Relaxed Farming - our farm in your classroom

Well... dear Mushroom certainly knows how to chill!!! And she's not the only one. This afternoon when we came down to the smallholding, every single pygmy adult and kid was asleep/resting outside, lying in various heaps all over their concrete apron. Even as we walked around, they hardly moved. At one point Apricot and Fig were actually fast asleep whilst standing up!! All were really soaking up the sunshine which today has been virtually continuous.
We've seen a lot of chewing the cud from the kids these last few days. Their rumens (one of their stomachs) are quite developed now which means they are able to chew their food (hay and goat mix), swallow, regurgitate, chew some more and then swallow again. That way they really get all the goodness they can from it. When they were first born they were not able to do this and so, as with most mammals, only drank milk.
Meanwhile over in the duck house, Banana has gone broody (as we expected) and is starting to sit on her EIGHTEEN eggs which she has now covered with a lot of down (plucked from her breast) to help keep them warm. When she came in to the house last night she had just been for a swim in the pond. This was no co-incidence. By sitting on the eggs when slightly damp, she is making sure that there is enough humidity (moisture in the air) to stop the eggs drying out. As eggs begin to incubate they lose moisture so need to absorb some from the air to replace it. This is essential at the end of the incubation period when if the eggs get too dry, the duckling cannot actually break the shell to get out.
There is usually a period of 2-3 days before the full (almost) 24/7 sitting starts, so Banana may well carry on laying for a couple more days before she starts to incubate properly. BUT 33/34 days from today, we should have some ducklings!! VERY exciting!!!