Tis the season

Tis the season for winter work- pen cleaning, manure spreading, hay hoarding, garden bed mulching. Speaking of garden bed mulching, we realized we left behind a big chunk of our carrot crop. Despite forgetting all about them, they looked great and are super sweet. Carrots are on the menu for the forseeable future.

My anti-bird tendencies are in full swing. Last years cold spell brought in starlings by the hundred (not exaggerating) and they roosted on every available spot. the chicken coop was wrecked daily, with towers of starling poop building up every day. We tried a super scary plastic hawk - they roosted right on it. We hung CD's - it worked for a few days, then the blasted birds just pulled them down. Ultimately we shut up the coop whenever possible, the mess was disgusting and the amount of wasted feed was unbelievable.

This year's attempt may be our strongest yet. . . Bird-B-Gone Bird Spikes.

They are designed to eliminate roosting spots, thereby making the coop unattractive to birds. It sure looks threatening huh?

We left no edge uncovered. This better work. What I haven't solved is that our buck barn is only about 15 feet from the chicken coop, and sealing it up for the winter isn't an option. Our barn cats hang out there, but never seem to hunt there. They ignore the mice and birds in the barn and prefer to spend all day hunting in the field. Makes perfect sense, right? They're doing their job backwards. 

We did a full winter pen cleaning and re-bedding this weekend which allowed us to spend some time moving and shuffling around some of the does. Charlotte, above, isn't due until the 28th of  February and that belly is growing fast. Charlotte has twice kidded with twin does, this time she may be going for three.

Emmette is a smaller doe with a gut the size of a barrel. She is already grunting and groaning when she rolls around, she almost can't fit into her favorite spot under the hayrack. She is due March 1, the day when all of my adult Toggs are due. 

After cleaning and stripping the pens we decided to do a little bird prevention in here too. The starlings have come every year and nested in the roof overhang. We climbed as high up as our highest ladder would allow and used a rake handle to shove rolls of chicken wire in the gaps. this way we can hopefully make it completely inhospitable to the birds while maintaining airflow and ventilation. Either that or we'll pick up the chicken wire all winter after the birds pull it out. 

It allowed some nice aerial pictures of the barn. Taking pics at ground level is nearly impossible in a pen of bottle raised clingy goats who like to be hams for the camera. Pretty typical mid afternoon sights - eating, sleeping, eating, loafing.

As usual, the massive tree fills the foyer. this is pre-acclimating, it grew wider and wider as it warmed up. Kaelyn is unimpressed. If she fits - she sits. In the chihuahua bed. 

Out came my favorite ceramic light up tree and my multitude of feather trees and wreaths. 

Kaelyn is still unimpressed. As is Luna. I think they're already waiting for Santa to come. Luna is in full winter hibernation mode. She needs a sweater and a throw blanket available at all times or she shivers as if she were dying. Maybe Tinder has some holiday spirit??

Nope!! She is bringing up the rear or the sleep pile. They are completely and utterly uninterested. Rosie-cat will show her interest as she bats the ornaments off the tree at 2am, maybe the others will wake up when the baking starts.