It was so hot, the chickens were laying hard boiled eggs! Ok, that’s not exactly true; however, the temperatures today were so much higher here than anticipated. We were looking at highs around 100 at last night’s forecast, but it is, right now, 108! So our plans have had to change a bit. It was in the mid 70’s when I left for work around 6:30 this morning, so I know it climbed really quickly. Keep reading for the updated plan.
It’s the time of year when everything is green! We love it when the hills look like emeralds. The down side to that is – ya gotta mow to keep the grass under control. Sue has started working on this a bit in the mornings after chores – either weed whacking or using the mower. Today she had to 
stop after a short time because it was just too hot to continue. We have to be very careful not to overheat when we’re working outside. The altitude makes it worse, I think. I’m glad she pays attention and stops when the weather is this bad- I worry. You’ve got to know the signs of heat sickness and be realistic with your expectations.
That goes for the animals too. I’m sad to report that we lost one of the RRb#2 chicks today, most likely due to the heat. We suspect it may have been the little chick we were concerned wouldn’t make it at all. He probably had a weaker constitution and couldn’t hold up in this weather. We are taking more precautions with the birds- we’re back to giving out frozen treats to everyone, making sure they have a pan of water to cool off in, adding ice to their water, etc. The ducks and geese fare just fine because they simply hang out in the pools, but the chickens have a more difficult time. Other than the one baby today, most everyone else seems to be handling the heat ok. We’ve decided to hold off on putting the chicks out in their tractor until we can see a marked decrease in the temperatures. We don’t want to bake them this early in the game. So, if it cools down like it says it’s going to, we could put them out tomorrow night, or Friday morning. We’ll play it by ear and do what’s best for the little guys.
Tomorrow is one of the days I stay home to work on projects in the morning. We have been focusing on the orchard and are at the point where we need to get each tree site prepped. This entails moving rocks and dirt and other physically demanding labor- so we might not be doing that in the heat tomorrow. Instead we may be going to the next 1 day project on the list which is moving the fence for the coop. We want to reposition it down the hill a bit, closer to the house, to give the oldies some new land and grasses to munch. Then we’ll seed the old patch and let that grow in well. It shouldn’t take us too terribly long to move it, and hopefully the ground will still be soft enough that we can put the stakes in by hand. Then, if the temperatures do what they’re supposed to- we can continue with the orchard on Friday. I think it’s a good plan!
That’s the heat story for today. I must apologize for the lack of formatting here- I left my laptop at work, so I’m using my phone for this post. Could be worse I guess! We promise to fill you in Friday, on the outcome of the amended plan. Until then, as always ~
Thanks for reading!
Today’s Weather: we’ll cover I think. Tomorrow’s high is being forecast at 97 with an overnight low tonight of 71. Just now, we have a 30% chance of rain by 5 pm (in 15 minutes from now). The sky is getting darker and I feel the weather system moving in!
Egg Report: we have you through Tuesday last night, so here are today’s numbers – zero goose, 2 duck, 23 chicken. Not bad for a hot day.
Wing and a Prayer 