So fluffy!

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This is how they were a few minutes ago:

I took the photo from outside so I didn’t disturb them or let in the cold air by opening the door.

While I was outside I captured a few shots of the barn and house in the snow and lit by the still pretty full blue moon:

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Parts of his comb and wattle turned grayish black. The other rooster, the less dominant one didn’t have any symptoms. He seems to stay in the coop more which could be why. The hens have some mild symptoms. To remedy the situation we closed up the coop. They will have to stay inside for the next week or so as we experience very harsh weather and low temperatures. We also rigged a 60 watt light bulb on a timer to run from dusk until dawn. We own a heat lamp from when the chickens were chicks, but the thought of that running all night in the barn made me nervous.

We are still not sure how to treat the frostbite. The internet is filled with conflicting advice. Some say use petroleum jelly or neosporin on the comb and wattle, but some say that it doesn’t work. Some say the frosted area needs to be docked, but that sounds extreme. Others say leave it alone and it will eventually scab and fall off. We are hoping their improved, warmer coop keeps them from any more damage. We also gave them some antibiotic to ward off infection.

Does anyone have any advice?

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We cleaned and swept out the chicken coop and filled the nesting boxes with clean dry hay. We spread all the manure on the garden. We also mucked out the goat pen and cleaned out the old hay. We threw that on the garden too.

Have you ever given a goat a pedicure? I never had either until two days ago. But, the goats need their hooves trimmed before winter or they could experience uncomfortable health problems like hoof rot.

I ordered the best hoof sheers I could find and Luke and I went on a mission to catch the goats and hold them steady for a few moments. It wasn’t easy, but we got the job done!

After reading about it in a few goat books, I watched a couple videos online to get the technique down.

Hoof Trimming Goats — powered by eHow.com

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Luke playing papa goat:

Sharing a dance:

They are so sweet:

Here is one of our little hens:

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When we first moved into the house, the Raymond’s had given us a bottle of Champagne to celebrate. Since we hadn’t officially closed on the property at the time, we didn’t quite feel compelled to celebrate yet. But we’re happy to announce that as of 4pm yesterday, it became official. The ‘For Sale’ sign even came down…so hopefully people stop pulling into our driveway and peeking into our windows.

We also finally set up our rehearsal space in the basement. I’ve been waiting 15+ years to have my drums set up in the same place I live. Sweet Local Farm officially rocks! (In addition to the overwhelming amount of field stones we dig up everyday).

The Sidehatch/Bampf! tour bus pulled into the Sweet Local Workshop yesterday to get some work done. We’ll be renting it out to our friends in the Void Union for June, so we want to make sure it’s in tip top shape for them.

The Chicks have graduated from their infancy stage and have now been relocated to their own cozy apartment in the lower level of the barn. Check out Chick Cam to see what they are currently up to.

And on a final note…

Is this not the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?

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We are in the process of setting up a live chick cam so you can hang out with the babies and listen to some real “tweets”.

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