Shelter and Food on the Farm

Last week someone asked if 'farm stays warm for the animals?'

The animals have shelter in the barn. They are out of the wind, rain, and snow. I wouldn't be warm in the barn, but the animals are!

They have winter coats, and their bodies are different than ours are. They have a different stomach than we do. Their stomach produces heat when they are digesting (breaking down) their food. It's so interesting how we are different from animals!

As long as our animals have a place to get out of the wind, rain, and snow, and they have plenty to eat and drink, they stay warm. 

Our barn is just right for our animals.
It provides shelter to keep them warm and dry.

Do you see the little dog house inside the goat's stall?
The baby goats sleep inside so they stay very warm.

I lock the goats inside the stall at night when we have goat kids that are less than 1 month old. Kids are funny and run around. But I don't want them to run around outside at night when it's cold. They aren't old enough for that quite yet on my farm. I think my goats are spoiled, but that's ok. They grow into big beautiful goats and I like that!

Tia and Mia, the baby goats, are the first ones to get fed in the morning. They are so hungry!

The baby goats love to run and play outside, just like children do! They have recess all day, unless they want a nap inside the little dog house.

Baby goats are called kids.
They are so funny and jump on all sorts of things.

They follow me around where ever I go.
They love to jump into the chicken coop as soon as the chickens come out in the morning.

Sometimes kids do silly things.
Tia got stuck on the wagon one day.
Good thing I was right there to get her unstuck!
Do you ever do silly things like that?

We have sweaters on our baby goats for about 2 weeks. When they are about 2 weeks old they are a little smarter and make sure they stay close to their mom, and know how to find their way back to the little dog house for a nap.



My grandsons are home from school. They spent a day with me this week while their mom and dad went to work. They love the baby goats!

No, baby goats don't bite noses. They are babies, and like all babies, they put everything in their mouth to help them figure out more about it.

This is what the chickens sleep in at night.
It's out of the wind, rain, and snow.
They stay very warm inside all night long!

Sometimes a few of the older hens stay inside for a few hours instead of going outside. The sun has been out the last few days, so once I open the door, they all come running out.

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Everyone is storing a little bit of extra food just in case we are asked to stay home. We have a little bit of extra food at home, too!

We were running low on food for the animals because it's the end of winter. Most farmers have enough to last their animals through the winter and into early spring when the pastures start to grow. They usually have enough to last through June when the hay is cut the first time.

Farmers and ranchers are always thinking about what needs to be done now, and next week, and 6 months from now, and next year. We always have to plan ahead.

One of the wonderful things about our neighbors is that they know we have chickens, goats, and cows. We have turkeys and ducks and a sheep, too!

They know that when food isn't good enough for people, it is often still good for animals. Instead of throwing the food into the dump, they bring it to us.

That is a lot of old food storage that our animals will eat! They think it's treats. Shhhhh..... don't tell them it isn't.

Do you know what the goats favorite treats are? Old noodles! They love the way they crunch in their mouth when they are eating them!

The chickens love old wheat!

We also stocked up on hay cubes and hay pellets for the animals since we are starting to run a little low on hay.

Look at those big bags! We had to unload them with the tractor!

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Are you getting ready to plant a garden? Watching something grow can be a lot of fun! Here's a post a did about 8 years ago on growing plants in soda bottles. You might think that's a fun and interesting thing to do right now. 

Sub-irrigation Planters from Soda Bottles

Are you working on writing while you're at home, too? You might like to write an essay and enter it into Provo's America's Freedom Festival. They have prizes!

If you're interested, you can find more information at this link.

Also note that the deadlines for both the essay and art contests have been extended until may 18, 2020. You still have plenty of time to work on them!

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Thanks so much for the comments and question last week!

I love your questions. It helps me to know what things you want to learn about on the farm!

Make it the best week you can!

New Goat Kids

We're a little behind on posting. It's been a weird week with Covid-19, then an earthquake in our state. 

One of the nice things about having a little farm is that the work doesn't end, and it doesn't change much. I have the same chores almost every day. 

Right now that brings a lot of peace and purpose into my life. I am out doing the regular things at least 3 hours a day.

There are so many families that have been thrown into working and schooling from home. It can seem overwhelming! I'm so sorry! My heart goes out to all of you!

Morning snow on the farm.
20 March 2020

A few weeks ago these awesome boys came to help clean the stall so that River could have her kids.

It was more work than they expected.
It was cold.

Shoveling is hard work.

They were so cheerful while they were helping. I really appreciated that! This was so hard for them! This was not fun! The older boy was really so sweet and cheerful. He knew that what he was doing was just what I needed.

You are probably doing school work at home. I bet that is hard, too.

Did you know that if you try to do it cheerfully, it will probably be easier to do?

The photo isn't very good.
It's Mia!
She was up and running around when I got out to the barn
to check on River Saturday evening.

This is Tia.
She had a rough time and didn't get up right away.

I always rub the kids as dry as I can with old towels. I put sweaters on them, too. That wasn't good enough to warm up Tia.

She was so cold that I had to warm her up with a blow dryer for 2 hours.

Animals that have hooves are born with a coating on their hooves
to protect their mama when they are being born.
It's called an eponychium

That's a really long word that means "soft covering on the outside of a newborn's hooves."

Tia started to warm up. Her sister Mia came over to see how she was doing.


Tia tried to stand up, but she really had a hard time.


She didn't really walk much until the next morning.

She's fine now!

Both the kids are drinking bottles well!

I like to bottle feed when I can because that makes the babies so friendly. They follow me around everywhere!

I hope you have a good week. Really, I do! I hope that you can find things that you like to do with your family.

I think you can be cheerful even when you are doing things that you don't enjoy. Try it! It really does make things easier and faster to do!

If you have questions about the farm, please put them in the comments. I'll answer them! 

Shearing Side Kick

The weather continues to get warmer! I think Spring is on the way. It's time for Side Kick to get a haircut. He'll be more comfortable in the summer if he doesn't have his winter coat on.

Side Kick has a very thick winter coat!

Almost all animals have winter coats. Cows, goats, dogs, and cats shed their winter coats without any help. If you brush them, that helps their coats shed, but they can shed it without your help.

Sheep can't shed their coats. They have a fleece. Llamas and Aplacas have a fleece, too.

Sheep need their winter coat to keep them warm in the winter. People like to use their winter coat to make clothing and rugs! I love wearing wool socks in the winter. I like wool blankets and sweaters to keep me warm.

Our shearer has a cement floor to work on.
It's easy for him and for the sheep.
He attaches his equipment to the milk stand.
Side Kick was the second sheep he sheared that night.
He sheared the neighbors sheep, too.

A good shearer doesn't hurt an animal. Most shearers to a great job, just like the person that cuts your hair. You can see in the video that Side Kick doesn't mind getting his fleece trimmed off.

Side Kick is all ready for summer.

It might get cold one or two more times this spring. Side Kick will be fine. He has a stomach that acts like a heater to keep him warm. As long as he has plenty of food and water he will stay warm. He also has a small house to sleep in. He and Teancum the goat sleep together and keep each other warm.

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Sadie is growing!

I thought you might like to see Sadie standing close to Echo so you can see how fast she is growing. She's a little over 3 months old. She's going to be bigger than her mom when she's an adult. Yay! We're so glad that Sadie is growing, and that she is strong and healthy.

She loves to follow me around the farm. She's almost like a puppy. It's pretty fun for me to have a calf that loves to follow me and see what I'm up to.

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Mishka is a silly puppy!
Do you see her favorite toy?
It's around her neck.

We've never had a dog that carries her toy around like Mishka does. She is a bundle of fun! She loves to play and run and go for walks. She is starting to herd the cows like the older dogs. Last night she herded Sadie right into her stall for me. What a smart puppy! We're so glad she belongs to us!

She can be sneaky, too.
She can climb in the window to get into the garage to eat the cat food.

People are smarter than dogs so we figured out a way to keep her out of the cat food.

We are getting a mud room on our farm!

When we come in from the barn we can leave our muddy boots and coats in the mud room so the house stays cleaner. That is going to be so nice!

One thing that we decided to do was have a stair that is hinged. Can you see the hinge on the 3rd step from the bottom?

I put the cat food under the stairs.
Our sneaky puppy can't get in and eat it, but the cats can!

Cat food isn't good for dogs. Cats usually need to have their food out all day so they can snack whenever they are hungry. Look at the first picture and you'll see the space between the wall and the stairs on the left side.

You can see the spot on the second picture where they can come in and out of the spot beneath the stairs. The cats seem to like it. I do, too!

Dogs usually need to be fed once or twice a day. They are more like people. They need meals, not snacks all day. Some dogs will eat and eat and eat if there is food. They don't know when to stop eating so they can get over weight or sick. That isn't healthy for them. They aren't smart enough to stay away from the cat food, either. We might have a sneaky puppy, but we found a sneaky place to hide the cat food from her. I think we found the perfect spot!

Enjoy the beautiful spring weather and have a great week!