Around The Farm

It's been a long, cold winter so far, though not as cold as most winters - and it's only half over. The fantail pigeons have stayed indoors and begun pairing up for the coming springtime:

If all twenty of them begin raising babies, I'll have too many this year and have to sell some:

The cows seem to thrive in the cold temperatures, at least as long as it stays above zero:

And the water in their stock tank has been kept thawed by an immersion heater. On really cold days, the water actually steams:

We had two days when it seemed so warm that I let the chickens out. They were unsure about the whole thing and some (possibly the smart ones) stayed inside. Those who ventured outside looked confused:

The hens came to the edge of the door and looked out at all the snow. They didn't know what to do:

This little hen dared to come outside but her feet were cold and she kept squatting down on them to keep them warm:

But eventually a small contingent ventured as far as the bird feeders. Getting them back indoors at the end of the day, however, was tricky. I had to herd them up the snowbanks and in through their door using a leaf rake:

We had enough snow melt for windfall apples to reappear, and lots of wild animals left tracks in the snow as they dined on them:

I got a cast iron Holstein doorstop at a secondhand store and put it atop a lamp stand:

Every morning after a light snow, I'd find bird tracks everywhere:

I had what I thought was a brilliant idea to put all the hay bales up in the hayloft next year. But I had to try it first, to see if it was possible. I picked up a bale and tried putting it in through the hayloft door. It would have fit, though just barely, but the tractor couldn't get it quite high enough. I may try building a ramp there next summer. The icebound hay bales are a real problem during the winter and keeping them in the hayloft would help - assuming, of course, that the floor could hold that much weight: