Snow vs. Mud

And the snow just keeps on melting.

There are small rivers running through the farm right now.

I stepped through the gate into the pig yard yesterday and sunk in mud up to my ankles.

Mud!

Where the snow is not....the mud is!

The pig yard and sheep yard are both located on the north slope of the farm,

and so they get no sunlight.

Because of this, they are the last areas to melt.

Feeling badly for the pigs, I decided to shovel another path through the snow

so that the pigs had a little more room to stretch their legs.

In essence, I just opened up a path towards more "snow cones" for the pigs.

You see, these two little porcine princesses love to eat snow.

With new paths open, there is also new snow available for snacking.

These two have spent the bulk of the past few weeks indoors.

They come out for potty breaks and to eat snow.

Other than that, there is not much outdoors that interests them at the present time.

The sheep pen is still covered with snow as well.

The sheep could care less, however.

As long as it is clear around their hay feeder,

they are happy.

(Wearable food...the ultimate take-out!)

Most of the day they hang out there eating, and napping...

Another area of the farm that gets little sunlight is the duck pond.

Although the weather has been warmer,

with no sun reaching the pond...

it stays mostly frozen...

open only where the aerators keep the water moving.

Our duck population has been steadily growing this winter.

At last count we had 12 visiting mallards who stayed for several day.

I am hoping that a couple of these pairs will chose to raise their young on the pond this spring!

Our five resident ducks seem to enjoy the visitors.

And so we have ended another week on the farm.

Our weekend will be a quiet one...just us and our animal friends.

We'll be back on Monday to share their shenanigans.

Y'all have a wonderful weekend!