The Zen Of Winter On Little Utah Farm

Winter on Little Utah Farm photo by Deborah Moen

WHOOSH!

 It was the second week of December. As the door opens a blast of vaporous swirls came licking into the kitchen. Paul, my husband, was leaving for work. the temperature was -20 degree temperatures. He hunched his shoulders ducking his head deeper into his jacket then reached back to close the door.

There was a moment of silence that followed. His truck lights hit the front windows then disappeared. I could hear the crunching of ice fade as he rounded the corner and drove towards the main road.

I remembered back when we were first dating. I used to watch his tail lights going down the road when he left. That memory always uplifts me.



My thoughts turned to baking cookies. It was baking day ! Paul and my grandson love my homemade chocolate chip cookies and the oven would keep the kitchen nice and warm. I began getting out the flour and the brown sugar, the 3 Pyrex measuring cups, the wooden spoons and mixing bowls. I turned on the oven.

Soon I would be going out into the freezing winter temps and onto the icy paths to feed the llamas and the hens. How they handle these conditions was not for me to know. I laid awake at nights before falling asleep feeling guilty for my nice warm bed. But I got to thinking, Nature has that figured out. For all I know they enjoy it rather than the heat of summer.


We have built the llamas a 3 sided shelter and provided heaters in the water trough and infrared heating lamps for the ducks and hens in the coop. The llama corral is filled with gravel and sand to keep it dry.

I made Arapaho's winter blanket.

In our first year here, Arapaho, our Suri coat llama, (shown above) shivered in the cold. His fiber was thinner than the others and hung down in loose twisted ropes or twine like Rasta braids. Shivering warms a body they tell me but I ended up making him a blanket anyway.

I also made Little Luna a coat for winter. 

The llamas have adjusted to the weather. Not a one of them shivers.. Even Luna Llena (pronouned yena) our surprise Harvest Moon baby ( 1 year and 5 months of age) does fine in the cold. Her first winter we made her a coat also.

In my day dreams I imagine an adjoining barn where I could peek through the kitchen window and see the llamas all lazing about inside earthing ( soaking up the goodness of the earth) on the dirt floor or munching in a big standing bin of premium hay. My hens are roosting on tops of the stalls or pecking though fresh straw for some scratch I laid the night before like the tooth fairy.


B-E-E-P ! The oven was preheated at 375 degrees. It was time to mix the brown and white sugar, crack the eggs and put in the vanilla. I love mushing that all that together. I take down the flour add some baking soda and salt. Mixing in those dry ingredients is not as easy and then comes the chocolate chips. The heavy wooden spoon does the job real good. I scrape it all into a container and snap down the lid for chilling in the fridge while I go out to feed the llamas and hens.


I put the mixing bowl into the sink and turn on the hot water to soak. I promised to only lick the zucchini bread batter and leave all the others alone, well, maybe sometimes I lick the brownie batter bowl also. It is fun for me and tastes so good.



On goes my shirt, my sweater, my coat, my shoes, my scarf  to cover my face. Thank goodness for gloves, the warm insulated kind. Once I am out the door and begin walking towards the shed, I am acclimated. I keep a swift gate and a happy face and smile at my loved ones who live outdoors. They really seem well and good in this cold. I feel satisfied watching them eat. Early in winter, after the first snows, I shovel a snowy labyrinth ( linking paths) in the pasture. I shovel and scrape open connecting feed stations and lay the hay in each one. It is still thrilling for me to open the gate and see them run through the white glistening snow along all the connecting paths and find their hay.

I figured out the best thing to say as I leave the freezing cold and go back into my warm home is... I live in the country, my dream has come true.



I realize, winter is a time to chill out, I mean, to slow down, relax, get more rest, organize recipes and photographs, bake cookies and breads, watch some funny movies, write more stories and letters, meditate and hibernate, like the roots of the grasses and trees.


 Winter may seem like a never ending cycle but really it is the perfect length of time. Winter is just long enough to miss and appreciate the green grass and the balmy breezes and the sounds of crickets in the night.


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Deborah Moen
of Little Utah Farm

Read my story about my gloves : A Farmgirl's Gloves

Here is our Vintage Tractor Collection which comes on mugs, pillows, cards, magnets, throw blankets, and more.We have Farmall, John Deere, Allis Chalmers, Ferguson, Ford Vintage Tractors.

Vintage Tractor Collection from Little Utah Farm Store

Cold Weather Arrives at Little Utah Farm

So far we have gotten some heavy and fast hail
which turned most places white in 8 minutes.

The cold has come to Little Utah Farm.   The temps range from 30s to 12 degrees. Taking care of the animals is much different in cold temperatures.



The girls (hens and ducks) are hungry in the morning and I find having it all ready to put down in the morning works best for all of us.  In the evening after I put the ducks and hens to bed, I prepare their morning feast of scratch, feed, and sunflower seeds and a few dried mealworms and put in the feed bin with a tight lid. I fill the  water buckets and put them inside by the back door for next morning, so they do not freeze. I feed again in the afternoon around 2:30pm well before the sun goes down and the colder temps set in.


Those dried meal worms are eaten up fast. They miss their moths, and other bugs that they hunt  in warmer weather.

The chickens  and ducks are snug
in their coop during the winter.

The infrared lamps in the coop were dusted off tightened into position and connected. That gets turned on at 15 degrees. Some chicken owners say wait till below zero but I draw the line at 15 F. Some of you might even gasp at that temperature but the  girls run really hot. If you bury your finger into their feathers you can feel the heat they give off. Those feathers are like a super down coat. They fluff their feathers out to insulate the cold from coming in. The hens and ducks have a big coop. They roost in a small compartment which blocks the icy winds and rain and snow. Chickens do adapt to cold weather just like the swallows, robins, and doves who winter here.



Just a note: I raised my first hens in Southern California. I did not know much about them. When it got 60 degrees I turned the lamps on for them. Which is crazy wrong. But we learn as we go along. When I got to Utah I turned the lamps on at 40. then the following year, 30, then later, 20. Now it is 15. I see that the more adapt I am to the cold the more I realize the hens are too. I also came to this by reading many articles on the subject.



 The heating element was placed inside the water trough for the llamas. Llamas have a common dung pile and 90% of the corral stays very clean. In the cold, rain and snow those lines  get out of the normal parameters and the llamas manure pile extends out to the north east of the corral. Come summer the manure pile shrinks back to the southeast.

The whole herd of llamas fits ncely
inside a 3 sided shelter during a snow storm

 Llamas have a 3 sided shelter to keep out of the elements when they need to. the shelter is big enough to house 6 llamas comfortably.



The way we deal with the water and hoses is much different in the below freezing temperatures. After using the water, I have to drain the hose, disconnect it from the spigot, and put a special cover to keep the water from freezing.




As for me I have outfitted myself with nice thermal under layers. 3-4 layers of clothing keeps me warm in single digits and below freezing. These are not heavy layers at all. I can move about quite freely. It is the gloves I feel clumsy with. So hard to manipulate tiny jobs with those heavy gloves. An ungloved hand can get real cold, numb and painful so I keep those gloves on.

A nice big red barn.

I would love a nice big red barn that is connected to the house by an underground pass. I have that picture in my mind always and it makes me happy. I love to dream.
After all, dreaming got me here to Little Utah Farm.

Frost gathered on the alfalfa
and the drying corn stalks.

I take advantage of the mild waves of remaining warmth during the day to finish cutting the cornstalks and making a corn shock from my field of dried cornstalks. I am also layering cardboard, manure, kitchen scraps and leaves for good garden soil and no weeds. It did wonders for the clay soil.

Layers of cardboard, manure,
kitchen scraps, straw, and leaves.

Here is my blog post Winter Layers For My Garden which shows how to layer cardboard, manure, leaves and straw to keep the weeds down and also make rich soil.

That is it for now...

Deborah Moen
Little Utah Farm

Thank you for visiting us at Little Utah Farm


Until next time,

Enjoy your life, gather your blessings, and cherish each day.

The Hens Get Winter Care

It snowed last night, a light dusting of Utah powder, glistened under the porch light as I opened the door to let the dogs out in the wee morning hours.  

 

In the morning when I feed, I love how the ice crystals , the hoar frost, glistens like bright silver stars on each branch and twig. The cold can be a wonderland if ice and steaming breath coming from the nostrils of the llamas. The air is crisp and invigorating provided you are dressed right. There are no wet puddles at this time, just frozen water and crystals. Lot's of crunch underfoot.

There is much attention to the well-being of our fur and feathered friends. Even the wild birds get their water renewed and new seed to eat. We look for steady bodies, clear bright eyes, a good appetite. during feeding, each dear family member is greeted with a smile and a blessing. Anything that needs tending to is done.

Florence has a large comb. We spotted some black spots on the tips. www.facebook.com/littleutahfarm

I saw that a few of the long combed hens had a slight touch of frost bite which blackens the tissue on the tips. After dinner I tippy-toed out to the coop where all 9 girls were nestled side by side on the roosts. I stepped into their sleeping den and passed the flow of infrared red waves from the lamp hanging just so, in the far corner.

It was cozy in there and I always breathe a sigh a relief* knowing they are safe and comfy. They look so big with their down and feathers fluffed to keep them warm. I took out my trusty tube of Vaseline out of my pocket and laid it on the north wall on the shelf.

 Florence was close by and I took her, gently wrapping my hands around her wings and body. She didn't seem to mind. Then I applied a bit of Vaseline to her red comb and wattles. She shook her little head a bit and that was that. I am sure it felt good to her. 

May our black Jersey giant has a large comb that flops over like a ladies hat. www.facebook.com/littleutahfarm

 I searched the line of roosting hens and saw that May was next. Her and Florence have the longest combs. By this time the hens were murmuring to each other. I leaned over and picked up May from the top roost and brought her down. She is our black Jersey giant. Her large powerful wings flapped against my face and I set her down on the shelf and brought her close to my chest and secured the other wing gently against her body with my hand. We both took a deep breath then I began to apply the Vaseline to her comb. I loved the texture of the combs and how pretty they looked with their treatment under the infrared lamps. Their heads are so tiny and to think that God desired a red rubbery comb to jut out right on the center top is an wonder to ponder. 

The hens bodies are full and soft yet you can feel some dominant 
 bones like the breast bone. I set her back on the shelf so she could find her way back to her roost. "Good night, sweeties" I cooed. I made my way past bun bun's rabbitat then ducked under the sharp long icicles at the doorway. The door shut and I latched it.

The white fields of snow crunched underfoot as I walked back to my warm house. I dreamed of an attached barn like a Noah's Ark filled with animals and connected to our home where I could feed them all in my leggings and socks and there is a large solar window to let the sun shine in and on and on the dream goes.

I am smiling as I walk up the back porch and off goes the light.

All is well on Little Utah Farm.

Thank you for visiting Little Utah Farm (9,471 page views)

Wishing you and yours a happy New Year 2016,

Until next time here is a quote:

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Deborah Moon Moen of Little Utah Farm

 

Chickens and Deep Snow

 

The snow reached a higher volume than my hens could handle. We had shoveled paths but the walls of the path were much too high to see over. Naomi one of my Giant Jerseys, flew into the white abyss and landed in a foot of soft Utah powder. She was stuck and looked all around for an escape route. But the white snow overwhelmed her and she stood still. 





Here is Naomi strutting through the snow when it was only 2". She is now on a greeting card to wish someone a Happy New Year. Click on the image to see this card.

Happy New Year Hen Greeting Card by LittleUtahFarm
See more Chicken Cards at zazzle.com

 

 

 I picked her up and her little body was cold and shivering. I warmed her and placed her back in the coop and closed the door. . The solution to this was to keep them inside their coop.

 My hens are tough and do enjoy tromping around in the snow. They cackle and whine a bit inside the coop, especially Winona. She sounds like a little girl with pigtails, saying Why ? Why can't we go outside?

Little Utah Farm has a hard working Kabota tractor. www.littleutahfarm.blogspot.com

Husband Paul made our winter wonderland a bit more animal friendly with his Kabota tractor. He shaved the snow down to 4 inches where the hens and dogs play in an enclosed back yard.. It is so much better.

 

We have a magical winter wonderland around us as far as the eyes can see so this does not diminish our beauty one bit. He did such a great job. So much easier to feed and care for our flock and herd and dogs. We let the hens out and they are laying outdoor in the sunroom on their sides, wing extended, leg out, soaking up the sun.
 

 

Thank you for visiting Little Utah Farm (page views 9354)

Until next time

Wishing you a Merry Christmas
touched with wonder
and filled with love

 

Deborah Moen of Little Utah Farm
Farm-girl, Nature Lover, Photographer, Writer

 

PS

 

We have a Little Utah Farm Store on Zazzle and a Facebook page.

 

Greeting Cards and Express shipping are both 50% off till Sunday December 20, 2015 Zazzle always has a sale going on.

We have a winter Holiday Category on Little Utah Farm Store. Here is Starbuck our llamas peeking out of the shelter on a winter wonderland morning.

 

Llama In The Snow Happy Holidays Greeting Card by LittleUtahFarm
Make custom notecards at zazzle.com