Winter Prolonged, Spring Arriving

Many warmer days allow me to open the pigeons' window - with a screen in it, of course:

 They keep nesting and laying eggs, then abandoning them when they don't hatch. I wonder how they know when the time is up:

 But they seem happy and healthy:

 And they keep trying:

 The little hens seldom go broody, but they are laying a few eggs. Of course they cannot hatch because there is no rooster, but the hens don't know that. The broodiness has mostly been bred out of them so they'll lay more eggs (hens stop laying once their nest is full):

 These are the seven Barred Rock bantams. They're getting a little old now, but you'd never know it to look at them:

 The Easter Egger bantams (the brown ones) lay colored eggs and are younger:

I kept finding tracks in the snow but they were never clear enough to tell for sure if they were fox or cat. Furthermore, the online guides vary so widely that they weren't much help. I settled on this one as the clearest example: 

 Blue and Remy's pet Cottontail in the barn seems to have disappeared, but there are more bunnies outside, as indicated by their tracks. The tracks next to them could have been cat or fox, so I went in search of one that was clearer:

 This was the best example I could find. I decided it was a cat track:

Our prolonged winter weather gave me the blues, so I went back to my favorite online rose nursery and ordered two more Zone 3 hardy, continuous bloom roses added to my existing order of three other varieties. High Country Roses is a wonderful company with healthy plants, friendly service and over 300 varieties of own-root (not grafted) roses for all zones. You can check them out here:

Spring Surprises

Spring has been full of surprises so far, including two early lambs at the neighbors' farm:

And of course snow melting off the roof of the barn, then freezing into long, crystalline icicles:

I started opening the pigeons' window to let in fresh air on days when it's not too cold:

And the little hens are beginning to lay more eggs:

The farm gets covered with snow, then it melts:

Even the snow piles beside the driveway are almost gone:

And the melting snow revealed these amazing plants by the back door. This is not new growth, but Bouncing Bet, wildflowers in the Pink family, which stayed green all winter beneath the snow:

And then, just as I was feeling all the glories of spring, we got buried once again:

I found the cattle's backs covered with snow and icicles hanging off their sides:

I had to drive through deep snow to bring out a new hay bale:

And I had to plow and shovel snow once again. You can see how the piles alongside the driveway grew overnight:

And inside the barn, the snow which had blown through gaps in the wall revealed animal tracks which went up into the hayloft. I suspect they are cats from across the road, and I think they are hunting my infestation of English Sparrows, for which I am grateful:

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:

Around The Farm In Chilly Weather

I go out to do the morning chores as soon as there is enough light to see what I'm doing. That often means seeing glorious dawns in the eastern sky:


And on some late afternoons, I see amazing sights in the sky. This full moon was moving across my north field:


The bantam hens seem happy with their cloistered lives:

One hen kept laying occasional eggs but she finally gave it up for the winter. I eat so few eggs, though, that I've still got some in the refrigerator. It's a good thing eggs keep so long:

The white fantail pigeons get all excited when I top off their water. Maybe they think I've put vodka in there:

Our weather has been a wild roller coaster ride, swinging between sudden thaws and sudden winter storms. The herd has handled it all with aplomb:

Remy and Jasmine, the two friendliest animals in the herd. When I walk out to say hello, these two are always glad to see me and they enjoy being stroked - Remy likes the top of his face petted and Jasmine likes me to rub her neck, under her chin:

The little horses and big cows seem happy and content. I never see any dominance displays over the hay supply:

Every morning with new snow, I find an abundance of wildlife tracks. Usually they are cottontail and fox tracks as in this photo, but I sometimes see other tracks which I think are bobcat, coyote and snowshoe hare:

My Amish neighbor is also the horses' farrier, and he usually arrives very early in the morning. On this morning, the sun had not yet risen above the barn roof, which is why the north field is brightly lit but the horse and buggy are still shadowed. The good news is that he said both horses' hooves are healing and looking good:

The sheep farmers up the road brought another load of stemmy hay. Their sheep eat the leaves but leave the stems, which my cows are happy to eat:

This time I was able to position the bale feeder over the top of the stemmy hay:

Catherineville State Forest, Santamont Trail - Part 1

Our winter took a break, with temperatures rising to 40 degrees (F). The snow was all melted at the farm, so I took the dogs to Catherineville State Forest, about 8 miles away, where there was still plenty of snow. We began walking the trail, following a Coyote's footprints. The dogs were not concerned, so neither was I:

They began with their usual exuberance, though I am happy to report that they stayed a bit closer than usual and required less hollering on my part. Fergus' ears were flopping as he bounded along the trail:

Jack was just getting over a bad cough, but that didn't slow him down, especially when it was time for him to do his traditional rolling for joy in the snow:

The dogs investigated everything, covering much more ground than I did:

With five dogs going in five directions, I had all I could do to keep track of them all - and that's why I want them to stay so close to me:

Fergus wondered if that tiny tree was worth peeing on:

Seamus led the way for awhile and his little buddy, Jack, ran joyously behind. If you click to enlarge this photo, you can see that Jack's feet were not even touching the ground when I snapped this photo:

There were some interesting smells for the dogs and beautiful sights for me:

And every so often, the dogs collected in one spot with much enthusiasm. We saw no wildlife, though, not even a mouse:

The forest was mostly Red Pines and Balsam Fir, with an understory of golden leafed Beech trees:

The dogs took occasional side trips off the trail, but I stayed where the snow was worn down:

They ran and played, while I concentrated on not slipping - and on keeping track of the five of them. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: