hay day, critters and sunshine

Another load of hay purchased and covered. Bull calves, their mamas and Cecil the cat supervised our work. Ester the little black cat eventually came out to inspect our efforts. Even better the load didn’t get stuck in the mud coming down the driveway or in the barnyard. We’re not quite into the Month of Mud but in that freeze/thaw transition between winter and spring so when using equipment requires some timing…. move equipment when the ground is frozen or risk getting stuck 😉

Not much work except for the usual chores but it sure was a beautiful morning. The air was crisp but the sunshine was warm. The critters were lounging about in the sun solar charging, exploring the areas of exposed green grass and dirt and the shrinking snow and ice. Don’t worry… we’ll get more snow and it will get colder again.

Buddy Roo napping on top of the stew roo’s pen. At first glance it appeared that something was wrong with him but he was snoozing in the sunshine. Buddy Roo does not like snow. It must be an egger-roo thing. The last egger rooster hated snow, too. When the coop door would open and he saw snow he would ‘scream’ and stomp his feet. Buddy Roo is more dignified than his predecessor… he would never scream or stomp his feet, but he has on occasion used ‘fowl’ language.

The barred rock rooster found the dirt bathing pit that had buried under the snow – a little moist but it was worth a try. The girls tried to distract him to steal his spot but he persevered in his quest for a bath. Looked more like he was making a ‘nest’ rather than bathing. Silly rooster.

The turkey hens, on the other hand, were more interested in hanging out IN the chicken coop. I don’t know why since everyone else was out and about enjoying the sunshine. Could be they had an urge to lay an egg, was warmer in the coop or an interest in the chicken food inside. Maybe they were protecting the chickens from egg stealers.

The young toms and Goblin were too busy gobbling at us walking about …. wait a moment… I see the rare and elusive snoodicorn?

After harassing checking on the poultry a quick inspection of the greenhouse and what needs to be done inside get the cool season vegetable plants started and a quick peek as to how the kale was doing after being under all the snow. I was surprised to see the south side of the greenhouse mostly thawed and the kale still green. Wilted but green leaves. I wasn’t sure it would be green at all, but at this rate it will rebound soon. The chickens enjoyed a few leaves.

Soon the afternoon quickly passed, the edge of the next storm rolled in and turned the blue sky into gray. But to finish off the day the cows and heifers had a visit from the male pheasant. We were happy to see him. We haven’t heard him over the past couple of months and thought that was the end of him. But he was there despite being chased by ‘Baby Eva’ a few laps around the remnants of hay and cows and he did get a chance to scratch around in the bits of hay.

Until next time…
~Karen