Mountain Sunday * 29 November 2015

South of the barn.
29 November 2015

East over the barn.
29 November 2015

North of the barn.
29 November 2015

Mountain Sunday * 22 November 2015

South of the barn.
22 November 2015

East over the barn.
22 November 2015

North of the barn.
22 November 2015

What Do the Animals Eat?

Welcome back!

Are you excited for Thanksgiving vacation next week?

Since you are thinking about all the yummy food you will be eating next week I thought it would be interesting for you to see what types of food the animals on our farm eat.

Your teacher has small baggies with the different kinds of food we feed the animals. You can see and smell the food as you look at the photos.

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This is where the mama turkey and her babies sleep at night.
No, we aren't going to eat our turkey's for Thanksgiving.

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Nutrition is a big word. It means the way animals, plants, and humans take nutrients from food and use them for energy and growth.

If animals, plants, and humans (that's you!) have food that is good for them they grow strong and are healthy. They are able to perform well. That means they are able to do what they were meant to do. 

A milk goat that is given the right nutrition (food, vitamins, and minerals) is healthy and strong. She can give 1/2 - 1 gallon of milk each time I milk her.

A calf that is given the right nutrition is healthy and can grow into a big, strong steer.

Chicks that are given the right nutrition are healthy and can grow into hens that will produce eggs. 

Chickens that are given the right nutrition are healthy and can produce eggs for our family.

Dogs that are healthy can run and play and learn new tricks. They have energy and can help us with the animals on the farm. 

Animals that have the right amount of food and water can stay warm in the winter.

Children that eat the right foods are usually healthy and grow properly. They can learn and do well in school. They can run and play at recess. Now you know why your mother tells you that you need to eat fruits and vegetables every day. You know why she tells you not to eat too many sweets.

People eat different foods to get proper nutrition and stay healthy. Animals need to eat the same things every day to get the proper nutrition and stay healthy. They don't need to eat different foods every day. Most animals will get sick if you change their food every day.

You will have many different types of food for Thanksgiving Dinner. The animals on our farm will have the same food they eat every day.

That may sound mean to you, but it is what is best for the animals. We like to do what will keep our animals healthy and strong!

This is cat food. 
You might know what cat food looks like if you have a cat. 
Cats need to have the same food every day or they may get sick.

This is dog food.
Some dogs eat too much food and get too fat! They are not healthy if they are fat.
Our dogs get fed about 1 cup of food for breakfast and 1 cup of food for dinner.
That is all they need to stay strong and healthy, so that is all they get.

This is called a 'grain blend.' 
If you look closely you can see different types of grain and some pellets in the food.
This is what we feed to the milk goats, Remi, and Echo.
We never feed this type of feed to the bucks (boy goats). It isn't good for them.
We can feed a little bit of this to the chickens, ducks, and turkeys.

This is wild bird food. 
We have bird feeders on our farm.
Do you remember counting the birds under the tree?
This is what they eat.

These are alfalfa pellets. 
They are made from alfalfa hay. We feed a little bit of this to the milk goats, Remi, and Echo. We don't feed them very much of this because we also feed them hay. 
We don't feed this to the bucks (boy goats) because it will cause problems for them.

These are Timothy hay pellets. 
This is what we feed to the bucks!
They don't get very much of this because we also give them hay.

This is called "Calf Manna."
If you guessed that we give this to the calves, you are right! We give it to any animal that needs more protein. You probably eat meat and beans for protein. Protein helps you grow properly. 
Our animals don't eat meat but they need protein just like you do.
We feed Calf Manna to the milk goats, Remi, and Echo. Milk goats need protein and fat to make milk. Remi and Echo need protein to grow.

These are called lay pellets.
We feed them to the chickens and the turkeys. Lay pellets have protein, too! Chickens need protein to stay warm and to make eggs. Some people like to feed chickens 'mash.' It is made up of the same things that pellets are made of, but it looks like corn meal. It looks like the chick starter in the next photo, too.
We like pellets because it doesn't get wasted like the mash does. Chickens can make a mess. If their food is small it can get lost in the dirt when they peck it out of their feeder. Then it's wasted!

This is oat hay and alfalfa hay.
We feed this to the milk goats, the bucks, Remi, and Echo. 
These animals also eat grass in the pasture. In the winter there isn't any good grass on the pasture so we make sure they have plenty of hay to eat.
Can you see the seeds in the hay? Those are oat seeds!

This is chick starter. 
It has the right nutrition for chicks to grow into chickens. It also is small enough for the chicks to eat. They can't eat pellets like adult chickens can because their beaks aren't big enough yet.

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These chickens are hungry!
They are ready for breakfast!

These chickens didn't want to come out for breakfast yet.

Yum! Breakfast is served!


The chicks are growing well because they have good food to eat!

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In an upcoming post I will show you what the animal feeders look like. We have a hanging feeder for the chickens. The chicks have a special feeder for their food. The goats eat their hay out of a special feeder, so do the cows.

When you eat Thanksgiving Dinner this week look at the different types of dishes and bowls that the food is served in. Each dish is made to hold a different type of food. Bowls hold soup and liquids. Different size plates hold different types of foods.

Animals have feeders that hold their food just like you have bowls and dishes to hold your food!

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Mountain Sunday * 16 November 2015

Look closely for something new in pictures 1 and 3.

South of the barn.
15 November 2015

East over the barn.
15 November 2015

North of the barn.
15 November 2015

Farm Friday * 13 November 2015

Welcome Back!

I hope you had fun on your field trip! The people who visited our farm while you were at the zoo had a great time, too!

I see Chuck all puffed up every morning!

This is what he looks like when he walks around.

What does he sound like?

What other sounds do you hear?

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Thank you for your questions!

No, we don't have donkeys.
I think donkeys are adorable!
But they are also very, very loud.
Loud donkeys would be fine if we lived in the country,
but our farm is in town so we don't want loud animals.

Yes, we have cats. No, we don't have kittens.

This is Midnight, the barn cat.
She lives in the barn and has a job to do!
She loves having a treat of goat milk each time I milk the goats.

This is Cookie, she lives in the house.
She is very old! She is 17!
She also loves a treat of goat's milk every day.
Cookie won't drink milk right from the cow, or milk from the store.

No, we don't have rats.
We have cats and they take care of the rats and the mice.

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How many birds do you count in the photo?

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Look how the baby turkeys are growing!

Look how the chicks are growing!

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This is Clover. She gets sick in the winter if she doesn't have a coat on.
Lots of animals grow thick winter coats, but Clover doesn't.
People don't grow winter coats, either!
Clover loves her winter coat because it keeps her nice and warm.
Are you as smart as Clover?
Do you wear your coat in the winter?

This is Misty, she grows a thick winter coat so she doesn't need to wear one like Clover does,
or like you and I do!

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We planted a tree this week, but that night there was a big wind storm and it blew down.

I had to plant it again the next day, and tie it to the fence so it won't fall down again.
Do you see someone nibbling on the tree?

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Thank you again for your questions, I hope you have a wonderful week!

Next week I'll tell you what kinds of food the animals eat.

Mountain Sunday * 8 November 2015

 

South of the barn.
8 November 2015

East over the barn.
8 November 2015

North of the barn.
8 November 2015

Visitors!

We had a fun group of visitors today. There were some old friends who come visit the farm when they are in town, some old friends who live nearby us and love to come visit, and some new friends.

We had a great morning!

We headed out to visit the animals after we had breakfast.

The first stop was to visit the smelly buck
and the two does that are being bred.

We stopped to see the chickens and turkeys eating the garden leftovers.
We watched through the fence because the chickens and turkeys
don't like people close by!

We visited with Zeek and Stew.
Zeek is the buck, Stew is the black sheep.

Stew and Zeek.

We spent some time feeding the goats banana peels and leftover bananas.

These kiddos don't live near a farm.
Sometimes being around animals can be a little scary.
The adults helped the kids pet and touch the animals.

She's not quite sure what to think about the farm!

Everyone asked questions and wanted to know about
the animals.

The last animals we visited were the chickens and turkeys.

We all had a fun morning!