Sleepy morning on the farm

[RichZ]

My alarm went off at 5:30 AM as usual. My St. Bernard, Patti, nuzzled me to make sure I got up. Then she went back to bed! My other dogs, Mulder and Scully, never even got out of bed. Usually all three go with me to the door when I get up to take care of the farm animals. Today, they all stayed in bed to wait for my wife to get up later to give them their breakfast.

Out in the barn, Chase was sprawled out in one stall, and Leo was sprawled out in the other, while Rosie was sprawled out in the paddock. Usually the horses are waiting for me to give them their breakfast. Leo and Chase got up when I said "Breakfast you guys!" Rosie didn't. I went out to the paddock and told her "Get up sleepyhead!" She rolled over and wanted a tummyrub. I obliged her for a few minutes, and then told her "OK sleepyhead, no breakfast for you!" She jumped up, broke wind rather loudly, stretched, and ran to her stall.

After I gave the horses their morning feed, I went on to the goats. Brecka, the pygmy goat was curled up asleep. Ivory, the cashmire goat was on her side, and I couldn't even tell if she was breathing. When I went into their stall, Brecka sat up, but Ivory didn't move. Alarmed, I sat down beside her and rubbed her belly and asked "Are you OK, girl?" Nothing.

I actually shook her, until her head slowly moved. Finally, she slowly looked at me and greeted me with a huge belch.

Through all this, the barn cats, Rusty and Trouble, slept in the hay loft. Usually, they follow me around the barn as I give everyone their breakfast (they get theirs, too!), and then they meow for their morning tummyrubs. I sat down on the barn floor and called them. They slowly climbed down, creeped into my lap, and both promptly fell back asleep.

I guess none of us can take these April snow storms!! Not even the critters. I think we're all depressed waiting for spring to get sprung!!

I think I'll go back to sleep now. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]

[JohnMiller3]

<font color="blue">I think I'll go back to sleep now... </font color>

Great story Richie...! [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Everyone but you, got a "tummy rub"... [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img]

What happened...? [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

[egon]

Strange but me be sleepy this morning too.

Egon

[RichZ]

John, sometimes, it's better to give than receive!!! [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

I get as much fun out of giving my furry friends their tummyrubs, as they do from getting them!! I'll bet even most horse owners don't have a horse that loves tummyrubs!! My Rosie is an unusual little girl!! [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

[Fawteen]

Glad to know I'm not the only one that treats my 'livestock' like pets.

Most of my sheep think they're puppy dogs. I've got one lamb in particular this year that I call Fearless Fosdick. I don't know if it's courage or ignorance, but that little feller ain't scared of ANYTHING, including my 400 pound llama. Fearless was puttin' the horns to him to get him out of the feed dish this morning. Fearless is about 6 or 7 weeks old and weighs all of 10 pounds. Plays with the dog, chases her all over the place. Followed me right into the mudroom last night and was contemplating coming up the stairs to the house.

I'd have let him in too, just to hear my wife's reaction!

He's not big on tummy rubs, but he likes to have his cheeks and ears rubbed, and his back scratched.

If I can tread a fine line between keeping him tame and having him get too agressive towards people, I'll keep him, as I need a replacement ram anyway.

[RichZ]

All our critters are pets. Even the working animals, like the barn cats are pets. We even give the chickens the best life possible. We keep them for eggs, not meat.

Our objective is to have a working, profitable farm, where no animal has to die for us to profit. Now will come the hard part, as we prepare to get into dairy goats. We even have plans on what to do with the male kids that are born, and the plans do NOT include slaughterhouses.

We're not vegatetarians, but we get attached to all the animals we raise, and could never have them killed. So my tummyrub time always increases!!! [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[Argee]

<font color="blue"> My alarm went off at 5:30 AM as usual. </font color>

It was still 4:30 AM to them.
The critters haven't changed over to daylight savings time yet. Theyr'e on their own clock. [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Fawteen]

I hear ya.

I got no problems packaging my own chickens, no personality there, but I can't bring myself to do my own lambs. I had a nice, neat arrangement with my butcher: He'd come over with his stock trailer, I'd help him load them up, and then a couple of weeks later, I'd go over to his place and get these nice, neat, freezer-ready packages of lamb chops. Unfortunately he retired last fall.

Every cloud has it's silver lining however. Now that I have to truck my own critters to the butcher, SWMBO authorized me to buy a new trailer... [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

I figure you can be buddies with them, give them the best life possible, and then do what has to be done when the time comes.

But then, as I tell the locals, I was raised on a farm. I've been knocking my pets in the head and eating them since I was a kid... [img]/forums/images/icons/ooo.gif[/img]

[RichZ]

True, Argee, but yesterday they were up and ready for me. They're usually up and waiting long before I go out.

I think it's the weather! That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!! [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

[RichZ]

I understand, Fawteen, but that's the only aspect of farming that we can't handle. Can't kill our critters. We're not against eating meat, but we can't kill a critter we know.

Happily, we're not alone. One of my buddies is a full time, fourth generation dairy farmer. They do anything they can to try to avoid their baby bulls turning into veal, which is what we're going to do with our male goat kids. My friend and his wife and kids have even become vegetarians, which is more than we've done. Pretty interesting for a couple who were both raised on a farm. He also retires his dairy cows to pasture when they're no longer productive. No cow of his will end up as hamburger!!

I have tremendous respect for the way he operates his farm. My wife and I intend to emulate his operation.