Farm treasures

Look what I found yesterday while walking my dog Bell, a Black Lab, and Dicky, our Rat Terrier on the farm!

Do you remember what this is?

Spring

Is it finally Spring?  Today it is almost 70 degrees and sunny.  And Monday we may get ten inches of snow!  This is really unusual here in Northern Virginia. 

Spring time brings alot of excitement to the animals.  Last year, we had many babies arrive at the farm.  Here is Spring, a little Dexter calf. 

How cute is she?  I loved watching her grow up.  Although at a year old, she is still little by cow standards!

 

I don't have plans to get any new poultry.  I do have a goose who intermittently sits on eggs.  Goslings are adorable but I'm not sure I need about 20 more!

 

Julie and Gandolf saying good morning to the horses

Who loves the snow?

I love the snow but not as much as Gandolf, our Great Pyrenees!

Animal Interactions!

I love watching all of our animals interact on the farm.  Here is Buttercup checking out the piglets and a piglet checking out Buttercup!  They are all very curious about each other and I believe they know they are part of a big farm family.

And here is Buttercup saying hello to Max.  Max is a large male Mulefoot Hog.

Things I have learned living and working on a farm

You can’t sneak up on a goose.

When a turkey ‘bites’ you, it hurts.  And you get a bruise.

Pigs are really amazingly smart animals.

If you want to play with pigs, you’re going to stink.

Birds of a feather flock together.

Get your work done while the sun shines.

Never ever carry an egg in your pocket.

Do not put off things you see need to be done. 

Prepare for the worst.

If your water tank is half full, fill it up.

If it’s going to freeze overnight, fill up extra water buckets just in case.

You can’t keep a duck out of water.

Geese make great watch dogs.

The biggest dogs are often the gentlest.

Animals are smarter than we think.

A rooster takes care of his hens.

There is a hierarchy of being in any animal group.

Most farm animals aren’t real cuddly.

Animals recognize their families and you!

A change from your usual clothing makes you appear as an unknown intruder.

You can see alot more than you think in the dark.

Turkeys have a very large vocabulary.  

Any 'mother' has an intense attachment to her babies and innate mothering skills.

Pigs show emotions.

One of the pleasures of being a farm bird is the morning wing flapping ritual.

Are farm animals cold outside?

We are in the middle of a snow storm here in Virginia and it's going to be about 4 degrees tonight.  Cold!

I always worry about my animals outside when it is especially cold.  Do you think the farm dogs, horses, pigs and birds are cold outside?  How do they stay warm?

If an animal lives outside all the time, it grows a coat that is suitable for cold weather.

Let's talk about dogs first.
Here is Gandolf, our Great Pyrenees puppy who is now 11 months old:

This guy doesn't even know it's cold out.  He is playing with a chunk of ice in one of the pictures.  Can you see how think his coat is?  That is his winter coat.  It is so thick and heavy!  You can see some snow sitting on his coat.  This is because there is so much insulation between his skin and snow that his body heat is not melting the snow.  When the weather starts to get warm, he'll lose some of his coat which is called shedding.  Gandolf does have a dog house outside in the field he lives in with his chickens.  The house has alot of hay inside and only a small door so he will be toasty warm tonight!

We see the same type of insulation with the horses outside.  See the snow sitting on their backs?  It's because their coat is keeping the heat close to their bodies to keep them warm even when it's really cold out.

Lastly, animals are really smart.  Horses will position themselves so that they are hidden from the wind or so the wind can only reach a small part of their bodies.  Other animals will curl up in a little ball or seek shelter.

We gave our pigs a new bale of straw in their houses but you can see Max and Sassy really don't want to come outside today!  They are smart enough to arrange the straw as bedding inside their house and stay inside where it's warm and dry!

Stay warm everybody!!