Cold snap

Well, we knew we couldn't put it off forever. Winter finally caught up to us in north Idaho. As I write this, the temperature is five degrees below zero.

We still don't have much snow -- only a couple of inches -- but at this rate, it's not going anywhere for a while.

As always when it gets this cold, it's clear as a bell and absolutely beautiful. The rising sun glows through the trees....

...and casts infinite shadows across the fields.

We knew the cold snap was moving in, of course, so I made sure the chicken coop was clean and heaped with soft hay.

Many of the chickens hang around in the barn during the day.

Often, they'll tuck one foot at a time into their feathers to keep warm.

But of course, to get to the barn, they have to cross snow -- chilly on their poor tootsies!

Cold snaps are not times to stint on food. Usually I just feed the chickens in the evening, but this morning I filled their feeder again.

Thank God for a heated waterer as well.

(We also have a stock tank heater which keeps the cow water ice-free.)

I'm feeding the cows extra well, too. Digestion is a significant factor in keeping livestock warm in cold weather. Later today they'll also activate their solar panels, as I call it, and will spent much time standing broadside to the sun, absorbing the warmth.

So it's hunker-down time until the cold snap passes. C'est la vie.