Around The Farm In Winter

The bantam hens seem happy and healthy, though a couple of them have begun molting again:

They have access to layer pellets and clean, thawed water at all times:

Some of the white fantail pigeons are looking fine also, but some others are very old and beginning to look their age:

I have had a couple of elderly pigeons die this winter, though I still have a flock of 36 birds:

Most of them have formed breeding pairs, though I have read that pigeons, like people, are prone to infidelity if they see the chance:

 

Cottontail Rabbit and Red Fox tracks appear in the snow every morning. In this case, it was perfectly obvious what the fox was hoping to have for dinner. I saw no signs that he ever got it, though:

A woman in choir made me this hand painted Christmas ornament and I hung it in my kitchen. Now I've decided to leave it up all the time as it's not overtly Christmas themed:

I go out early in the morning to do the chores. On this day, I walked out into the field and looked back. It was a pleasant sight:

The horses and cows share the hay. I never see any bickering over it:

The rubber cow stall mats with which I covered the cellar hatchway blew off in our strong winds, and I knew I had to fix them:

Alas, they are much heavier than I ever imagined, not to mention awkward and flimsy. But I managed to get them back in place - and this time I tacked them down with a couple of nails (left sticking up in case I need to move things around:

Speaking of strong winds, I discovered that one of the two apple trees alongside the road had lost a major limb. I will have to cut it into firewood which I'll give the neighbors, and then I'll haul the small branches out to the brush pile in the woods: