hot water, part 2

This morning's plumber felt there was too much rust and fail in the boiler. He gave about 50/50 odds of shearing off one or both of the bolts, which would require welding new bolts in place. And even if he replaced the leaking upper flange, the lower one was just as sketchy, and could blow as well.

So the plan is to install a standard electric water heater as a stop-gap until we can get the gas conversion. I'm going to pick up a heater off craigslist this evening, and our preferred plumber and his brother the electrician will hook it up tomorrow. (God willing and the creek don't rise.)

There's an element of throwing money away here, but there was as well with the idea of fixing the boiler.

prolapse

And just to keep things from getting too dull, we found one of the hens to have a prolapsed vent (as well as shit all over her belly and tail feathers). Standard procedure AIUI is to clean her up, apply Preparation H to bring down the swelling, and try to coax the prolapsed tissue back inside. We're also keeping her in the house so we can monitor/treat her until it clears up. Just checked on her after a couple hours, and she's prolapsed again, sigh.

[ETA 6/21: After 2 days of pushing the prolapse back inside, she's fine, but still a bit poopy. No idea why it happened, but it's a reminder to check your chickens regularly.]