While I was letting Tonka get a nibble on some grass showing through the snow, I saw The Cat looking for tiny woodland creatures in the leaves. He looked at me. An audience! Cat leapt onto a nearby tree. There he is in the fork of the tree.

The Cat checked again to make sure that I was watching, and scooted up. This, remember, is the same cat who was stuck in a tree for two nights and was the star of a daring rescue by a tree man.

See his paws? He’s on the right-hand trunk.

The Cat went up.

Yes, Cat, I’m still watching.

And up.

Until he reached a branch that swayed dramatically under his weight. He bit it. Cat then headed back down.

Easy-peasy.

Show-off.

It looks like the big snow storm of January, 2016 is going to hit south of here. That’s fine with us. I do have a bit of experience to share. This is what it looked like out our backdoor last year.

Scooter has heard the weather reports and he’s not taking any chances. He’s already hunkered down. His strategy is to find the brightest patch of sun. Unfortunately, we can’t all adopt his storm plan. Some of us have responsibilities.

You might think about packing your hens up and bringing them into the house.

Don’t. They’ll do just fine, as long as you provide them with a few essentials. I hope that your coop already has windows, good ventilation and enough floor space for each hen – at least 4 square feet minimum per bird. (For more about coop design criteria, read this FAQ.) If not, do the best you can, shovel out an area outside for them as soon as the storm clears, and plan on expanding the coop in the spring!

Whatever your coop is like, give it a thorough cleaning before the snow flies. This will reduce moisture in the air (which leads to respiratory disease) and will make it much healthier for the hens while stuck indoors. Fill the waterer and the feeder. The last thing to do before tucking them in before the storm is to give them something that will keep them busy.

Years ago I posted this photo – hang a cabbage for a rousing game of cabbage tetherball. This idea has made it’s way around the internet. I’m proud to say that I started the trend of indoor athletics for hens!

I was also an early proponent of feeding pumpkins to chickens. Any of the hard winter squash work just as well. Just in case the weather report is wrong and the storm swings up this way, I bought two spaghetti squash – it’s always good to be prepared.

I also like to put treats into 

Once you’ve set your hens up in a clean coop with water, feed and something fun to do, you can hole up in your house, get the candles and board games out, just in case, and ride out the storm without having to worry about your hens.

Stay safe, everyone!

BTW- you can purchase cards with that wonderful image of the boy and his chickens here.

The rabbit is reveling in this cold weather. She’s oh so ready for the impending snow storm. Her fur coat is all she needs.

The goats have an undercoat of thick fur, and then longer hairs on top, which make for toasty warm jackets. Add the fact that their digestive systems are like hot composters – generating warmth from the inside out – and they couldn’t care less about the cold weather (although they do miss having browse and grass!)

As long as the chickens have dry, clean bedding, (I use Koop Clean) and plenty of indoor space with windows for sunshine, they couldn’t care less.

The dogs don’t worry about the cold. Scooter knows how to make use of laps and blankets.

What you might find surprising is that the one animal that I worry about in the cold is my horse. Some horses grow heavy winter coats. Here’s Cider. Even his face and ears are furry! Most days, he gets turned out in the paddock without any additional protection. When the wind is whipping around, and the temperature truly frigid, like it was yesterday, he wears a light sheet.

But other horses need more. Lano grew as thick a coat as Cider. So thick that when he is ridden, he sweats and gets wet, and it takes ages for him to dry, which is a health risk. So, he had some of his fur clipped off (see along the bottom of his neck?) and he wears a heavy blanket outside. See his mane flying in the wind? His ears were back because trees were rattling and spooking him – however, not so much that Lano was going to stop eating! (To see Lano more relaxed, take a look at this video of him snoring.)

Some horses simply don’t grow a dense winter coat. Tonka is one of them. It is thicker than his sleek summer coat, but not by much. Maybe it’s because he grew up in Texas. But he’s been up north now for four years, and he still gets cold. I’ve ended up buying him more and better winter clothes than I have for myself!

His paddock-mate Maggie, also has a naturally thin winter coat. Yesterday, she had on two blankets.

It’s a good thing that horses don’t worry if their butts look big.

Phoebe is beyond delighted to have the coop to herself. Rabbits are tidy creatures – those chickens were impolite and got in her personal space, and she hated having to tip-toe her way through piles of hen poop. Now she has fluffy, dry shavings to loll around in, and she keeps her surrounding clean by using a litter box when the weather is terrible and she can’t use her designated spot outside in the corner of the run. When Phoebe wants company she talks with the goats. Her humans visit at least twice a day. Life is very good.

We close all of the animals safely up into the barns at night; when Phoebe sees us coming, she hops up the ramp and hurries over to see what bedtime treat she’s been brought. Well, most of the time she comes in. Sometimes, the weather is just too wonderful, or she’s too busy star-gazing, or munching on a squash outside. Sometimes we give up and come back out later when she’s ready.

In any event, Phoebe has good hay, fresh water, rabbit pellets and a mineral block all of the time. At night she might get a dried banana chip, or an apple, or a carrot. Phoebe has decided that these good things should come more often.

The other morning, Steve arrived to open up her door to the outside. Phoebe looked at him and knocked over the food dish. This was a clear message.

The rabbit was obviously demanding something more delectable to eat. Who am I to deny the Princess of Little Pond Farm?

Remember when I said that I’d like to have a Long Ears in my life? I still don’t have one of my own, but I now get to visit with a burro several days a week.

At the beginning of January, Poh was adopted by the owners of River Front Farm, a stable where I have a couple of Lusitano gelding clients. Poh is of indeterminate age (ten?) and is shy of humans. At some point in his former history he learned that wherever a human wants him to go is probably not a good place, Poh has an amazing set of brakes on him. However, Poh has already decided that RFF is home, and that he’s in charge of all of the horses. He’s madly in love with one mare, so he gets to hang out with her, even when she’s in a riding lesson.

What’s especially charming and sweet about this photograph is that the instructor, the great Karl Mikolka, (who is now in his eighties and as active, demanding, and humorous as ever) was the chief rider at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. I doubt he had to conduct a lesson with a donkey in the ring there.