In The Bleak Midwinter

We've had some lovely, sunny weather in January:

And glorious sunsets in the western sky:

The fantail pigeons have been safe and secure inside their room in the barn:

They have quite a complex society with the whole range of social interactions:

And "sort of" permanent pairing, though I've read that there are lots of illicit affairs, sounding much like another species I know of:

They are lovely birds, an appropriate symbol of peace:


The new and old hens now all get along together well:

The old hens have not laid any eggs this winter (they never do this time of year), but the new hens began laying when they were six months old in spite of the winter:

The old hens are Barred Rock bantams and the new hens are Easter Egger bantams:

So far the new Easter Egger bantams have laid both green and pink eggs, though I can't yet tell which hen lays which eggs or even how many of them are laying. I suspect that they all are laying and my guess is that I have three producing green eggs and two producing pink eggs:
 

The two calves slipped through the fence one night and were out on the road, an emergency situation. I managed to get them back inside and then turned on the electric fence. The next morning, however, I had to drive the perimeter of the fence line, locating and eliminating any potential shorts. I normally don't run the electric fence in winter, but with two escape artists, I must do so this year:

I treasure lazy winter days, when the cows lie down to chew their cuds and the horses hang out with them just because they're friends. I know that frigid temperatures and big winter storms are also coming: