Frigid weekend temperatures in N.S. led some feathered friends to flock indoors

Some chickens and ducks were nesting in warm houses instead of cold coops as temperatures plummeted in Nova Scotia over the weekend.

With the wind chill, it felt like -42 in some parts of the province.

Hannah Butler from the Annapolis Valley laid some hay in the corner of her living room beside the heater for her four ducks — Fernando, Hoppy, Emo, and Ace. They all waddled indoors for the night.

"They were so happy. It was like the warmest they've ever been," said Butler.

"And they were just having a great time..They're like brothers, and they wrestle each other, and like when they're happy, they play."

Angela Diggins and her wife, Emma Wilkie, created a makeshift chicken coop in their bathroom to prepare for the worst outdoors.

The couple, who live 10 minutes from Windsor, N.S., covered the bathroom in plastic, put up lights, and filled the cupboards with wood shavings.

"Chickens can adapt really well to cold weather, but because it was going from basically zero to -40 in a couple of hours, we didn't think that they were going to be able to adjust in time," said Diggins.

"They [the chickens] were definitely a little like, 'What's going on? This is a little bit weird.'"

The couple also turned two of the cupboards into nesting boxes so they could feel comfortable laying eggs.

"And they were laying eggs for us… right in the cupboards," said Higgins.

The chickens were back in their outdoor coop Sunday afternoon after temperatures improved.

"They're not just items to us. They're our pets, they're our friends, and even if they could survive, we don't want them to just make it we want them to thrive," said Higgins.

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