The Tsnownami and How I Almost Got Stuck in my Chicken House

This winter has had some snow and wind, resulting in a tsnownami of a snow drift covering my chicken house. It was over ten feet tall and a hundred feet in length. There was an area I could still dig my way in, but the drifts kept getting bigger. One day it was 10 degrees, snowing and blowing. There was over a foot of new snow on top of the hard drift, but I needed to take care of my chickens.


This was taken a day after Randy plowed out my drift. It drifted back in a bit over night, but I could shovel it out.

I knew I couldn't dig all the way through. I was sinking in past my knees with each step, so I ended up crawling to the top of the drift and carved steps down into the chicken house. I cleaned out in front of the door and squeezed myself in. I fed and watered, and collected one egg. The snow was collecting at the base of the door and it was even harder to squeeze my way out. Then I started to climb out, but I kept slipping. The steps were full of new snow and I couldn't get any traction. When I was standing inside the chicken house, the drift was over four feet tall and nearly vertical. I had left the shovel outside.


View from inside the chicken house looking out. Again, this is after plowing.

I finally just threw myself as high as I could onto the drift and started wallowing around until I got to the top. By then I am exhausted, and the drift was so difficult to climb up earlier, so I just decided to roll over and over to the bottom. I am relieved to have made it out of there, but then remembered I had an egg, in my pocket. Which somehow, miraculously, did not end up scrambled. I asked my husband that night to dig out the drift with the tractor, which he thankfully did the next day. I can't wait for this winter to end!