News from the homestead: Christmas wishes and near misses
Looking out my office window over the snowy expanse of Wittbrich Acre’s front yard, it’s hard for me to believe this is our second Christmas holiday here. Last year at this time there was no snow and the temperatures were mild for winter in Wisconsin. We were still trying to get organized (that effort continues!) and finding out exactly which light switches controlled which lights. And just like that, in a flash, it’s once again time to celebrate this joyful season filled with gratitude and anticipation of all the adventures the new year will bring.
Last Christmas, I painstakingly placed outdoor decorations that proved to be way too flimsy for the wind gusts that swept across our land. I remember taking their broken bits out of the ground and planning for much sturdier constructions for the 2025 season. Well, the 2025 season is here and I didn’t get to place my planned, more solid decorations before the early snow fall and frigid temperatures set in the day after Thanksgiving. Maybe the universe is trying to tell me that outdoor decorations at Wittbrich Acres are just not in the cards. At least I got a few spot lights set up and the chicken run sports a little holiday flair–because, after all, chickens should be allowed to celebrate the season too! The inside of our home is aglow with the holidays and I’m so happy to finally have a special place to display Mike’s 65+ year old nativity set that once graced his grandmother’s holiday hearth.
Early Winter snows, hot wires, and a narrow escape
While it’s toasty and festive inside, my poor chickens are relegated to being cooped up a lot earlier than they were last year. They didn’t have to resign themselves to living primarily beak to butt last year until the January cold snap. Quicker melting snow falls allowed them to wander in their run outdoors for a good portion of the winter months. This year, however, they’ve been coop-bound for weeks already and I try to provide distractions and enrichment for them so they don’t get overly shack whacky.
With the early arrival of cold temps, our coop heaters had to be turned on earlier this year. We have two heaters that resemble computer monitors and hang on the wall in the coop around which the hens take turns huddling. I’m not sure what kind of negotiations go on among them but they seem to figure out how to divvy up time in front of the heaters. So far egg production is remaining steady even with reduced daylight and having to be stuck in close quarters with 30 friends all day and all night.
Making flock bread and spices to help with chicken health and enrichment while they’re cooped up. A burned socket and timer could have spelled disaster in the coop!
One day I was going about my coop duties, and I smelled something other than the normal odors I’ve grown so very accustomed to. My sensitive olfactory detected the smell of burning plastic, which I recognize from many hours spent at my crafting table. I then heard a bit of a crackling sound that was definitely not on the same pitch or tone as my girls’ clucking. A quick scan around the coop and I discovered a plastic timer in an outlet that didn’t look quite right. Removing it, I found the entire back of it burned and melted and the wall outlet equally burned. All I can say is it was fortunate I found it when I did and have to place that incident in the “near miss” column of my chicken journal. Of course, son Jason came to replace the breaker, outlet, wires, timer and otherwise ensure the safety of my flock, that I believe he’s getting quite attached to as well (even if he denies it!).
Clustered against the cold
It’s been too cold to check on my beehives other than to make sure the insulated wraps remain securely in place. Taking off the top cover to do a quick and minimal hive inspection needs to wait until the outside temp is at least above freezing. Like chickens, bees don’t like the cold.
They form a tight cluster deep in the hive to maintain an in-center temperature of about 90-degrees. If it gets too warm, the cluster loosens up a little to allow it to cool down. It’s an amazing feat and their survival is highly dependent on how well they can regulate the hive temperature to keep the queen laying new brood and allow the inhabitants able to move to food sources elsewhere within the hive.
They need to eat a lot to maintain that temperature since the heat comes primarily from them using their flight muscles to vibrate their bodies. They burn a lot of calories from shivering and shimmying in and around the cluster. I’ve installed sugar boards above the honey frames and as the bees eat through their approximately 60 pounds of reserved honey I left in each of my three hives, the cluster slowly works its way up toward the supplemental sugar source. That is, IF they can survive the myriad other forces that conspire against their survival. Honey bee colonies have a less than 50% chance of making it to see the spring season.
To help them weather the weather, I installed a wind blocking wall of straw bales about 10 feet away from the hives. The wind block has to be close enough to hopefully redirect at least some of the arctic blasts yet far enough away to keep mice from “discovering” a nearby hive that could provide even warmer shelter than a snow-covered bale of straw.
For now, I leave them to their own brilliant devices and hope they have enough stamina to make it through. If we get a 35-40-degree day, I’ll do a quick inspection to check for signs of life and generally make sure they have what they need to keep up the fight. It’s heartbreaking to find a failed hive and last year both my hives succumbed to the elements. I can only hope my little honey girls this year can go the distance and hang on through what already feels like a long and brutal winter.
Holiday wishes from our frosty abode
The holidays are in full swing here at the Acres and from our home to all of yours, we wish you a happy, blessed, and wonderous Christmas filled with gifts of love, laughter, and family to warm your own hive.
As 2025 comes to its close, I want to thank you all for following along and, of course, for your support in so many forms. Many of you have commented on how much I’ve learned over the last year. I agree, and know there’s still so much more to learn waiting for me in 2026 and I joyfully welcome every kernel of new found knowledge and skill.
May peace, harmony, and gratitude guide you through the holiday season!
