Frozen Farm Part 2

We are still covered in snow, today it's been a week. We got a little more snow on Thursday morning which brings our totals to about 4-5 inches. But it's been so cold that it's still around.
Some of the kids love to go out and play in it and others last only a few minutes. The problem is we just aren't prepared for it. The only boots they have are mud boots, rubber and rubber only, they just don't do the trick, even with 2 pair of socks.

We've been having to haul hot/warm water out to the barn and coop. Every morning I go out and things are frozen up.
Joseph all bundled for snow. He'd stay warm if he only had warm boots...moon boots would be great. Remember moon boots? LOL

The picture above is of our driveway after the snow Thursday morning.
The picture below is of the neighbors driveway.

The goats are in search of greenery. Nicholas has found them some.

Below we have 2 furry friends visiting the sunflower seeds.

And the kicker of it all......
we have this in the forecast for the weekend!

Winter Storm Warning

I've never seen this kind of weather in 15 years I've lived in Western Washington.

A Frozen Farm

We've plunged into the arctic here in Western WA. This is something we just aren't used to. I'm having to haul warm water from the house several times a day to keep the water buckets for the animals thawed out. I have not water out in the barn or coops and have had to disconnect all hoses. Sunday night we went down to 20 and a high of 25, right now the thermometer says 21. Starting tonight we have a "winter storm watch" with more snow--maybe. They do know if precipitation moves in it WILL be snow because it is not suppose to warm up at all. This has been the longest cold spell I've ever experienced in my 15 years in WA. And it is NOT expected to get any better before Christmas (which means we could have a white Christmas).

Here are pictures from around the "Frozen Farm".

The chickens do not like to go out in the snow at all.

Frozen water and chicken tracks.

Great shot, Kelsey. She took most of these pictures. I love this one. This used to be a big mud pit and is now frozen solid. One thing is for sure, everything looks cleaner now.

Milking and Chicks

My mom came out to the barn with me during milking time yesterday and snapped this picture of me. I don't think I've put a picture of milking on here in quite some time.The baby chicks are about 6 weeks old now and doing great! they are all feathered now, or at least enough so that if the power goes out they will be fine without heat for awhile.

Butter

We woke to these sounds again. But this time....Butter got lucky. We started out yesterday thinking we should try because I knew she was coming into heat, but when we arrived and put her in with the buck she wouldn't have a thing to do with him. She ran and bucked at him and wanted out! So we went back today know it had to be the day and sure enough!!! She ran in and just stood! What was so funny about it was that she just stood there and acted all standoffish and whatnot. She stood but if he tried sniffing her head and ears or licking her face she'd turn her head the other way. It was kind of funny. If the breeding took than she will be due May 1st!! Perfect...12 days after Pascha!

Fall on the Farm

It's fall on the farm and it's been fall for quite some time but I like the title. It flows. And I finally have taken some time to take pictures of "fall on the farm". I cannot believe it's been 2 weeks since I've posted anything. Gee, I wish I could be more consistent about that. I'm still learning how to make everything work together and "flow" nicely (home, school, farm). The above picture is looking up our neighbors driveway, I just love their driveway. If you turn to the left 45 degrees you'll see our driveway and house.

I caught this picture of the goats frolicking in the leaves. :)
Below is Charissa with her goat Brie.

As we move into the garden you can see the chickens have made great progress in their attempts to eliminate the grass and weeds and fertilize every square inch of dirt. They've done a great job! They deserve a raise and they got it when I switched to all organic feed several weeks ago. Our "subscribing" customers all voted to pay a higher price to have organic feed.

Here some ladies have found spot in the garden that is pure sand and they are "bathing" themselves in it. I thought it was funny because it was nearly dusk and quite cold outside. I'm sure that sand was wet and cold!

And now our baby chicks! It never ceases to amaze me how rapidly they grow!!! They are nearly half feathered already. I always make great proclamations about how I can't believe they are this big already and then I remember back with our first flock and how they were completely feathered by 5 weeks when the power went out for 5 days and they could stay in the coop without heat. At any rate....they have really changed since we got them just 2 weeks ago today.

I encourage the kids to hold them as much as possible so that they are used to human contact as they grow, hopefully turning out to be very friendly.


They are just so cute!

Charissa was picking them up and letting them fly down from her hands. I caught some really amazing shots of this.

My favorite! Isn't that cool?!

Chicks have arrived

We only got 25 Rhode Island Reds.....my favorite. They are so cute.

Wordless Wednesday