HOT CHICKS (not really)
It’s been a interesting week on the farm, with ups and downs and all the usual trials and joys of summer. I wanted to pop in just to fill you in on some of the news around here. Heat has slammed into the farm with all the force of summer’s roar after the solstice and strawberry moon has passed. The animals all have their own ways to manage in the heat, and none of them do the silly thing we do - which is fuss about it. Humans get hot and then complain, get worked up, slide into the discomfort of it all only to think of personal suffering in that moment. A hot human being has zero concept of perspective, impermanence, none of that. A hot human is just hot and either resentful of it or bitchy until they are not hot. But if you can just slide into the heat, let the body pour our sweat, find a shady place and a cold drink - it is amazing what a lack of fuss can do for personal climate control.
As for our animals: the pigs wade in a pool of mud until their bellies are coated and then walk their mud-bathed stout bods up a ramp into the barn where they snooze on clean hay in the open air of the shady barn. We set up a fan in there and with the front and back doors open of our small barn (not much larger than a fat one-car garage) it seems very comfortable. There’s a swallow’s nest above where the pigs sleep and I think those little barn swallow babies will be the safest little babes in the world. No predator that snatches eggs or baby birds is going to tussle its 500+ pounds of snuffling porkers. Pigs are adorable as babies, with a lot of personality and cleverness - but around 4-6 months old they just become sentient biceps - muscle with a brain. And they don’t tolerate triflers.
The chickens are all free-range and on hot days that is a blessing. They have access to the woods, brush, shade, the stream. In the real hot blast of the day they are practically missing from the farm and silent. Its like we have only songbirds out there. But dusk and dawn they are out looking for grubs, seeds, their feed, their water from the well.
The horses have the shade of both their field shelter and the forest we opened up for them. A full trough of water, a fly spray, the permission to just chill out and not be ridden or harnessed in the full heat is all they ask. I oblige.
The rabbits need a little more attention. They get to be out in the shady bits of grass in their tractor. They have a large water bowl in there, feed, platforms to rest on that aren’t wire cage buttons, forage, feed, and frozen water bottles to rest beside. They are the most prone to being hurt by the heat so checking on them a few times a day is best. So far they are all doing fine. One female bunny was sold to a local rabbit farmer. The rest are still available but will probably end up going in our freezer. We are not sure if or when we will breed again this summer. I guess we’ll see how Shannon likes her own homegrown rabbit curry first?
The sheep and the goat are all pros at heat. They have their morning grain and a giant water trough and plenty of shade to sleep it off. They are out eating more after sunset and into the nigh. We will move their pasture fencing soon, but I am hoping they eat more of the scrub before I do.
That’s the work of most of this week, keeping everyone comfortable. Including myself. Which is why I hope that by 3PM today I am floating down a river with the security of making a sale or two before. It’s been such a hard month to make money but I remain hopeful. I’ve certainly gotten through worse. And so that’s where I am leaving you today, on a note of hot critters, hot people, hot hopes, and a hot day.
Stay cool and kind!
P.S. The art posted a few days ago is still all available to purchase! Name your price and send me an email and it is yours. We still also have rabbits for sale, pork shares for next season, whole chickens, eggs, as well as the usual logos and soap orders you can message us to get! Send a message if you are interested in any of those ways to support the farm! Still working on paying this month's mortgage and not falling behind. Fingers crossed, freezer's full.