How Much Snow?
February 19th, 2014 · No Comments · Posted in farming
I just heard the local weatherman announce we’ve had 63 inches of snow so far this year, or more than five feet. That’s 23 inches more than the 30-year average snowfall for the entire winter, and we still have a month of winter left.
Good thing we had a big thaw some weeks back or all that snow piling up would be over-topping our fences. How would we contain the animals then? As you can see in the photo, our goat Tanner was up to her neck in a drift outside her shed after the last nor’easter rolled through. It’s been a job just getting food and water to the livestock–beating paths with my feet from one station to the next. On the plus side, I don’t have to walk nearly as far to the chickens as I can now easily step over the wire fence into the orchard where the coop is parked instead of walking around.
Sometimes on my rounds I load the grain buckets and chicken feeder into the back of the pickup and deliver from the driveway. At one point, I beat a path through the snow along the paddock fence directly to the chicken coop. I pass the outdoor water hydrant (now unfrozen) in case I need to add water to the tub for the four-legged critters.
The sheep and Jersey cow have been content to hang out in their walk-in shelter. But we don’t need all that manure piling up in one spot. To coax them out, I’ve been dropping bales of hay at the opposite end of the paddock and they’ve been plowing their own tracks.
Daily chores include feeding grain to Emily the Jersey cow and Tigger our boy goat inside the shelter located in the main paddock. I also change out Tigger’s water bucket after it’s frozen overnight. But the only way into the paddock after the storm last week was for me to scale the fence. The gates wouldn’t swing open with all the snow piled up against them. Count that as another snow-related job–digging out around the paddock gates.
This is our first winter on the new farm and I’d say we’ve been tested. So far, everything has held up. But I’m starting to understand why generations of farmers have kept their livestock in barns, their hay next to the animals and their houses close to the main road. It makes farming in winter so much easier. But it’s only humans who keep track of such things. As long as they have a place where they can get out of the weather when it turns really nasty, the animals seem to be just as happy to spend their days (and nights) outdoors. No doubt they’re healthier that way as well.
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