The thermometer read 8º F this morning. Bitter cold,  but the air was still and the sun was out, so I knew that the animals could handle it just fine. I have to laugh when I read posts by people who say that their animals are “suffering” in winter weather. Their solutions – keeping the critters indoors, providing heat, and blanketing, often do more harm than good. Candy, for one, knows how to not only ride out the cold but to enjoy it. For her it’s an excuse to eat more and sunbathe at the top of her ramp.

Yesterday at dusk, with the temperature dropping rapidly, she tried to get the goats to play by running back and forth along their fence line. Not exactly the behavior of a suffering rabbit. Actually, she’s happier this time of year than in the hot doldrums of August.

The chickens find a sunny spot, fluff up and take it easy. Look at how huge Buffy looks!

During extreme cold the hens might stop laying. So far, that hasn’t happened here.

But, what can happen is that the eggs, left in the nesting box, freeze and then crack. Cracked eggs should never be eaten. The shell is the first line of defense (among many) that protect eggs from germs. So, I go out and check for eggs several times during the day. I wouldn’t want an egg this pretty to go to waste.

This was laid by Jasper, the Welsummer. She’s supposed to lay dark brown eggs, but this, I believe, is her first and the pigment was laid on spotted instead of even. It’s so special, I’ll be saving it. I have the niftiest tool for blowing out eggs that makes only one small hole in the shell. There’s a market for blown out and washed eggs. I’ve sold some to crafters and some at the farmer’s market. But this one is a keeper.

Farmers know the necessity of keeping accurate records. They need to itemize their inputs and outputs, analyze their methods, adjust to the myriad of fluctuations in their operations, and, hopefully, write a profit on the final line. Those of us with backyard birds sometimes keep track of expenses, but more often than not, we decide not to – if you look at the dollars and cents in black and white, a few hens pay their way. (I’ve done it. I’ve stopped.) But, it always makes me feel good to keep a chart of the eggs laid. How bountiful it seems! It’s also interesting to compare records from year to year. When did the production dip due to molting, age, weather or disease?

Some people, especially those with only a handful of chickens, can identify eggs from individual hens, but I simply keep track of eggs from the old girls (almost none) and from the young Gems (lots!) I keep a chart on a magnetic bulletin board in my kitchen. I use the Taylor’s All-In-One Poultry Food EGG RECORD. It’s a sheet of ephemera that I purchased off of eBay. It was a piece of promotional advertising given away in 1936, at a time when the feed companies were trying to convince farmers that commercial pellets paid for themselves in increased production. In my collection are more complicated record keeping systems, found in other vintage papers, but this one suits my simple needs. As a New Year’s gift to you, I’ve scanned it for you to print out and use. Click on the image below for a PDF.

I wish everyone baskets of beautiful eggs in 2012!

While all the other humans in the house slept on this first day of 2012, (well, not exactly true – the 18-year old had yet to go to bed), I got up to tend to the animals. It’s been an unusually warm December (second warmest on record) and after yesterday’s drizzle and rain and general dreariness, the skies cleared, the temperature dropped just a bit, and sparkly frost decorated every leaf and blade of grass.

It was so pretty that I felt vindicated for not having done a fall yard cleanup! I let the girls out and gave the coops a thorough mucking out. While I fussed about in the barns, the Gems went up into the meadow.

The old girls stayed closer to their pen. Twinkydink and Philomena took a short stroll,

while sharp-eyed Agnes found things to eat.

I did not let the goats out into the yard. Pip knows that there is one last green and thorny plant – my rose bush – which he would eat down to the ground in a blink of an eye if I let him. I’ll leash the goats and take them for a walk to the edge of the woods later today. For now they’ll sun themselves in their paddock.

There is no better way to begin a new year than doing morning barn chores on a crisp winter morning. But, to leave you with an honest picture, coop cleaning means stinky chicken dust, which sticks to hair and clothing. When I came in I had to shower and change. Real animals are smelly and messy, noisy and demanding. Still, barn cleaning never fails to put me in a good mood. I hope that this morning’s beauty and peaceful companionship of my animals are harbingers of a good year to come.

I have homemade peach pie in the kitchen. The year just keeps on getting better.