Snowstorm!

Tuesday evening was the beginning of the first big blizzard of 2011. We had adequate warning, which meant that all the animals were locked in (it's easier to dig out and open the doors afterward than it is to clear snow out of the stalls). I also decided that it was time to combine the two chicken coops. The chicks are now between 2-1/2 and 3 months old, and look like smaller versions of the adults. They have been kept separated up until now, with a light (which they haven't been using for the last couple of weeks) and were switched over a while back from mash to crumble feed (larger pieces).

This was the scene Wednesday afternoon, near the end of the blizzard, when DH started snowblowing. At that point, however, I wasn't ready to begin digging the animals out.


This morning I took a yardstick out with me. I got a measurement of 13" in the driveway, 6 or 8 feet behind DH's truck.


This is behind the barn, which is rather sheltered (doesn't get a lot of wind to create drifts). The snow here was 19" deep.


And this is the side of the barn, the outside door to the goats' stall. There was a lot of drifting on this side. After I opened the door, the goats charged out onto the path I had shoveled, and stood there, clearly confused about the pasture that had disappeared!


The chickens are, of course, terribly confused by the sudden addition of the 11 young ones. The young ones are confused to be somewhere other than their usual living quarters. Here, one young Chantecler is checking out the snow. (I shoo'ed her back into the coop after taking this picture.)