A Not So Fond Farewell To The Snow

This winter has been long, cold, snowy and difficult. I went out to turn on the barn lights and feed the cows every morning at 6:00:

The house looks inviting when it's slippery and cold outside:

Little Rosella has developed a fascination with the tractor, though I can't imagine why. I have to be careful that she is not too near it when I start to move it:

The snow banks were eight feet hign in places:

But winter seemed to end suddenly one day when the temperature soared into the 40s. I wanted to let the chickens out, but there was snow, as much as four feet deep, piled in front of their door:

So I removed as much snow as I could with the tractor, then shoveled the rest and opened the door for the chickens:

They came to the doorway and stood there, not sure what to do, so I went inside and gave them a push:

The landscape was all snow, so there wasn't much for them to eat. Nevertheless, they were happy to get outdoors and seemed to enjoy the warmer weather and sun:

At first they broke into small groups, but soon I began seeing the flock of all sixteen of them, traveling together:

I went into the barn and cleaned out all the chicken and pigeon poop - enough to fill the tractor bucket. I added the cow manure from the other end of the barn and then dumped everything on the manure pile:

I also opened the pigeons' window, but this is as adventurous as they got. One pigeon sat on the windowsill and looked outside - and then it was over:

No chickens were hit by cars or attacked by predators. Everything went well except that a few of them resisted going back indoors until it was almost dark. One part of winter which I enjoy is being able to put the chickens to bed early so I can go indoors and relax for the night: