The Slowcook at Spydog Farm The Slowcook at Spydog Farm

Morning Chores

January 21st, 2014 · No Comments · Posted in farming

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I’m up by 5:30 a.m. and my first job this time of year is to start a fire in the wood stove. Today, outside temperatures dropped below zero and the temp inside the house had fallen to less than 60 degrees Fahrenheit. I gather some kindling and select a few logs that look like they’ll ignite fairly easily. I light a fire starter and nestle it in the kindling, then arrange the logs.

While the fire is building, I feed the cats, Blue and Mr. O’Malley. Typically they each get a small handful of dry, no-carb cat food. But this morning we ran out of the dry stuff so they were in luck. I opened a can of 100 percent fish.

Believe it or not, after checking my e-mail and the weather forecast, I next turn my attention to writing this blog. If you ever wondered why I have so many typos and grammatical errors in my posts, it’s because they’re written in less than an hour while I’m still rubbing sleep from my eyes.

As day breaks, I dress for outside: ski mask if it’s really cold, winter cap, Carhartt hooded coat, Muckmaster boots and Gore-Tex gloves. I typically don a headlamp so I can see my way around inside the shed where I keep the animal feed. And if it’s very icy, I also stretch Yaktrax cleats over the bottoms of my boots.

Water for the sheep and Jersey heifer, as well as for the chickens, it heated so I don’t have to worry about it freezing. I replenish as needed from the frost-free hydrant located near our permanent paddock. But the goats–Dolly and Tanner in their enclosure, and Tigger in his pen–drink out of five-gallon buckets. The water will freeze solid and need to be replaced. I put the frozen buckets next to the wood stove in the living room to melt overnight.

If I need to replace water buckets, it’s time to start the pickup truck. That means scraping frost from the windows. With buckets in the back of the truck, I head down the drive first to the goat enclosure and tool shed. After replacing water for Dolly and Tanner, I grab small handfuls of grain and feed them a treat. They are usually waiting for me eagerly, standing at attention on the other side of the portable electric fencing. I also replace their water bucket and toss an armful of hay over the fence for the goats to feed on the rest of the day.

With the truck, I can deliver feed to all of the animals in one go. First, I load about two pounds of heifer mix in a feeder for Emily. Into that bucket goes a small bowl with about a cup of grain for Tigger, the boy goat. I add three big scoops of grain to the chicken feeder, and on really cold days there’s a bucket of grain for the sheep as well.

Back in the truck, I drive another 100 yards to the main paddock and pour grain for the sheep into a length of plastic rain gutter located in pasture just outside the paddock. Then I open the paddock gate to release the sheep, who sprint to get their grain. I like mornings when the sheep enter the pasture, because I can then give Emily her grain, close the paddock gate and she can eat unmolested by the sheep. I unlatch the gate to Tigger’s pen, give him his bowl of grain and replace his water.

With two buckets of frozen water and the chicken feeder in the back of the truck, I drive in reverse back up the driveway to a point where I’m only about 50 yards from the mobile chicken coop, located just on the other side of some wire fencing in the fruit orchard. I carry the feeder to the coop and unlatch the door. If there’s snow on the ground, the chickens won’t be too anxious to exit the coop. They’re just stare at me and cluck. If it’s snowing hard or raining, I have to put the feeder inside the coop so the grain doesn’t get wet. I check the nesting boxes: often the hens have already laid one or two eggs. I’ll need to come back and check throughout the day so the eggs don’t freeze.

Now I head back to the house. I carry the water buckets to the wood stove, check the fire. I may take my boots off, remove my coat and check the news. When the animals have finished eating their grain, typically I’ll load a bale of hay in the truck and deliver it to the sheep, then open the paddock gate so Emily can join them. Sometimes I need to replenish hay for the goats, which I keep stored in the tool shed.

Otherwise, chores are done in less than an hour. Now it’s time for breakfast….

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