Chickens, sunshine and winters

I opened up the big coop door this morning and the rays flooded in.  The chickens blinked and stumbled forward, seemingly blinded.

"What is this?  We are not coming out until you explain"

"Relax my feathered friends, it is sunshine and it is wonderful"

One of my beautiful Speckled Sussex hens, this breed is one of the more winter bold hens that I own

My four Wyandotte hens have been very hardy this winter and will usually make the journey down to the rabbit barn with me in all but the most bone chilling of days

My beautiful and gentle Rooster Archie has suffered the most this winter, even though we have a heat source in the coop to take off the worst of the chill he has suffered from major frost bite, I could not bring myself to include the damage in this photo.
I have learnt a lot this winter about livestock selection and how important it is to have completely winter hardy animals in our harsh Canadian winter.  I was caught off guard after the last 4-5 years of very mild winter weather.  I should know better then to every take Mother Nature for granted, it will not happen again.
I was worried at one point that I might lose my Archie, which would be a shame as it is so difficult to find a sweet natured rooster.  But, if we are over the worse, with a little extra TLC the big guy should be back to watching over his girls this Spring.