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.
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.
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.
I think we have just solved the mystery of the single old stone pillar in our front yard.
The pillar is well away from the corner of the driveway and isn’t near the corner of the property line either. It didn’t really seem to serve a clear purpose marking any boundaries.
In addition, the stone and brick pillar was falling apart due to the many years of freezing and thawing cycles throughout the winters. It probably wouldn’t have made it more than a couple of more years before completely collapsing. We decided to repair it last fall and redo the mortar and bricks that had broken off.
You can see the multiple colors of bricks in the photo where new bricks were used to replace old bricks that had crumbled apart.
The stone and brick pillar – after repairs.
A neighbor recently provided us with a pencil sketch from the 1950s or 60s that solves the mystery pillar!
Click through to see the sketch and solve the mystery.
As you may recall, we lost a hen last spring to what was likely a case of egg yolk peritonitis (EYP). EYP is when the egg does not form properly inside the hen and then the yolk can remain inside the hen and cause an internal infection. EYP is almost always fatal.
A few weeks ago, another of our hens, Mindy, was exhibiting similar symptoms. She was somewhat more lethargic than normal and she was also walking upright like a penguin. We recognized the symptoms from our prior experience. We separated her from the flock.
After last time, we had asked around the area and had been given the names of several local vets who are willing to see chickens. We packed her up in a travel dog crate and took her to the vet at their first open slot.
Mindy in a crate ready for transport to the vet.
Not surprisingly, in the waiting room, we were the only one with a chicken instead of a dog or cat.
After meeting with the vet, the situation was not looking great. Mindy’s abdomen was enlarged and somewhat solid to the touch. The vet could not provide a specific diagnosis and there were a number of possibilities, most of them were very likely to be fatal.
Mindy’s only realistic chance was exploratory surgery. The vet could not provide any likelihood for success because there are very few chicken surgeries (the cost of a chicken is so low compared to the cost of surgery that few people ever take chickens to a vet at all, let alone for a surgery). We opted for the surgery.
Her surgery was the next morning. Click through to see how it turned out. Continue reading
Chickens like to scratch in the dirt, leaf litter and other areas to look for bugs to eat. To help them exercise their natural instincts, we decided to build a sandbox for the chickens near their coop.
Here is a video of the chickens enjoying their sandbox for the first time last fall. You can see them scratching at the surface and then looking for anything that might be edible.
The construction was very simple and cheap. We used 4 logs from downed trees on our property. We just placed them into a rectangle.
The sandbox.
Then, for the sand to fill the sandbox, we used excess sand that was kicked up from the drilling rig when it drilled the holes for our geothermal heating system. I used the loader on the tractor to move the sand. It cleaned up the excess sand in the yard and helped the chickens at the same time.
Chickens explore the sandbox.
Occasionally we rake the top layer if the sand becomes too packed. We also throw some seeds or other food on top of the sandbox to re-generate interest in the sand from the chickens.
Chickens in the Sandbox in the distance.
Last winter was very mild overall – we only received around half of the typical snowfall totals (just over 60 inches where normal is over 120 inches). This winter started off on a different note.
First big snowstorm of winter 2016-2017.
The first big storm came right before Thanksgiving – we received almost 30 inches in the first big snowstorm alone.
Here is a picture measuring the snowfall total during the first night of the storm – it was close to 20 inches the first night and near 30 inches when it stopped snowing.
Measuring the snowfall.
Happy Thanksgiving from Lucky Penny Acres!
It is hard to picture Thanksgiving without thinking of turkey.
We have a local flock of wild turkeys that visits our yard every few days, especially during the spring and summer. This year, the primary visitors were a single hen with around 4 poults (baby turkeys). Occasionally, the flock would consist of several hens with even more young turkeys.
They tend to avoid people and if anyone tries to approach too closely, they usually scatter into the trees.
Wild turkeys in the front yard.
Wild turkeys in the backyard.
We have a lot of trees in our area, meaning a lot of beautiful colors in the fall.
Here are some pictures of the trees on our property and the surrounding areas from a few weeks ago – close to the peak season for fall foliage in our area.
Click through for even more fall foliage photos! Continue reading
You may recall that we picked up a couple of new hens from the NY State Fair earlier in the fall. We quarantined them in the chicken tractor for a few weeks to make sure they settled in to the new area and they were healthy.
After a couple of weeks and no signs of illness, we moved the chicken tractor into the field with the main flock so the new hens could see and smell the main flock while safely in the chicken tractor. Many members of the main flock crowded around the chicken tractor to meet the new hens.
The main flock meets the new hens.
Neither the main flock nor the new hens seemed troubled by each other and we were hopeful that the full integration would be successful.