Snow at Old Goat Farm

The Chase

Usually on Sunday I feature one of the animals here at the farm. This week I thought I would show you pictures of how they handle the bad weather. We are about a week into snow and the coldest temperatures of this winter. The whole week has seen night time temperatures in the mid-teens to low 20’s and the highs just around or a bit above freezing. Monday we got 5 inches and Friday we got 10 inches.

Chicken coop

The first day most the birds just stayed in the bird run and chicken coop. As soon as the sun came out so did the birds even though the temperatures were in the teens. Many manages to find spots in the sun again building so they could get a little reflective heat, sun bathing and 14 degrees. There is also a big Doug Fir right by the coop that branches to the ground so it is fairly bare under the tree. A lot of the birds hang out there to get away from the crowd in the bird-run. Many of the chickens still stay in the bird run by the water containers. Just like being at work and hanging out by the water cooler. It has a heat lamp over it so its nice and warm there. These are the smarter birds.

Lunch is cancelled on the patio

Yesterday we shovel a little path for them from the coop to the tree so the smaller birds don’t get stuck in the snow. Thats also the spot were some of the feed is put out each day. We also shoveled a path across the pasture to another feeder and another Doug Fir. Kind of like Chicken freeways.

We have been inundated with wild birds too. There’s probably more than a 100 Mallards show up in the morning just after feeding time. The word must be out that there is a free buffet. They have managed to find all 4 feeding stations. The Chickadees and other smaller birds show up after the ducks for left overs. We keep the Mahonias dusted off for the Hummingbirds although the flowers look a bit sad.

you looking at me?

Charlie and the goats aren’t big fans of any inclement weather. When it rains or snows they head for the sheds. They are chubby enough and have thick coats to keep them warm.They also head out to the sun when it’s out and grab the reflective heat off their sheds. It was sunny enough on Thursday for them to get their regular pedicures. Since they aren’t running around as much, their hooves are growing faster and need trimming more often.

Fred

Both the dogs love the snow and chase each others all over. The cats can’t be bothered, they poke their heads out for a bit then right back in. The two legged critters are definitely over it. With the hoses frozen all the water has to be hauled from the house. We still have a nursery to contend with too. We are planning on being vendors at the Northwest Horticultural Society’s spring plant sale in just 3 weeks so all those plants had to go into the greenhouse for protection. The greenhouses are bursting at the seams. Just to add another level of difficulty we got a shipment of bare-root plants on Wednesday that had to be potted up right away. It took me two days but they are all potted up and sitting in the barn in the dark. Since they don’t have any leaves, being in the dark won’t any big deal for awhile. After 10 inches of snow on top of the previous 5, we spent yesterday trying to get snow off a number of trees and shrubs. A few are pretty broken up. It was a wet heavy snow.

Winter comes and goes and before you know it I’ll be complaining about watering. Stay warm.