Critters Part One

I know I promised Global Village pictures, but I wanted to show you some more of the critters that live here with me. I should also probably say right up top here that I am not a livestock expert in any way, shape, or form, and everything I know about these animals I've learned in the past couple weeks. So if I get anything terribly wrong, I'm sorry! Mostly, you should not listen to me and just get overwhelmed by cuteness instead.

Baby chicks you already know, but they're so dern cute, here's another shot.

The goats mostly hang out in this swanky barn with a world class view.

But everyday we take them out to a pasture or wooded area to eat. Whereas cows are grazers, which means they graze on grass, goats are browsers, which means they browse around and eat other stuff, too, like leaves. Poison ivy is apparently one of their favorite foods. Here are some gals browsing.

And this is an alpaca. Pretty much all I want to do is hang out with them. And then steal their fleece.

And speaking of animal hair, check out Clementine! She is a Scottish Highland cow. I think she looks like a part-Muppet cow.

And here are Stephanie and Rufus having some amazingly cute Mama/Baby time.

This, by the way, is the view off the porch of our house. The cows graze rotationally, which means they graze in one spot for a few days, then get moved to the next patch of pasture. That way they never graze one section down entirely, and by the time they make the whole loop the grass has regrown, helped, of course, by the cow poop dropped all over fertilizing the ground. Another reason to move them around, relatedly, is to get them away from all that poop they dropped, therefore keeping them healthy. Rotational grazing helps us stay sustainable. So, anyway, they are currently hanging out right outside our porch. It makes for good spying on Molly and Rufus, who have definitely become BFFs. Here's the view.

There is one cow, though, who is not in the pasture yet. His name is I.M.O.U. Imou. Sounds like Imoo. Imou is a few weeks old, but his mama died soon after he was born. She got mastitis, which is an infection cows can get in their udders. So Imou lives in the barn with the goats and gets a bottle three times a day. He has a lot of goat friends and really loves his bottle. Hi name, by the way, stands for I'm My Own Uncle because his mother was unintentionally bred with his brother. Remember when we were all surprised by Rufus? Because the bull was in with the cows one day and nobody realized anything had happened? Yeah. IMOU! He is a Randall Lineback, of which there are only about 200 of left in the world. They were first bred here in New England and are one of the few breeds that work for milk and meat and draft power. There is a push to increase their numbers, and Overlook is helping. Anyway, here's the cutie pie.

And last, but certainly not least, is Pudge, the sort-of farm dog. He actually belongs to Donna, the livestock lady, but he is here with her every day. He pretty much runs the place and gets whatever he wants, as you may be able to tell.

So those are some of the animals we have here at the farm. Be on the lookout for Critters Part Two!