she stays inside and only ventures as far as the back patio to do her business.

The chickens are also refusing to come outside of their house, even with the layer of straw I laid out for them. Today I saw Mr. Cotton our Japanese Silky rooster outside trying to enjoy the sunshine, but having to take turns standing on one leg, to keep one foot from becoming too cold. He gave up not long afterwards and went back inside.

Speaking of chickens………….

 

I’ve got something very sad to share.

 

Not all of our animals survived our arctic blast of 27F degrees below zero here in Central New Mexico. We lost one of our precious chickens, a little black hen, named Ebony.

This was Ebony last winter.

What is is even more sad about her loss is that she was born here in our very first clutch of hatched eggs. Her Daddy was the infamous, bad boy Sid Vicious.

That’s Sid, with Ebony in front, and her sibling roo beside her, last winter.

She was a very sweet little hen and gave us the cutest little white eggs, perfect for making snack-sized hard- boiled eggs.

I found her yesterday morning tucked inside one of the nest boxes. Sometime around 2:30 in the morning I had woke up to let Dobbie outside and something told me to peek out at the chicken coop. When I did I noticed that the chicken house was dark and the heater bulb must have burned out. I rushed out there and noticed that the walls were coated in ice crystals. I replaced the burnt out heater bulb with a new bulb, but I guess it was just too late for Ebony.

This photo is from last summer.

She succumbed to the cold and froze to death.

We’ll miss you, our pretty, little black hen.