The chilling calm
Jan 25, 2007
I was surprised to see a further covering of snow this morning which slowly melted through the day as the sun broke through and warmed the air.
It means a fantastic sunset this evening and the murky sky has yielded to a clear blue portrait but is means an extremely cold night to come. -4 to -5 is forecast so tomorrow will not be pleasant outside.
All outside water has been turned off and insulation checked.
I have also got my concerns about Charlie (drake). You will remember, the first Charlie succumbed to what we think was 'Wet Feather' in the last cold snap and froze to death because he was unable to distribute oil around his feathers.
The new Charlie seemed to be showing the same signs. The Ducks are plump with fluffy full feathers whereas Charlie looks like his feathers are wet and parting.
Yesterday I caught him during the evening feed and put him a holding cage with a towel over the top.
This afternoon I moved him into the kitchen close to the Godin stove to be sure he could dry off properly.
This afternoon I made a holding cage and transferred him into that and I will keep him there until the weather warms up. I have also caught one of the Ducks to that they can keep each other warm overnight and also stop him pining (if Ducks do that?)
It is strannge that both the Drakes have suffered the same way and I am convinced that because they were kept in an environment without a pond before and locked in a large shed at night they were all very warm and insulated and did not have the need to produce oil.
Hopefully Charlie can adapt through the year and start to produce the oil. I am feeding Maize twice a day for the extra winter fat they need and the Ducks seem to be happy as Larry at night on the pond regardless of the temperature.
Edit: Since I posted this I noticed that Mr Meteo says the temperature could get down to minus 10.
The screenshot shows us at -4 but a little further north east it shows the lower temperature with even minus twelve towards the centre of France.
I wandered outside yesterday to fix some wood in the dormer and my hands froze to the tools.