Safe and Sound

What a week.

We wound up with around 8 inches of snow on the ground, which I think is the most snow ever recorded in this area.

 

The low temperature last night got down to 11 or 12; the coldest since about 1895 if my sources are correct.  

I have lived in areas where we had snowy winters.  When I was in high school in Western North Carolina it got to the point the schools decided they had to go ahead and have school, but they knew where everyone lived, what the roads were like, who lived on a paved road, who lived on a dirt road, and whether or not the plows could get to them.  If I could not get out on my road, I called the office, spoke to whoever answered the phone, and the response was always, "Yeah, you don't need to try to get out on your road today.  We'll have assignments for you once it thaws".  Later I went to college in Bristol, Tennessee and those were some very snowy winters as well (but sledding on the golf course was worth the eye-lash freezing wind chills).

Thus looking outside the picture window and watching the snow accumulate is not completely foreign to me.  Then I shake myself and remember I am not THERE anymore, I am NowHere!  

We were concerned about the quail.  We always tell people how hardy quail are.  They are able to withstand a wide temperature variance of lows into the mid-teens and highs up to 100.  Their ability to survive the cold was not questioned.  In theory.  Yet as we were faced with this in practice and approached their lower limit we were concerned.  The biggest worry is their watering system; how do we keep it thawed?  Even though we had wrapped the outdoor enclosures in plastic, with temperatures down as low as 11 the water is going to freeze.  

We changed the watering system in the outdoor enclosures from a 3 gallon bucket with tubing going to the watering cups in the condos,

Not the best picture but they asked me to  please NOT remove the plastic!

or the 3 gallon bucket with watering cups drilled into the side,

to the more standard quart-sized plastic cups with a quail watering base.  

if a regular chicken base is used they will drown

Late last night we filled the cups with warm (not hot) water and took them out.  This morning early we were up and out to replace those with fresh ones.  We found that only one of them had frozen solid.  The others had some ice forming but the quail were still able to drink from them.  In the quail shed it did get below freezing but not as low as the outside.  There was ice in their cups but it was not frozen solid and we were able to pour a little warm water over them to quickly thaw them out.

Last night when I went out to the shed one of our breeder girls in the shed was injured (it happens more than I would like).  Usually I would move an injured bird into the "hospital" ~ a separate cage where she could be alone and recover without being picked on further.  It was a conundrum; if I left her in the cage with the others she was likely to continue to be picked on and die from her injuries but if I isolated her she was more likely to die from exposure not having the warmth of the others.  While some in the quail community would set up a hospital cage in the house, at this point we are not they; I chose to leave her in the cage in the shed with the others.  This morning she is alive and recovering.  Quail are hardy little beasts!  They are adept at finding creative ways to die but they also make remarkable recoveries.  (In retrospect, I could have put her in one of the brooders with a heat plate.  Since she did well, I'm not going to beat myself up about this but keep it in mind for next time).

Next week we will be rearranging our groups (again) and trying to hatch more eggs (again).  

In the meantime, I will be sitting in my chair with my heating pad drinking coffee or cocoa in between treks out to thaw waterers.

Stay warm, my friends!

Market Day is coming!  We will be at the Coastal Alabama Farmer's and Fishermens Market in Foley on Saturday January 25th.  Hope to see you there!