Spring is Truly Here!

Looking east, you can see the pasture is greening up.  The sheep will return, soon. 

I will lost my view of the ponds, once the trees leaf out, but I hope to have those 

cedar trees removed this spring. 

From the other direction, you can really tell!

I am letting the chickens into the yard for a couple of hours a day, but once 

the plants are coming up properly, they will be restricted to their own side. 

See the squirrel eating companionably with them? 

I'm so proud of Jes, he looks still so overweight here, but he has done very well walking. 

He is also eating less. 

I interrupted his path up the driveway as I was outside.... and I'm glad I caught him, because I had left the gate open for a trip.  I will not be able to do that once the sheep are back. 

This is Powderpuff.  She is the only silkie living in the old hen house now, and rarely, rarely comes outside. 

There are only five birds left in that house, Singleton the Rooster and four girls.  Tonight, I am 

going to take her over to the Little Hen House and put her with the other silkies there.  They have a little tiny yard (Until Ben and I make their bigger yard)... and I think she would do better over there with the small birds.  I have hesitated to move her because she has lived in this house for the last three years.  We will see how she does.  She is a very gentle little bird, and does not lay. 

If the silkie roosters are too much for her, she will come back. 

Singleton is the Boss Man.  He keeps his daddy, Ferdie, and his brother, Buddy, in line. 

He did not suffer a lot of damage in the intense cold last month. 

However, I have lost six hens, one at the beginning of the cold snap, and five since then. 

As of this afternoon, I have unhooked all the heated waters but one.  I left it 

near the Big Hen House but will unhook it in a another day or so.  I unhooked the 

heated basins, and will clean them out good tomorrow, let them dry, and 

put them away for next winter. 

I am going to unhook the heated bases under the hen waters too... I'll leave them for tonight when we 

are going down into the thirties, and unhook tomorrow.  Temps look like they are going to be 

decent now for the next ten days. 

I believe Spring is truly here!

I love these guys!

This is Oscar's tree, in the front yard, on the north end of the property. 

Oscar, my heart dog, my Min Pin, is buried under it. 

When we bought the place in 2005, there were daffodils growing clear 

around the tree, and the box you see was whole. 

It has burst now, with the big trunk.  The daffodils are almost gone. 

Every year I tell myself to plant some more, but there is poison ivy growing there, too, 

and I have not done it.  I am going to make a promise to myself to do it this year, so that someone in the years to come can enjoy the spring show. 

Winter was hard on Ferdie.  You see he has lost the points on his comb. 

I love Ferdinand, he has been the gentlest of roosters, and I hate that his sons push him around. 

These little girls are thriving in the Hen Spa.  They are still under light, and will be for a few more weeks. They are pullets, and I suspect some kind of production red breed.  They were found abandoned in a park in Independence, Mo., and a rescue sent them to an avian vet, the only one in the area.  

She posted them, and a friend saw it, and notified me.  I went last Saturday to fetch them. 

They were found in a ten gallon aquarium, someone had left food and water but it was all spilled and soggy, and it had rained.  The vet tech told me yesterday that they will be inundated after Easter, and I told her I could take a few more. 

I am not criticizing the people for getting rid of them, but for the way they did it.  They may not have realized the big rescues would take them.  I will tell you WHY they did it... they are dirty and smelly and they peep constantly, and they have to have water and feed changed out constantly, and they just do NOT belong in someone's house.  Yes, I know people raise them inside, but folks, they have germs and they smell if confined closely. They look so cute in the store. 

I would take a few more, if asked, to help them out, but only a few.  

I'm blessed to have two big brooder cages. 

On Wednesday, I get my second Moderna shot.  I see light at the end of the tunnel, my friends. 

I will be wearing my masks for the foreseeable future, but the light is coming for all of us.