Hospitality, Friendship, Encouragement

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Animals In The Frosty Morning

 When I went out to take photos yesterday morning, Sandy saw me and started to call to me.  Whinnying, she let me know "Hey, you could come feed me!"  I took her hint and headed to the barn.  I am so thankful for this building!  So nice for the horses and for us to have all their feed (and the chickens feed) in one place and right where we feed them!


 They eat their grain, they are both on senior feed now, in the barn, and unless it is rainy, we toss their hay into the pasture.
 
 Cheyenne gets her hay on the opposite side of the barn from Sandy, as sadly, Sandy being the alpha horse, would eat ALL of the hay if she could.
 
 It is time to put the heater into the trough.  This will keep the water from freezing.  The first year we had the horses we had no heater and every morning that winter we had to break up 3+ inches of ice so the horses could drink water.  In the deep part of the winter we would have to do that twice a day!  So we really are thankful for the heater!


 Lottie and Lola are going to be moving right next to the barn for the winter...they will stay warmer there...


We don't have a heater for their water...but maybe we will bring their water in overnight....hmmm.

The dogs of course live the great life around here.  When the weather gets cold they get to spend their days indoors.

 Here Sadie seems to be looking at the horses and chickens and showing them she is inside!



 Samantha has gotten more boxer like as she has gotten older...she's getting to be an old lady.  She still has Lindsay's  heart and always will.  She's a good dog.  She has a bed in the corner of our living room, but both dogs like to lay under our big table in the kitchen!


Do you have animals?  What challenges do you have with them in the wintertime?


7 comments:

Melissa G said...

Ethan enjoyed looking at the pictures of the animals with me.
Enjoy your day!

Tracy said...

It's still been very mild here, and we don't even have the furnace on yet. We're thankful for that.

It will be interesting to see how the chickens fare through the cold this winter.

Becky K. said...

We keep the chickens water in the heated coop area. The lightbulb and the chickens put off enough heat to keep it from freezing most of the time.

Brenda@CoffeeTeaBooks said...

I have decided Victoria thinks she is a squirrel.

Each morning, I have to raise the blinds on the doors leading out to the deck, just so she can look longingly at the squirrels.

At first, I thought she saw them as a kitty snack and then one day it dawned on me that the look was one of deep desire to have their freedom.

Little does she know what the outside world is really like for animals. :)

I love seeing pictures of animals. Part of the reason I enjoyed The Pioneer Woman's cookbook was all the pictures of the ranch!

The Boyds said...

These are so great! I've always wanted horses & yours are beautiful. My sister- & brother-in-law have around 60 chickens. They have a beautiful house for them with perches & egg boxes. We have 2 dogs & a cat, but no farm animals. They're inside animals, although when it's nice outside the dogs (Ginger & Jake) like to spend hours in the backyard. It's cute to see them laying on their backs sunning themselves! We'd like to have farm animals if we're ever blessed to move to the country.

Simple Home said...

You can tell I'm a So. California gal. I've never heard of a trough heater :-) We do have to empty and refill the dogs water most mornings during the winter though. It's frequently frozen. I don't recall that happening much in South Bay.
Blessings,
Marcia

Terri said...

My answer to your question deserved a little 'splaining. You've been linked here!
http://consumemefromtheinsideout.blogspot.com/2010/11/pet-thetic.html

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