February Thaw

We’ve had a 75* (41* in Celcius) shift in temperatures between Thursday morning and Sunday afternoon.  We are positively warm today!  It’s 50*F (10*C).  That means we’ve shifted to melting and fog.

It’s a horrible mess in the barnyard.

Haley

Friday afternoon, you could barely see the top edge of the wading pool because of all the snow.

Widow goose

The snow is melting from pasture.  I can see dead grass out there again.

Aurora

That also means it’s mud season in my kitchen with all the paws tracking it inside.

Sky

Don’t worry, we’ll be back to cold by Tuesday, which means the barnyard will be solid ice then.

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The Aftermath of the Cold

With the sunrise on Friday morning, we finally also saw some rising temperatures.  I really did a good job of powering through and just taking care of things, but I tell you, I am ready for some easier weather and life in general.

This is actually a sunset (I don’t do mornings well).

I did lose my old gander.  He was about sixteen or seventeen years old, and I was pretty sure he wouldn’t make it through a severe winter.

gander taken last summer

My young goose is lost.  Geese mate for life, and now she’s all alone.  I’ve already talked to my sister, and if this girl wants to sit on eggs this spring, I’ll try to slip some fertilized eggs in with her.  If that doesn’t work, I’ll see if my sister will hatch a few for her to have company.

The same day I lost my gander I realized my little phoenix hen couldn’t walk.  I don’t know how she injured her leg, but she wasn’t able to eat or drink.  That means she got moved into the garage.

Ms. Phoenix Hen, Tony’s butt, Antigone, and Pistol

She seemed to like the accommodations, but she wasn’t too sure about the new roommates.

She really wasn’t sure about me opening the garage door, starting the truck, and backing out.

(Trying to figure out how to get to the rafters)

Then there’s Fionn.  I had planned on moving the bucks and does back into their ususal groups and out of the breeding groups last week, but I didn’t want to make changes with the cold weather coming.

I know you still love me.

Well, it was too long.  Fionn managed to bust my barn wall.  I’ll need to sweet talk my nephew and dad to try and repair it this summer.

That wall was solid until Friday.

That boy is a pain.  Dolly was also continuing to be a pain and pick on all the other goats she was sharing the space with in the garage.  I kicked her out.

Dolly

Now I just need to get everyone else moved back where they belong.  For some (like Zinnia and Cookie), I can walk them through the soap room,

Zinnia checking for treats

but I need to figure out how to get my gates open because I’m not about to try walking Fionn and his big horns through the soap room.

No Goslings

It had been long enough that I finally had to clear out the goose’s nest.  She didn’t need to keep sitting on eggs that were never going to hatch.

She’s been enjoying the pool.

The old gander seems happy to have her for company again.  I hope he makes it through the winter and she can hatch herself some company next year.

In other bird news, I can’t really tell the two peacocks apart anymore because they’ve lost their feathers.

I have been gathering some of them up because all of their feathers, not just the famous eye tail feathers are pretty.

Here’s a bonus of Nugget, just because I’m happy he’s a nice rooster.

And I might have more bird news soon…