Mud Season

It's been three weeks since my last post and things are changing fast; mostly for the good!  Warmer temps, only a little more snow followed by melting, and signs of spring are everywhere!  Everyone appreciates the longer daylight hours.

We had a lot of snow on the roofs and when it warmed up a little much of it came off all at once.  On the other side of the pole shed, the does' accessed door is completely blocked.  They really don't seem to care since they do not like to get their feet cold and wet anyway.

Kids are about  three weeks away now.

The chickens are happy because I have let them out of the confines of the snowy coop yard.  It didn't take them long to find the loose dry dirt at the end of the poleshed.  This looks like the chicken version of a hot-tub party!

In the coop, two hens were broody and wanted to set in nest boxs.  The problem with this arrangement is twofold.  Some of the other hens muscle into the nest and lay additional eggs there - and then sometimes the broody hen gets off the nest for a drink and snack and then she gets confused and goes back to the wrong nest because there are eggs there too.  I wonder if this ever happens to people who live in those suburbs you see where there are rows and rows of identical houses...  Anyway, one of the two allowed herself and her eggs to moved down to a crate on the floor.  She's pretty serious about this incubation job.  The other one was a youngster and would not have anything to do with relocating.

The turkey hens, Penelope and Peanut are laying eggs too.  We let the turkey trio out of the summer coop where they have  been locked in all winter and I am hoping the hens will keep going back there to lay their eggs and eventually set.

Meanwhile, Tom thinks that he's pretty hot stuff.  Penelope and Peanut just don't seem all that impressed. 

Hoover and I got out to the woods today for a walk although there was some water in the low areas to negotiate.  There is still quite a lot of snow in the woods.

This is the view from the milking stand from today.

Roye really doesn't care about the view, but is very hopeful for some fresh goat's milk soon!

I will share here a photo from yesterday's Sprout Growers and Maker's Market in Little Falls.  They had Vendor Booth Awards this month and visitors were encouraged to vote based on a number of criteria.  Anyway, I put some effort into this and it paid off - Ole Lake Farm won first place!  Pretty cool.

There is your farm update - thanks for stopping by the Ole Lake Farm blog.  I'll be back in two or three weeks - maybe with some kids news!  Until then, be well folks.