Around The Farm As Spring Has Sprung

Our weather had been swinging wildly between blizzards, rainstorms, thaws and high winds. We could have all four in a day, but the Red Poll girls just keep calmly eating their hay:

The snow and ice on the pasture began to disappear, making it (I hope) safe for the cows to walk out there:

But mostly the girls snoozed on the waste hay by the east side of the barn:

The pigeons' room badly needs cleaning, and I'll have to get to it soon. Nonetheless, the pigeons are healthy, happy and nesting:

The hens get more ventilation and mostly confine their poop to that corner under the roosts:

This is how the hens get ventilation - I can open the windows and the trap door. The pigeons' room window will open, but not easily and I don't want to remove the insulation around it too early:

Blue and Remy, like the cows, are now eating nothing but hay, and they seem to be thriving:

And they have their own personal pet, a Cottontail rabbit who has come to live in the barn:

He or she is not too afraid of me, allowing me to get this photo:

I thought I was just making a joke about the horses considering their rabbit to be a pet, but one day I entered the barn and found Blue lying down in the hay, face to face with his bunny. Alas, I didn't get my camera out fast enough to get the rabbit in the photo:

And speaking of wildlife, I was just pulling into my driveway one day when I saw this Ruffed Grouse right near me, on the lawn by a cedar tree. I stopped the car, rolled down the window and managed to get this picture as it took off for the woods across the road:

Around The Farm In December

Much of my focus is on hay these days, and it's fair to say that ALL of the herd's attention is on hay. How fresh it is (or is not), how much ice coats the bales, how much is left, when we will run out, is every animal getting what they need - plus storing it, moving it, unwrapping it - it's an all consuming subject these days (pun intended):

The sheep farmers up the road have been hauling the hay stems which their sheep ignored out to their field and dumping it, so this time they brought me a load to see if my animals would eat it:

The cows and Blue were afraid of the big, noisy truck and unknown people, but Remy got right in the way of everything:

The hay stuck in the bed and we had to move it with a pitch fork, but it turned out to be a considerable quantity. The next morning I went out to fork it into the bale feeder, only to discover it had mostly been consumed during the night. I guess my animals liked it:

I go out to do the chores when it is light out, but the sun is not yet risen over the horizon. The skies are beautiful and the sun is up by the time I'm finished:

The little hens seem happy and healthy:

They don't have much room, but they do have roosts and nest boxes - plus two screened windows which I open on mild days:

One of the elderly pigeons died yesterday, one of only three which have died since I began my flock years ago. I'd say they are long lived, healthy birds:

They eat the same layer pellets as the chickens. Now, if I could just keep the English Sparrows from getting in and eating it too:

I worry that the English Sparrows will spread diseases and parasites to my fantail pigeons, but so far they are looking healthy - and I am working hard to block the sparrows' entrances and to chase them out when I find the inside:

One day was devoted to spreading liquid manure on the corn field across the road from me. A giant tanker brought a big load and transferred it to two smaller tank trailers, pulled by tractors. It took many loads and all day to finish. You can see the darker colored swath which the first tanker load spread. Curiously, it didn't stink - probably because it was so cold:

Each new snow reveals fox tracks, so I know they come visit every night and circle my car, climb the stairs up to my porch, enter the barn and check out the hay bales. I think they are after the Cottontail Rabbits, whose tracks I also see each morning:

Around The Farm

The icicles hanging off the house addition were smaller this year, perhaps because it has been so cold that there have been fewer melts, perhaps because the heat is turned down inside the addition:

 The white fantail pigeons are getting restless, pairing up and choosing nest sites. I have cleaned up the manure buildup since I took this photo. They are pigeons, after all. Imagine what it would be like to be a statue:

 I also cleaned the main floor of the barn, a major job:

 But the biggest job was cleaning the chicken room. I began by letting the little hens outside, the first time since I last cleaned their room:

 They hurried excitedly toward the house:

 They knew there would be spilled seed beneath the bird feeders. They are overjoyed to be outside and it is a shame that our large and ravenous fox population makes it impossible for me to let them out anymore:

 When their room was clean, I used the leaf rake to herd them back inside. They remembered the routine. They're not as dumb as people like to say they are. I did notice, however, that their lack of time outdoors has allowed their toenails to grow overly long. I may have to trim them:

 Newly fallen snow means a morning of examining the tracks to see what wildlife passed through in the night. There was at least one Cottontail rabbit, and perhaps two;

 And a fox comes to visit every night, walking around the barn and then exploring inside:

 Over by the milk room, I saw this and interpreted it as evidence that a Least Weasel had killed something:

 One day I saw Remy and Gracie lying together and nuzzling. They are friends:

January On The Farm

My old camera died during one of the coldest days of the year (at least I hope it was one of the coldest), so I bought a new camera and tried it out through the window near my computer. It was brutally cold outside, through dirty glass, and had both sun and shade. I was pleased with the photo, and it showed my side yard in wintertime:

And speaking of photographing snow (which is difficult sometimes), these are Cottontail Rabbit tracks which I often find outside my door on wintry mornings. I suspect the rabbit(s) is eating sunflower seed which has fallen from the bird feeders. Yes, those are my footprints all around the rabbit's:

And speaking of bird feeders, it hasn't gone well this year. The huge flock of House Sparrows which lives in my barn hayloft was gobbling up all the seed. Then Blue Jays and Cowbirds arrived en masse and chased everything else away, even the House Sparrows. The Chickadees, Cardinals, Chipping Sparrows and Juncos got bullied away from the feeders. And besides, a thick layer of bird poop appeared on my steps and porch. I think I will have to stop feeding the birds when the seed runs out:


Indoors, however, things are calm and peaceful in the chickens' room:

  I have seven Barred Rock Bantams and four Easter Egger Bantams. They are through laying eggs for the season except for one bird who lays a nice, pinkish egg every other day:

The Barred Rocks are getting kind of old to be much good at egg laying, but they still lay in the summertime:

That brown/gold hen on the bottom right is the bird who lays the pinkish egg every other day:

The fantail pigeons are happy and healthy in their own room. Those who are permanently paired stay together through the winter:

I read a study once which said that although pigeons mate for life, they also fool around with their neighbors when they get a chance:


The cattle and horses seem immune to the cold and snow, though I did let the cows into the barn for the coldest nights. They ate all the hay I'd put down, pooped all over everything and then went back outside anyway:

Most days are comfortably mild and the herd is happy:

I noticed that the apple trees had a ring of melted snow around each base. I looked it up and learned that the dark colored tree trunks absorb the sun's energy faster than the white snow, then radiate it outwards:

Springtime In The Country - Part 2

The apple trees bloomed profusely but briefly. Still, it is a memorable time each year:

And how wonderful it is to be underneath the apple trees and look up through the flowers to the blue sky above:

Apple trees and my car on the left, the tractor in the middle, and the barn and stock tank on the right. When I see such scenes as this, I realized how incredibly blessed I am:

The Bush Cherry blossomed early and then dropped its petals. All these former flowers will be tiny, tasty cherries if I can get them protected before the birds eat them (like they did last year):

Some apple blossoms have a lot of pink in them but all of mine are pure white after they open. There is some pink in the flower buds:

The neighbors rescued an orphan litter of cottontails and were hand feeding them. I did likewise when I was a boy and it brought back lots of memories for me:

The neighbors also got a very well trained pony for their young boys to ride and to keep their old gelding, Boogey, company:

The new pony wasn't sure she trusted me, but Boogey was happy to get some attention:

Walking back to my house, I snapped this photo of my farmstead:

And one last picture of the dogs, happy and comfortable in their backyard run: