Signs of Spring

Spring might officially be a couple of days away yet, but it’s really beginning to look like spring on the farm.

Aurora, Odie (still not looking happy even though the snow is gone), and Maybeline in pasture Friday morning.

Everyone is going out to pasture.  It’s actually starting to turn green!

Odie and Maybeline after the frost melted away later in the morning

The goats enjoying themselves

They still think I should be feeding them full winter rations of hay and grain, but there’s plenty to eat out here.

Cutie

Blaze with Athena by the fence

Popcorn

Myson in the lead

Everyone foraging for hay

Mr. Peacock is dancing for the girls.

Granted, the chickens are truly unimpressed,

Seriously, give me a rooster, not this fancy feather duster. -the red hen

but I think he’s handsome.

The girls have taken advantage of their new straw in the nest boxes.  I’m getting six or seven eggs per day now.

I am trying to do some cleanup out there now.  Some naughty Moose has let goats in the bird pen and then they destroy my food tubs.

the lid wasn’t working very well

I’ve been replacing them.

This tub didn’t hold up under the weight of a goat.

The ladies are enjoying their outside time again.  It’s way better than just hunkering down in the cold.

I have a lot of junk to clean up.

The girls appreciate a nice treat of mealworms.

Can you tell the one is so impatient she’s jumping up and trying to eat through the bag?

When I went out Friday morning, I only saw three geese.

This time of year, that can only mean one thing.  Someone is on a nest laying an egg.

I found her, and after she rejoined the rest of the flock,

Look how green it’s getting in the barnyard!

I stole her egg.  It was the first one of the season!

Maybe I’ll let her sit later, but it’s too early in the year for that.

Of course, this late winter/early spring time of year means we can still get snow.

Luckily, the storm that pretty much buried Colorado gave us a little bit of snow, but it was mostly rain here. For that, I am grateful.

I Am Mad at Moose

I’ve shared before about Moose constantly opening the gate to where the birds are if I don’t tie it.  I can’t even do chores without having to scold him and tell him to leave the door alone.  He knows he isn’t supposed to.  He will just stand there staring at me sometimes.  Or if I go close it, he’ll stand there and then open it for me when I come out.  He knows he is not to be opening the door.

Moose

Well, last Sunday was a bad day.  I started chores a bit early since I hadn’t worked.  I had to call Litha to come over to the milk room.

Litha

As I came out from getting her food, I saw that Zinnia had her head stuck in the fence.  Every single time she comes into heat.  This time, she wasn’t cooperating, and I had to get the bolt cutters and cut her out of the fence.

Zinnia (with Casey behind)

Since the weather was warmer, they were all crazy while I was feeding them.  Sidney ended up going between my legs.  I was constantly almost getting dumped.

Sidney

When I got done with feeding everyone, I had to treat Wanda’s foot.  It’s been sore, but the nice weather gave me a change to put Coppernate on it.  She was not cooperative.

Wanda

By the time I got done, I decided to heck with it.  I was going to go sit down for a bit, and I’d put the birds in when I gave Litha her meds.

But I forgot to tie the gate.  Usually that would be fine for it to be untied after chores, but the weather had turned, and the goats didn’t go back out to pasture after they finished their grain.

When I came out, I once again had to cut Zinnia’s head out of the fence.  Then I turned and saw peacocks.  I hurried and got Moose and Haley kicked out.

Thankfully, they hadn’t opened the big tubs, but they ate everything I had given to the birds.  That left me in fear of overeating for both of them and bladder stones for Moose.  So far, they are both okay (no more worries about overeating).

Haley

Then I set about herding the peacocks back in. Usually, it isn’t too difficult to get them back in, especially if the goats have gone back out to pasture to snack after their grain.

However, this time, it was made more difficult by goats swarming in and out of the birds’ pen (I had shut the door, so they couldn’t go in the building).

Bambi

Every time I got them close to the gate, a goat scared them away.  I finally got one of them in, so I chased the goats out, put him in the building and then went back to try and get the other one in.

Unfortunately, all the goats and the geese and I were too much for him.  He flew over the fence to where the little bucks are.  I tried to leave him sitting on the log until just after the sun set to try and catch him.  I know he couldn’t see me, but he could hear me crunching on the snow, and he flew away. I haven’t seen him since.

The one remaining peacock (I think it’s the old one).

I’ve contacted neighbors to be on the lookout, but the chances of getting him back to the safety of the barn is pretty much nonexistent.  I am still mad at Moose.

Work To Do

After the derecho, there is still much work to do around here.

With over four inches of rain, it’s obvious that the barn roof needs work.

Athena by the barn

This hole allows a lot of water to come in and make it muddy.

I did have someone come out and I have them booked to make the repairs to the garage, north shed, and barn roofs.  In addition to repairing the storm damage, they are going to work on sealing the barn roof so it doesn’t leak into the chicken’s section.

I need to protect it so that my barn can keep standing for another hundred years.

I want my birds to have a nice dry place to live.

naked peacock and Nugget

still finding a few pretty feathers

It’s the least I can do since they give me yummy eggs.

eggs in the nest box

And all I can say about that one egg in the middle is “ouch.”

Seriously.  In other news, the geese have adjusted to being outside quite well.

the three youngsters

They do go in the barn, but they spend most of the time outside, even during horrible storms.

older lady goose

Hopefully, we can avoid those for a while now because the roofer is booked through the rest of the year already.  I’m not sure when he’ll get here to fix my roofs.