Relaxed Farming - our farm in your classroom

A truly horrible day outside: icy winds (from the east), heavy rain and VERY sodden ground. The goats and then the sheep all came back up to the barn, the chickens got soaked as they ran from their house to the feeders and the rabbits stayed firmly in their hutches. And then there were the alpacas and the ducks!!! You might think we had brought another alpaca onto our holding but this is in fact Jupiter, our once WHITE and fluffy looking boy. Quite why he is so dirty is a bit of a mystery but as you can see by the expression on his face, he thinks it is all very amusing!! He and Neptune had access to their stall in the barn all day but chose to stay out.
We have decided to let them graze on the grass in the area outside the poultry paddock as a bit of a change. The poultry paddock grass is not looking good with all this rain and is getting muddy again so the more we can keep the two boys off the better. This does of course mean they are not ALWAYS with the poultry but instead are the other side of the fence. Once again we are holding onto a small bit of faith that the fox will keep away. We heard from a friend that another friend of ours was out shooting foxes at the weekend and killed four and it may be that one or more of 'our' foxes were within that four!!
Jupiter and Neptune are still very visible if the fox gets in with the poultry so fingers are crossed!! We are also at the time of year when daytime raids get less common as there is lot more 'natural' food around for the foxes.
The ducks of course love this weather and dabbling in puddles is true 'Duck Heaven'. As you can see from the photo, it is getting dark but with more puddles to explore, the ducks were not at all keen to go inside their house...