A Day of Unexpected Plumbing, Avian Loss, and Frozen Water Woes on the Farm
The morning's intended rhythm of farm chores was immediately disrupted by an indoor crisis. "I'm supposed to be starting my farm chores right now, but I have a problem: my dishwasher line is clogging, and that means my dishwasher can't drain, and so I've got to fix this before I can do farm chores." The speaker, armed with an unconventional tool – a flexible camera snake – embarked on a plumbing investigation. "This is probably not the conventional tool, but I have one of these handy, and so might try to see if this will help me solve the problem." The plan was to send the camera into the drain tube to locate the obstruction. Success was swift. "I think I found the clog. Oh, there it goes! Now it's draining!" The speaker offered a succinct summary of farm life's unpredictable nature. "Yeah, sometimes Farm Life be like this."
With the indoor plumbing issue resolved, the focus shifted back to the farm. "All right, and we're back now to our regularly scheduled farm video." The speaker felt it important to portray the less idyllic realities of farm life. "I just felt compelled to turn the camera out there because I feel like sometimes I I give like a misleading picture of what farm life's like, and so yeah, sometimes things like home repairs force you to have to turn your attention away from all of this and go back inside and deal with something."
Greetings were extended to the canine companions. "Well, good morning, Mr. Toby dog! Good to see you, buddy! Hi! Hi! How are you doing, pal? Good to see you! Hey Abby dog, how's it going, sweetheart? You sleeping, getting a little nap in there? Good girl!" The birds awaited their morning salutation. "All right, you guys ready to go greet your birds? Let's do this! Morning Birds!" The hoop coop offered a welcome respite from the outside chill. "You know, each morning it's really nice to come into the hoop cop because it's like, I don't know, 10 or 11° Fahrenheit outside, but I just checked, and it's uh 32° Fahrenheit inside, so like just on the line of freezer." Comfort was promised for Abby with the addition of straw. "I know, Abby dog, it's so nice in here, and we'll add straw in a little bit, and it'll make it even nicer." The birds were released. "Release the quacken! Come on everybody, let's go! Let's go! Come on out we go! Come on, come on!" A greeting was offered to Ron Swanson the goose. "Water? How's it going this morning, Ron Swanson?"
A moment of clumsiness ensued. "Whoa! It's okay, Abby! It's okay! I'm okay, you're okay, it's okay!" The speaker had slipped on the icy bird area. "So I just slipped on the ice, and Abby got spooked. I'm not wearing my crampons this morning cuz it's snowing, and sometimes when it's really snowy, it's actually better to not wear your crampons, but I just hit the skating rink that is the bird area, and so I went flying." Apologies were offered to the startled birds. Bean, the blind duck, was seen getting water. A worsening leak in the water hose was noted, necessitating a future repair. "Looks like my hose is ruptured a little bit. It started out as a tiny leak the other day, but it keeps getting bigger and bigger. I think I'm going to have to make a new leader hose to connect this thing from there. So I guess you guys could say that I'll be leader hosen. Yeah, I'll see myself out. Thank you very much."
A more somber discovery followed. "All right, that's not good. A son of a gun. I was really worried about this one. Yeah, we have ourselves a dead chicken." The speaker, visibly affected, tried to explain the situation. "Sorry as I just try to compose myself to explain what's going on here. So yeah, I have a chicken that just died." The timing of the death was uncertain, but it occurred after the previous night's lock-up. The deceased chicken had been a recent concern. "So that chicken has been kind of a mystery for me for the last few days." The speaker recounted finding the bird alone in the pasture a few days prior, cold and with seemingly frozen feet. A distraction occurred as geese engaged in mating season squabbles. "Bird fight! This is typically Behavior you see during Goose Mating Season. The ganders get a little bit of aggressive, and they start jockeying for various breeding Partners. So that's actually what's going on there."
Returning to the chicken, the speaker explained the dilemma of warming up a severely cold bird and the potential shock of a rapid temperature change. The chicken had been quarantined in the hatchery for two days, showing signs of recovery, including eating. "I actually kept it in the hatchery in the new barn for about 2 days just in quarantine, and so maybe it was sick and that's why it isolated itself, but it really seemed to be turning a corner. I mean, I was able to bring it outside, it was eating." Despite not appearing completely well, the absence of respiratory or other contagious symptoms led to the decision to reintegrate her with the flock the previous morning. "So actually yesterday morning, I decided even though chicken didn't look great, it seemed like it was recovering, and it didn't have anything that seemed like it was like a respiratory illness or some sort of other illness it could have transferred to the other birds, and my assumption is that a bird will always do better surrounded by other birds than if it's completely isolated, and so I brought her back in here." Sadly, she had not survived the night. "It looked like she went into the coupe at night when I did lock up because yeah, like I don't know, I guess it was about 5:00 when I did lock up, but sadly she didn't make it, and so she marks the first bird death of 2025." The speaker expressed sadness at the loss of a coaching hen of several years.
Addressing potential concerns about bird flu, the speaker outlined their cautious approach. "And I know that there's probably going to be some folks out there asking about bird flu, and so what I'm actually going to do is I'll probably save her carcass for a few days. It's not going to get above freezing for a while, so I can effectively keep her protected on Ice." The speaker deemed bird flu unlikely given the isolated nature of the death and the lack of symptoms in the other birds. However, a watchful stance would be maintained. General advice on managing bird deaths and when to contact agricultural authorities regarding potential bird flu was provided.
The somber mood shifted slightly with the introduction of a favorite canine activity. "All right, all right, Abby dog, come with me! It's time for your favorite game: spread the straw!" The rules of this simple game were explained, with Abby taking on the role of straw distributor. "Now the rules of this game are quite simple: I will cut loose this bail of straw, and Abby is going to spread it and potentially build an Abby Nest." The chickens were encouraged to step aside. "All right, step aside chickens, this is aby's job!" Abby's enthusiasm for this particular chore was evident, even if her execution was sometimes lacking. "I know, Abby, you're not great at a lot of farm chores, but this is one that you're outstanding at. Abby dog, it looks like you've done an incomplete job here. Back to work, come on!" Distractions from passersby temporarily diverted Abby's attention. The chickens were expected to assist with the straw distribution.
Next, the focus turned to the cattle. "All right, now it is time to get the water pumping for the cattle. I'm also going to have to feed the cattle hay today. Good morning boys! I'll take care of you after I do the cow chores." The cattle's impatience was noted. A new problem arose: the water pump was not working. "Oh no, it does not look like my water is running this morning! Oh no, I'm was worried about this. I think it froze overnight." The speaker suspected a frozen hose, a recurring winter issue. "If I don't make sure that every last drop of water is out of this hose before night time or even during the daytime when it's really cold, it runs the risk of freezing." Attempts to thaw the line were necessary. "I'll probably have to get up on that ladder and start thawing it. Usually seems to freeze like right up there in that spot." The sound of water flow was used to pinpoint the blockage. "Let's start listening to see where the water is running. I hate this so much." The location of the freeze was identified, but a further complication arose. "All right, we got water running through here, so that means yeah, I was right, my problem is up there. Seems like the water's getting up to there, so I think the problem is actually up over here. Oh no! Oh no! Oh shoot!" The hose had ruptured. "Well, it looks like I just ruptured the line. I'm going to go shut that water off right now. There was so much pressure from the water and the ice, and it seems like it was right up at that spot as soon as it released up, and the plastic was a little bit too soft for me heating it, it ruptured and exploded." A repair attempt was deemed necessary. "So now I think my best bet is to actually cut this and try to replace it, and like I can basically create a connection right up there, but this is not what I wanted to be doing this morning at all."
A brief respite was taken to observe the goats. "I feel like before I try to replace that pipe connection, I should just chill out and watch some goats eat for a minute cuz this is much more soothing and it lowers your stress level versus dealing with water lines, which particularly for up here in the dead of winter is not a soothing activity whatsoever." The speaker humorously pondered the physics of preventing future freezing. An amusing observation about Abby's unusual sleeping posture provided a lighter moment.
The decision not to simply patch the ruptured hose but to attempt a full replacement was explained by the likelihood of the rest of the line being frozen solid. "Now some of you guys watching this might be wondering why I actually didn't just make like a little patch and I replaced the entire line, and the answer is I I'm pretty sure that a lot of this tube is frozen, and so it was going to be really hard to try to replace it." The frozen state of the hose was confirmed. Despite this, the speaker intended to leave it in place as a backup for future use after thawing on a warmer day. Lessons learned regarding a potential dual-line watering system for the following year were shared.
Water was finally provided to the cattle. "Now let's try to get the water flowing. Good morning girls! I know I'm a little Tardy on water this morning, and yeah, I figured you drink all your water overnight." The journey to check the water flow at the trough was filled with anticipation, which was quickly dashed. "Oh, why is it not working? I think that means that this hose somewhere somehow is a little bit Frozen. I'm going to have to find the freeze here too." A broken seal on the hose was identified as the likely culprit, preventing proper suction and drainage, leading to the freezing. A temporary solution of letting the hose leak was implemented, with a promise to repair or replace it soon. The slow trickle of water was expected to eventually thaw the line.
The speaker reflected on the unpredictable nature of farm life and the constant need to address challenges. A meme about farmers not getting snow days was referenced, with the speaker admitting a personal aversion to such posts, despite their own extensive documentation of the morning's farm-related woes. The immediate need to feed the hungry cattle hay before seeking indoor warmth was the final task.