First shortened days and now falling snow. It looks as though winter has arrived and is quite possibly here to stay! While we cozy up inside, the ladies are having to quickly acclimate to the changing temps and changing precipitation. They were very uncertain about the cold white stuff they found outside (and inside) their run on Monday morn. Since then, most of them have ventured out into. Henrietta (the yellow one) and the twins, Chicken and Pollo, now seem unfazed by the snow. Trudy, the lacy white and black one, is getting a bit more used to it. While Birdie has been choosing to stay as close to the coup as possible.

Many people have asked us what we'll do with the chickens in the winter. The answer is, we'll do pretty much the same as we do in the warmer weather. All five of our birds are cold weather breeds, meaning that they are animals that can handle being outside in a Minnesota winter. Their coop is well insulated and when they are all in there, their body heat heats it up as well and the insulation keeps that warmth in the coop until morning. Dan is planning to put plastic around the outer side of their run, which will protect them from the wind and help keep the snow out. We also bought a heater for their waterer, to help keep it thawed through the winter. Other than that, we aren't really doing anything differently for them.

Their egg production has started decreasing a bit this week, probably due to both the cold and the short days. They still seem to be happy birds, though, except Birdie. She's does not seem to be enjoying the cold. We're hoping she's ok. I think I'm gonna need to give her a little extra love and attention over the next few days to make sure she's ok and not sick or egg bound.

Overall, all is well at the Rodriguez urban homestead--snow and all! Now, if only Dan Rodriguez would bring us home some fresh venison, we'd be set for winter!