Chicken Care: Sub-Zero Edition

Here's what I've done for my chickens this winter so far:

1. regular food + black oil sunflower seeds as needed. 
2. kitchen scraps at almost every meal. 
3. THREE different varieties of bulbs for a heat lamp. The final bulb being one that actually makes it warm throughout their coop (not just where the light is directed) and doesn't screw up their egg-laying schedule.
4. enlisting of a family member to knit a beyond-complicated chicken sweater. 
5. searching for patterns for chicken jackets online.
6. constant cleaning of their coop and refilling with seemingly copious amounts of bedding.
7. (the weirdest and no it's not cannibalism) SCRAMBLING THE CHICKENS EGGS FOR PROTEIN.
8.  heater in their regular waterer PLUS an additional bowl of fresh water provided by my cold, wet hands multiple times daily.
9. and the thought that I should pack snow around their coop to insulate it. ya know. igloo-style.

moral of this story: if you're gonna be the one responsible for an animal (be it cat, dog, chicken, whatever) remember that the animal deserves to be treated like a king or a queen. it's hard work. it's so hard. and it's COLD! but you, i promise, will sleep like a king or a queen knowing that the animal(s) who depends on you is comfy.

YUP, the grammar here is terrible and the punctuation, worse. my fingers. are. frozen.