Stuck in the Fence

It's a stormy morning here on the farm.

It started hailing while I was finishing up with the milking.
Brrrr!

Poor Annie was stuck in the fence this morning.
I don't know how long she was there.
She couldn't stand up for about 10 minutes after I got her out of the fence.
Matt had to come out and help me get her up. Matt is bigger and stronger than me.
Annie is really big so it's hard for me to move her myself.

She's in a stall with a heat lamp because she was shivering.
She is eating and drinking, and able to stand up.
She had some painkiller called Equiox.

I'll keep checking on her throughout the day. It's a cold, windy day so we want to make sure she stays warm and dry today. She will be fine, but it will probably be 2 weeks before she doesn't walk with a limp. Her back right hip is sore from being stuck.

Ronnie, the new turkey hen, is so friendly!
Quin and Xander love her.

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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.

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. We don't have a calf right now, but we are hoping to get one sometime this year.

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. That's 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 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. 

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).

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 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 and Echo.
Milk goats need protein and fat to make milk.

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, 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.

*     *     *     *     *     *

Everyday we move Midnight's food because the chicken and the neighbor's kittens eat it.
Today we put it on the top of the hay stack.

Next week 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!

Veteran's Day

I love living in the United States! There are so many different types of people who live here. More often than not we work together to make life better everywhere.

I think about the different people that I know and all the things they do in our community. We have postal workers, dentists, doctors, police officers, farmers, people who raise livestock, teachers, builders, electricians, veterinarians, bus drivers, paramedics, fire fighters, mechanics, and hundreds of other people who do things in our community.

We have special days during the year that we honor different groups of people. You've heard of Mother's Day, Father's Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Teacher Appreciation Week (teachers get a whole week!). You may have heard of Secretary's Day and Boss' Day. Did you know there is a Veterinarian's Day?

Today is a special day, too. We celebrate Veterans Day!

Veterans have worked in the military. You may think that all they do is fight for freedom or defend us. They do much more than that! Men and women can serve in the military.

Do you know that a person in the military can do almost anything that a person outside the military can do? The military has veterinarians, surgeons, dentists, doctors, nurses, teachers, electricians, fire fighters, paramedics, cooks, linguists, computer programers, pilots, mechanics, and so many other jobs!

Once they are done serving our country, (you and me!) they are back in our community with a dedication and sense of service that strengthens our community and our country.

Do you know someone who served in the military?

Here are some people that we know that have served. See if you can recognize their names.

Nathan Hahn (Navy and Army)

Tom Harvey (Navy)

Mark Talboe (Airforce)

Nicole Neil (Navy)

Here is what Nicole Neil said today on Facebook:

I am bound, for life, to a most prestigious group of men and women. 

Many I have never met, some I know, and some will always be in heart.

They are my brothers and sisters of the military, who share my love of this country.

You can criticize and demean, even question the how and whys of this group who gave their all....

But for me, I have total admiration and respect for every one of them.

Thank you for your service.

I know many more people who have served in our Armed Forces but I don't have pictures of them.

I am so grateful for these men and women who have been willing to sacrifice years of their life to protect and serve people in the United States and in other parts of the world. While I am sitting in a warm house writing this post on a computer I know there are many women and men around the world who are serving in places that I would probably run away from! Because of their service I can work in my barn. Because of their service I can write to you!

Some things I have learned from these wonderful people is hard work, dedication, and team work. They are willing to defend anyone, whether those people like them or not. The freedom we enjoy isn't really free. Someone was willing to work for it, and in many cases they are willing to fight for it.

If I have something that is really hard for me to do or learn, I often think about these men and women who have also worked hard, and were dedicated to a goal.

When I have someone who is difficult to work with, I remember how a team of people can accomplish more good than one person alone. Your teachers are a 'team' who work together to teach you!

Today and tomorrow I hope that you look around and find someone who has served in the military.

I hope you say, "Thank you for your service!"

Do something kind 

for someone else

every day!

If you want to read another post about Veteran's Day, please check this link.

Getting Ready for Winter

I hope you had a fun Fall Break!

We got some work done around the farm during Fall Break. We have to clean the barn every fall. Barns always get messy and dusty. We bought 200 bales of hay, which should last us most of the winter. We use about 35-40 bales every month. 200 bales is about 5 months worth of hay.

What month will it be 5 months from now?

There are 84 bales of hay on the trailer.
There are more hay bales inside the barn.

Mice always live in barns. I usually don't see many until we clean.
The places where the mice like to hide are disturbed when we move boxes,
throw away trash, sweep, and tidy up the barn.
Then they come out of their hiding places and I see them.
Mice are cute, but they carry disease, they chew holes in things, and they make a big mess.

We also use people's old food storage to feed the animals. Goats and other farm animals are a little bit like people. Some food they like, and some foods they don't like.


They love old noodles! It was so much fun to hear all their crunchings and munchings!

*     *     *     *     *

Quin and Xander were here last weekend. Their dad built us a nice wood shed on the side of our storage shed. They also got to sleep overnight, which is always fun for me!

We have a very big wood pile from a few weeks ago when we cut down the trees.
We'll burn the wood in our wood stove when it's very cold outside, and we'll use it when we go camping next year.

It's all done and we moved some of the wood into the shed.

You might think that since it's open on one side it will get full of snow so the wood will get wet. The wind and snow blow from the north. The shed opens on the south so the wind and snow will hit the other side of the shed. This side should stay out of the wind and weather.

We stack the wood on pallets so the logs stay off the ground. Wood gets wet and attracts bugs if it sits on dirt. Wood doesn't burn well if it's wet. I don't want to bring bugs in the house, either.

*     *     *     *     *

The boys help with chores when they sleep overnight.
Xander isn't afraid of Loki so he helps feed the calf.

Quin loves Lucy, the chicken.

Lucy is one patient hen!
She lets everyone hold her.

Quin and Xander help feed the chickens, too.
Look closely at the chicken's back.

This chicken's back looks almost the same.
It looks like someone cut her feathers off with a pair of clippers!

A few weeks ago I told you the chickens were molting. They were loosing their summer feathers and getting new feathers for winter. These chickens lost a lot of their feathers! This is what it looks like when their new feathers are growing in.

We were given some new chickens.
They will live in the back of the cage for a few days until they
realize that this is their new home.

The other chickens have to get used to them, too. The chickens can get to know each other through the cage wall, then when they recognize each other as friends I can let the new chickens out to run around the barnyard.

Our friends also gave us their turkey hen.
She is very friendly so we will keep her for a long time.

Sometimes I put eggs in my pocket when I'm doing chores.
My head gets thinking about other things and then I forget there are eggs in my pocket.
Time to wash my coat!

I'm so happy to show you that the geese like me!



The geese aren't afraid of people unless someone runs after them. If you run after an animal, they run away.

There are always snacks on the farm.
Quin likes cookies and cocoa after he helps with chores.

Do you help with chores at your house?

What things are you doing in your yard and house to get ready for winter?

Do you think you could work hard enough to live on a farm?

Remember to 

Do something kind 

for someone else

every day!