Relaxed Farming - our farm in your classroom

And now we are back to rain. Yesterday it rained pretty much all day and as we are so high up here on the moor (over 1000 feet above sea level) when the rain eases we are simply left with mist that swirls everywhere and leaves a dampness in its wake, soaking the animal bedding inside and out. It has made the grass look very green mind you and washed away a lot of the poo. The Chicken Growers' area where all the youngsters live is looking really clean now although as the photo shows (right hand side) it was very dark and dismal in there with the bad weather. The goats all had a full day inside so we raided the polytunnel and found a few Cabbage White infested cabbages, no longer fit for human consumption, but perfect for the goats. They were very gratefully received. As we have our animals on a small amount of land and there is therefore limited space for them to roam and find different foods, we do try to give them 'treats' like this as much as we can. However, these are treats that are GOOD for the animals; they are simply called 'treats' because they don't have them every day.
Only the geese and sheep were daft enough to stay out in the paddock. They of course have 'coats' that are deigned to keep out the wet: sheep's woolly coats are really thick plus the wool is coated in an oily substance called lanolin that stops the rain soaking into the wool. The geese keep dry in a similar way as they coat their feathers in an oily substance that they produce themselves (from a gland at the base of their tail). Their feathers also overlap a lot and the individual 'barbs' really stick together and this also helps prevents water soaking through!
Curds' limp is improving, we think: a day inside may have helped her and she certainly is not 'clicking' as much.