This has been a strange winter so far. We’ve had snowstorms immediately followed by rain and melt all the snow. We had a weekend of mucky roads where we decided it best not to leave the house for a couple days. There hasn’t been a real nor’easter yet, though the old biddies have flocked to the grocery store in secret hopes of a real whomper.

Several inches of built up snow has crusted over allowing kids to walk on top. That’s bad for the poor deer with hooves breaking though with every step—it has to be tiring to do all day. There’s still plenty of tips to nibble on and sweetfern leaves clinging to their branches.

Chickadees and bluejays sing their jay-jays and chick-a-dee-dees on sunny, milder days. I haven’t seen a turkey here since fall. They wait for spring and curse the cold too I suppose, in their own way.

The goats rarely leave their barn even with the gates open to free range. If they’re lead to the woods they’ll nibble on the most tender evergreens.

The chickens balk at the cold. The Ameraucanas won’t leave their coop and poop in it all day. I have to clean it before the Marans coop. The marans have a long ramp leading out to where the kitchen scraps are left. They stand around in the snow while the Ameraucanas hide out. I guess I ought to build them a ramp too.

The egg strike has nearly broken with about 1/4 of them laying daily now. The first kids are due in six weeks. I can’t wait until there’s fresh milk. We have been rendering lard into half-gallon Ball jars in preparation for soap making.

Two kids have already been reserved for sale. Hatching egg orders and chick preorders are beginning to roll in. We are hoping for a better hatching season this spring.