I asked this chicken why she was crossing the road. But she just gave me a wink and an enigmatic smile, then continued on her way:
The chickens will continue to spend all day, every day, outdoors - until the snow covers the ground. They'll have nothing to eat then, so I will lock them indoors for their own safety:
But until winter comes, they have an idyllic life:
They still enjoy hiding at the base of bushes, but those bushes are mostly leafless now:
The fantail pigeons also enjoy getting outdoors when the weather is nice, but because they usually have a baby inside, I only open their window when it's warm enough:
I was given a three pound bag of local cranberries. I wasn't sure what to do with them:
So I put them in a pot, covered with water, and boiled them down. Then I added sweetener (Stevia) to make a compote. It's a wonderful addition to brown rice and milk - in fact, my favorite healthy dessert:
The pigeon parents have raised a single autumn baby (their nests always have two eggs, but one didn't hatch this time):
And they've gradually gotten used to the big outdoors:
The autumn baby was nearly grown in this photos, only a week away from leaving the nest for good:
I had to begin feeding hay to the cattle in mid-October this year. The Red Poll girls had eaten every blade of grass in sight. Now it's going to be all hay until spring brings a return to our grassy pastures, and it's anyone's guess if I have enough hay for the winter or not:
