The Fat Ewe Farm and Bed and Breakfast
The Fat Ewe Farm and Moose Hills Inn
Organic Permaculture Farmin' for
the Lazy Ewes
  • The Fat Ewe Farm
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • The Fat Ewe Farm Store
  • Livestock Breeds (click here to see all the breeds)
    • Angora goats
    • Icelandic Sheep
    • Jacob sheep
    • Old English Southdown Babydoll Sheep >
      • Babydoll Sheep on the Fat Ewe Farm
  • Contact Us
    • Photo Gallery (click here for some awesome photos or watch the slideshow) >
      • Video Slide Show
    • Phone Number
    • Map
  • Sale Barn
  • Recipes From the Fat Ewe
    • Old Stuff
  • How Much Meat Do You Get?
  • Ukrainian Easter Eggs
  • Moose Hills Inn

Winter Chores

12/26/2015

0 Comments

 
​One thing that is constant, is that a farmer’s chores are never done. Everyday of the year, the farmer must go and tend to the animals, ensuring they have adequate feed and water and the shelters are in in good, clean order. For those who milk an animal, the time at which the milking is done must remain within an hour either way each day, or the animal may begin to leak and lose the milk, or the body will send a signal that the little one no longer requires milk and hormones will be released which will slow down milk production. That is not always the case, but certainly something to keep in mind.
 
My winter chores are easier this year because of the nay nets. I have put a large round bale or two in each pen and no longer have to fork the hay over daily into the feeders. That has saved both hay and time, but has not contributed to keeping the vegetative matter out of the wool, which I had hoped so much for.  I also wonder if the animals are getting enough to eat. Occasionally, I do fork over some hay and they grab a large mouthful, something they cannot do with the hay nets. When it is very cold, such as this week, they animals cannot eat quickly and go into the shelter to keep warm, either. Perhaps I should offer them free choice hay when it is frigid outside.
 
The only problem for me is that the outside water tap freezes. I am going to buy heat tape and install it tomorrow, which will solve my problem. Currently I go into the house and turn the dryer on, which vents next to the tap and I put a bucket over the two so the heat will thaw the faucet. But, when it is bitterly cold and windy, by the time I am back with the toboggan to refill the buckets, it has frozen again and I have to repeat the process. I had not thought of heat tape because there is no electrical outlet nearby, but I will run an extension cord along the house from the garage and that will allow the heat tape to work.
 
Last year I crocheted a hood hat out of some very soft wool spun by my friend Kara at SpinHeatSpin in Goodsoil, about 2 hours from here. I traded some fleece for the wool and am so pleased with the softness of it against my face. Wool is the best solution for cold windy winter days. Although it ices up, it still stays warm. That is why the sheepies sleep outside in the snow!
 
This winter has been quite mild until now and we have had very little snow, but there is enough to use the toboggan to deliver the water, yay. Everyday there is something else to add to the daily regimen too, like the bumblefoot operation I performed on a hen a few days ago, the treating of ear mites in a rabbit, giving an injection to a goat for a boost  and so on. There is straw to put in the shelters and to repeat that every so often, which builds a bedding pack that helps insulate the place the animals lay or sleep. There is always something! But, I love to be outside in the clean air and love to talk to and pet the animals and am so grateful I chose this farm life. It is truly a beautiful way to exist, winter and all. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Airstream Land Yacht 1964
    Alpacas
    Alpine Goats
    Ameraucana Chickens
    American Buff Geese
    Ancona Ducks
    Angora Goats
    Angora Goats
    Angora Rabbits.
    Babydoll Southdown Sheep
    Babydoll Southdown Sheep
    Bed And Breakfast
    Berkshire Pigs
    Blue Faced Leicester Sheep
    Blue Swedish Ducks
    Boer Goats
    Border Collie
    Border Collie
    Bronze Turkey Standard
    Bronze Turkey (Standard)
    Canadian Horses
    Canadian Horses
    Cats
    Chickens
    Cotswold Sheep
    Crafts And Hobbies
    Cream Legbar Chickens
    Dorset Sheep
    Ducks
    Embden Geese
    E'st A Laine Merino Sheep
    Farm Life
    Farm Life
    Farm Store
    Finnsheep
    Flemish Giant Rabbit
    Flowers
    French Lop Rabbit
    Galloway Cattles
    Gardening
    Gotland Sheep
    Guinea Fowl
    Herbs
    Holstein Steer
    Icelandic Sheep
    Jacob Sheep
    Japanese Bantam Chickens
    Jersey Cow
    Kahaki Campbell Ducks
    Karakul Sheep
    Kiko Goats
    Kilo Highland Cows
    Light Sussex Chicken
    Livestock Guardian Dogs
    Livestock Guardian Dogs
    Maremma Sheepdogs
    Maremma Sheepdogs
    Meishan Pigs
    Miniature Nigerian Dwarf Goats
    Moose Hills Inn
    Muscovy Ducks
    Norwegian Red Dairy Cow
    Nubian Goats
    Nygora Goat
    Ossabaw Hogs
    Partidge Chantecler Chickens
    Pekin Ducks
    Permaculture
    Pied Guinea Fowl
    Polish/Ameraucana Bantam Cross Chickens
    Polled Dorset Sheep
    Potbelly Pigs
    Pygmy Goats
    Recipes
    Rigit Galloway Cows.
    Romanov Sheep
    Romney Sheep
    Rouen Ducks
    Saddleback Pomeranican Geese
    Saxony Ducks
    Sebastopol Geese
    Sheep And Goats
    Shetland Sheep
    Silver Spangled Hamburg Chicken
    Soap And Hand Made Cosmetics
    Standard Jack Donkey
    Sustainability
    Swiss Blackneck Goats
    The Llamas
    The Llamas
    Toulouse Geese
    Tunis Sheep
    White Chantecler Chickens
    White Danish Geese
    Wool

    Author

    Fluffy writes daily about the experiences on the farm and with the bed and breakfast patrons. 

    Archives

    October 2020
    September 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    view old blog site

    RSS Feed

Contact Us
Home

The Fat Ewe Farm 

All text and photos are the sole property of The Fat Ewe Farm  and may not be used without written permission.