When darkness fell on the homestead, the skies were crystal clear. Stars were shining brightly above. The air was crisp and a bitter wind blew all around. I heard a noise outside and went to check on the chickens. What I saw surprised me. The ground was blanketed with freshly fallen snow. Snowflakes fluttered all around me. It was our first snowfall of 2018.
While Wiley and Wyatt have experienced snow, this was Wynoka’s first snow. I opened the back door, and she cautiously stepped out onto the porch. She sniffed at the cold white stuff.
Then she flew down the ramp that we had made for Wiley due to his injury. She barked at the falling snowflakes and romped around waiting for Wyatt to join her in the crazy snow play.
After some play, she decided to explore more of the winter wonderland in the backyard. Eventually, she came back inside after Wiley and Wyatt had made their way back inside. It turns out that she really likes snow, and she enjoyed every moment of her time in the snow.
The next morning, the chickens experienced snow for the first time. Some of the chickens had no issues just heading right out into the snow to forage as usual.
Other chickens only came out once I started to put out their fermented feed.
Others jumped on top of logs and other items to get to the tree. This amused me as there was still snow on top of these items, but somehow it was better to deal with that snow than the snow on the ground.
Some chickens didn’t come out until I put down the straw that I had removed from the nesting boxes. There were a couple of chickens who refused to come out into the large uncovered run. They stuck to the safety of the covered, enclosed run that had no snow. It was funny watching their antics.
Our first snowfall was beautiful. I had forgotten how breathtaking our homestead can look with a fresh dusting of snow. While it was a bummer that M and Daddy didn’t get to experience it with me, I was thankful for the beauty of the winter day.
