Spring is on its way..............

There are signs that Spring is on its way at Autumn Olive Farms. As you can see from this picture, the goats are starting to shed their winter coats and rubbing their fur off on the trees. The birds are going to be thrilled to line their nests with fur when they start their nest building. Another sign that Spring is on the way is the goats are running, jumping and playing. They are saying good bye and good riddance to the snow!

The dogs on the other hand are not thrilled with the weather change. They think this has been the best winter of their lives! They were the ones jumping, running and playing in the 30 inches of snow. They love the snow and cold weather. 

 The goats just put up with it and were happy with their high quality alfalfa/orchard grass hay. As you can see from this picture the winter has not been too hard on them. They just have to eat and ruminate. They are however looking forward to fresh green invasives. Those invasive species plants don’t know what they have coming for them! The goats will be back at the Frontier Culture Museum this spring and they will also be on different projects throughout the county. 

One last picture to share is this hen standing on Alexandra’s back. She was using Alexandra as a foot warmer! The chickens have been pecking bits of dirt and hay off the goats. Unfortunately it is just dirt and hay and not bugs. The chickens are anxiously waiting for the bugs to come out of hiding. When the flies come out the goats will go up to the chickens and lower their heads for the chickens to peck the flies off of them. It is an amazing thing to see. I wish we could send the chickens with the goats when they go to do their invasive species management, but it is not cost effective to use poultry net for fencing. The chickens are really going to miss the goats and dogs when they hit the road.