Tsnownami is here!

Well the weathermen were right on the money. The blizzard has officially arrived. It's white-out conditions and the drifting is just beginning as the wind is picking up. I hear they even closed I-70 between Kansas City and St.Louis. That's something I expect to see happening between KC and Colorado... not here in Missouri.

Holly in her room

The good news is, my hard work paid off and the goaties are all snug in their shed. The jugs aren't finished yet, but I do have one far enough along that Holly can be separated from the rest. She's the queen and can be quite the bully. I still need to put up the plywood and insulation in that one, then it will be done and I can work on finishing up the second one. They're actually pretty comfortable in there with a heat lamp and a heated water bucket.

The ponies however, aren't as opposed to the snow as the goats are. I've got a couple inside in stalls, but the others are outside. Since they didn't get wet before the snow started, they're completely covered but no one looks cold or unhappy. All but one of them has a great winter coat, and that one is wearing a blanket to keep him warm. They're all milling around doing their pony things... not huddled up looking miserable. I can hear the wind growing in intensity though and if it continues, I may have to put everyone in the barn early. They hate being locked up, but I plan to put them all in stalls tonight. It's going to get VERY cold after dark and I'll sleep better knowing they're protected from the wind. Even if they DO act like they've been put in time out!

Fathead and Red

Here you see my Quarter Horse, Fathead... who'll be 24 in April, and Red... a coming 2 year old Quaterpony colt. I've had Fathead since he was a yearling and Red was born here.They're the oldest and youngest in my herd. I watched them for quite a while trying to see any sign of chill, but they're happy as clams out there. Presuming that clams are happy of course!

As for the barn cats, chickens and ducks... they're all sharing my feed shed with a heated water bowl and all the hay they can snuggle down in. The chicken house just wasn't keeping the snow out, so I carried them all to the feed room. I'd rather clean up chicken poo than lose one to the cold!

Trying to beat the weather

We have kids on the way... our first to be born here on the farm. I'm excited but nervous for the nannies. We have another winter storm on the way and the weathermen are saying it'll be our worst storm of the season. We could be looking at anywhere from 8-17 inches of snow by Tuesday, depending on who you believe. So... I've been working feverishly to try and get the maternity ward put together before it hits. (It's bad enough trudging out there to do chores in the frozen tundra, much less trying to finish a project in it.) My hope is that I'll get it all done with plenty of time for the girls to get used to a new routine and be stress free when they start having those babies.

The two jugs I'm building will actually be dual purpose. Once the girls are done kidding, the two bucks will take up residence there so we don't have any MORE unplanned pregnancies. Not that we really tried to prevent these. They'll each have their own 'room' with a door to an outside, private pen. Since the space in the goat shed is only 12'x12', I've split it into the three spaces. One half of the square (6'x12') has big double doors that open to the goat yard, the other half has been divided into two 6'x6' stalls. I'm building sliding gates that will function like pocket doors in a house to prevent the billies from butting the gates off their hinges like they've done to the horse stalls in the barn. When the gates are closed, it won't matter which side the boys are butting from, the doors should have plenty of stopping power. Well... I hope so anyway!

I saved scraps from our house remodel project to use in the shed as well. I have squares of plywood that I plan to cut to fit along the walls to eliminate any floor drafts that might eek in through the old lap siding. I also saved scraps of insulation to put behind it for additional protection. 

Once I get the private suits finished, I'll take some pictures to share.

Peter, Patty & Paul when they were babies themselves.

Holly's in the foreground. She should be the first to deliver.