Snow Melt and the Waterfall (Spring 2017)

With a large snow storm late in the winter, there was a lot of snow that melted at once when the weather turned warmer.  A large snow melt means that our waterfall would have a lot more water flowing over it than normal.

Here is the shot of the final approach to the waterfall.

Waterfall in the spring.

Here is a shot of the waterfall from the base of the falls.

Waterfall close-up.

Here is a video of the falls showing the increased water volume.

 

A New Goat Feeder (Part 2)

You may recall that last year we built a movable goat hay feeder. However, the goats were eating the wood at the corners of the hay feeder so we had to pull the hay feeder out of service temporarily to make improvements.

Using some spare metal flashing, I covered the corners where the goats were most interested in chewing during the first attempt.

Here is a close-up of the repaired corner of the hay feeder.

The second try was more successful. The goats focused more on eating the hay and less on eating the hay feeder.

We used the hay feeder throughout the entire winter of 2016/2017 so far. It is still working well. The goats have chewed and rubbed against a few small areas of the feeder but overall there is very little damage.

The hay feeder in place for the winter.

The new issue that has arisen is the tray underneath the feeder collects a lot of hay dust that needs to periodically be cleaned out. After the winter, we might try drilling holes in the tray to help the hay dust fall out on its own.

More Snow!

A few weeks ago, there was another large snow storm – we got over 30 inches in a couple days.

A picture of the house and main barn a few days after the storm.

We already had over 30 inches in a single storm early in the winter. With this latest storm, it pushed us over our annual average snowfall for the winter.

A panoramic view of the snow from the woods behind the pastures.

Another picture of the pastures from the woods.

Starting a few days after the storm, the temperature warmed up and the snow has been steadily melting since then. We are now down to just a few piles of snow near the driveway. This storm may have been the last significant measurable snow of the winter.

A panoramic shot of the pasture covered in snow.

The animals usually stay inside while it is snowing. The chickens also don’t like to walk on soft snow but they will walk on harder packed snow.

The goats don’t really seem to mind the snow on the ground once the storm stops and the sun comes out – here is a shot of the goats hanging out in the snow next to the barn.

Goats hanging out near the barn.