A snowy, cold week in farm pictures! Such a beautiful, wintery week!

Such a cold, crunchy, snow filled beautiful week at the farm.  We had a foot of snow fall yesterday requiring 2 hours of shoveling to be able to feed and water the animals.  Then, ice on top. It's warming up this morning as I can tell by the avalanches of snow and ice falling off of our roof.  Enjoy!

A Farm Week in Pictures!

Hello Lucy!

One of my favorite spots on the farm:

My little Roo.

Love the barn with snow!

Gandolf!

The geese don't mind the snow and they act as one being:

Getting ready for bed:

A pretty morning:

A gift from a very talented, young artist!  Love this and thank you!

Fluffy has a new spot to lay eggs:

Have a great weekend everyone!  

Cold weather friends

My Cold Weather Friends

Even though I know animals are created to survive the cold, I still wake up at night and worry about them.  I listen intently hoping that our Great Pyrenees, Gandolf, will bark on cold nights letting me know he's doing fine.  

We've had a cold snap here in Virginia which had everyone scurrying to prepare for it.  In spite of all my rules about being prepared, I was also scurrying.  The roosters had to be caught and have their combs and wattles covered with Bag Balm to prevent frost bite.  More straw was added everywhere.  Gandolf's house needed additional bales of straw placed around the outside.  Honestly, that big, white dog is made for this weather.  He's happy as a clam.  (Why do we say 'happy as a clam?')  But even in this cold weather, I don't hear him barking much which tells me he's curled up in his den.  I've climbed in there with him and it is toasty warm...surrounded by straw to block out the cold and the wind.  It's a big, straw nest inside.

The geese also don't seem to notice the cold weather.  This morning, they came running out like it was any other day, honking with their big wings flapping.  The only difference between today and any other day is that their pool is frozen and they have to bathe in a small bowl.  

Here are some scenes of our farm animals this morning.  They are smarter than we think!

I wondered about my turkeys.  If chickens can get frostbite, could Cherokee?  His head is actually hot to my touch.

The chickens are smart enough to stay inside out of the wind and sit in a sunny spot.

A goose washing her face.

The piglets do the same thing as the chickens:  stay inside and find a sunny spot to cuddle up with  their friends.

Our animals, including our dog Gandolf, live outside year round.  They have shelters with straw inside available to protect them from the rain, snow, heat and cold.  You can not put a house dog or house cat outside and think they will be ok in cold weather.  They have not had time for their coats to grow thicker and although this is a somewhat innate skill, they may not understand the need to seek shelter.  Please bring your domestic pets inside when it is cold.  :)

Stay warm everyone! 

xoxo,

 Farm Girl!

A snowy, snowy day on the farm!

It is a snowy day here in Northern Virginia.  We don't get much snow so people get excited when we get an inch.  Everything shuts down.  Today, we have about three inches on the farm and it seems only the new batch of ducks is noticing.  They hatched this summer and this is their first snow experience.  They weren't real excited to step outside!

*** I know you'll ask about Gandolf, the Great Pyrenees.  We love this guy and he isn't always locked up.  However, he is an escape artist and a wandering Nelly so until we have fencing that he can't breech, he is locked up unless supervised.  Even then we have to be inside a fenced area of the farm- which is most anywhere- because he doesn't listen to commands.  In addition, he still thinks the chickens are play things.  Not a mean bone in his body but I don't think the birds like being tossed in the air like balls.  Love the guy, but he's an independent spirit.  Sometimes I feel bad for him but I would feel worse if we lost him or if he were run over by a car.  So know he is loved and that he has plenty of freedom.

Are farm animals cold outside?

We are in the middle of a snow storm here in Virginia and it's going to be about 4 degrees tonight.  Cold!

I always worry about my animals outside when it is especially cold.  Do you think the farm dogs, horses, pigs and birds are cold outside?  How do they stay warm?

If an animal lives outside all the time, it grows a coat that is suitable for cold weather.

Let's talk about dogs first.
Here is Gandolf, our Great Pyrenees puppy who is now 11 months old:

This guy doesn't even know it's cold out.  He is playing with a chunk of ice in one of the pictures.  Can you see how think his coat is?  That is his winter coat.  It is so thick and heavy!  You can see some snow sitting on his coat.  This is because there is so much insulation between his skin and snow that his body heat is not melting the snow.  When the weather starts to get warm, he'll lose some of his coat which is called shedding.  Gandolf does have a dog house outside in the field he lives in with his chickens.  The house has alot of hay inside and only a small door so he will be toasty warm tonight!

We see the same type of insulation with the horses outside.  See the snow sitting on their backs?  It's because their coat is keeping the heat close to their bodies to keep them warm even when it's really cold out.

Lastly, animals are really smart.  Horses will position themselves so that they are hidden from the wind or so the wind can only reach a small part of their bodies.  Other animals will curl up in a little ball or seek shelter.

We gave our pigs a new bale of straw in their houses but you can see Max and Sassy really don't want to come outside today!  They are smart enough to arrange the straw as bedding inside their house and stay inside where it's warm and dry!

Stay warm everybody!!

What is your morning stretch?

What do you do when you first get out of bed in the morning?  Many of us have routines we follow and some of us like a big stretch!  This short video shows the birds leaving one of our poultry houses first thing in the morning.  The ducks LOVE to stand on their toes, stretch their bodies towards the sky and frantically flap their wings.  It must feel great to them!  

If you're having trouble seeing the video, you can see it on  youtube here:
 http://youtu.be/msE2lsWs3jg

Cold Winter Mornings

It's a sunny, cold winter morning here so by my standards, it's really nice!  Even when the weather feels terrible to us, all of our animals need our care and attention.  There are no sick days on a farm!

Before you were even out of bed, I put on my snow boots (my Boggs were fine for today keeping my feet warm and dry), my overalls (gosh! These keep you so warm!) my coat, hat, gloves) and went to brave the cold to take care of everyone.
 

The ducks were quacking and happy to see me when I opened the door of their house to let them outside.  Ducks like to stand on their toes and pull their heads and bodies towards the sky as they quickly flap their wings many times as their morning stretch.
 

Cherokee, the turkey who you saw yesterday always comes out chirping as do the five chickens who live in the same house.
 

This morning I had to carry water from our house because all of the outside water is frozen.  Birds and animals should always have free access to fresh water.
 

Lastly, this group gets a scoop of 'scratch' which consists of a couple types of grain in small kernels.  I spread this around their pen so they'll actively search the ground looking for pieces.  This helps keep them warm.
 

After I've taken care of all our other farm friends, I'm headed back inside for a warm drink and some breakfast! 

And you would be surprised, but all the animals know when to expect me.  The horses expect their grain about 8am.  Today I went late and here they were waiting!