Winter Is Coming

It got cold fast this week! There is ice on the water buckets every morning when I go out. I left the water in the hose on just a little bit so that the water wouldn't freeze in the hose last night. If the water in the hose freezes, I can't fill the barrels in the morning.

This weekend we'll put our heated hose in the barn, and we'll put some bucket heaters in the water barrels so they don't freeze solid.

A few hens are still hiding their eggs.

These eggs don't look like they are hidden.....

until you are outside of the hay barn.
Can you see the chickens on top of the hay stack?
Their nest was hidden way in the back of the hay barn, near the ceiling.

It's hard to see the hens on top of the stack because they are in the shadows.

I had to climb all the way up the stack of hay and squeeze myself along the top of the stack until I got to the back of the stack where I found the eggs hidden in the corner by the rafters.

I had to be very careful with the eggs while I was getting down. I didn't want to break any fresh eggs in my coat pocket. Can you imagine the mess? Yuck!

Crazy chickens! I think they were looking for a warm place to lay their eggs.

Look who else likes to get up on the hay in the barn.
What a funny puppy!

She can jump and climb almost as well as the cats! Sometimes she gets up on my sewing table!

The mama hen and her chicks are doing well! She's keeping them warm and safe. These chicks spend a lot more time underneath her than chicks born earlier in the year. She's such a good mother hen!

I bet you can guess what's underneath the hen.

Chicks!
I've never seen a chick hide on the back of a hen,
but this little yellow chick was hiding underneath some of the hens wing feathers.

This is the first time we've had chicks this late in the fall. The chicks seem to follow their mama hen and I think they will adapt to the cold weather with her help. They seem eager to stay close to her, and don't wander very far.

The last few nights the animals have been eating a lot, even before it got cold. I think they could sense winter coming quickly and were eager to get their body ready for it.

It's gotten cold so I opened the stall so Echo would have a dry place to sleep at night.

She's getting ready for winter and getting ready to have her calf so we spoil her by letting her into the stall. She loves it! It's a little more work for me because I have to clean the stall every day. Cows don't know how to use a bathroom, so she goes to the bathroom any place she is standing.

I think this winter will be colder than last winter. That's normal. The climate in the desert is often cold in the winter and hot in the summer. The climate changes from year to year, too. Some years are wetter and colder, some are dryer and not as cold.

When my children were little there were a lot of Halloween's that they wore their winter coats when they went trick or treating. The last few years most children have been fine walking around in their costume. I have a feeling that this year children will be wearing their winter coats! What do you think, will you have to wear a winter coat and dress warmly for Trick or Treating this year?

Look at our Halloween cats!
Tommy is the orange cat.
Liza is the black cat.

They are waiting for their treats. Tommy can do a trick for a treat. He knows how to fist bump.

Wonders Unit 2 Week 1