In my spare time...

Winter is definately the most labor intensive time of year to have livestock in Michigan.  I am not complaining, I really enjoy the animals and the fruits of our labor, but sometimes it is hard to explain to someone who has never had an animal why they see so little of us this time of year.  So in an effort to TRY to explain myself, here is a glimpse into a typical recent weeknight.

I arrive home between 4 and 4:15PM and Wayne usually has dinner ready (I am very spoiled and he is an AWESOME cook).  After dinner, I pull on what seems like half of the clothes I own in order to keep from freezing to death in the cold and head out to feed the animals.  This time of year we feed a whole grain mix to our pregnant ewes which is specially formulated to give them all of the good stuff they need to help babies grow...  I start by feeding this grain mix to each of the groups of sheep.  They don't get much, but as you might imagine they LOVE it and are waiting for me at the gate.

Starving Merinos...



What's the holdup with the food?

Enough with the pictures already...

Bring on the FOOD!

The Cheviots are pretty sure they got shorted...

Where is the REST of our grain?

The next step is to fill the hay feeders.  A number of years ago we made a GREAT investment when we purchased a "Trail Wagon" vehicle to cart hay and grain around...  This sure beats our previous way of hauling everything around in a wheel barrow (which usually ended up tipping over or getting bogged down in the mud).  We couldn't have all of the livestock we do today if we didn't have this thing - it is a beautiful thing.

When all of the sheep feeders are full, I drive to the back of the property and fill the horses feed pans.  It is really neat how the horses work out their feeding order.  Don't try to do it in the wrong order or you'll have chaos...  We spread out the feeders all over the paddock so that there are no arguments and everyone gets their share.

While the horses are eating their grain, I climb up into the hay mow and throw down hay...

Next, it is back up to the front barn to feed the donkeys and hand feed Barney his Equine Senior Feed.  By this time, it is getting dark and Barney and his co-horts are making their pathetic cries to let me know I have made them wait MUCH too long.  If you have never had the pleasure of hearing a donkey bray, it is such a sad and mornful wail and ALWAYS brings a smile to my face...  Oh they are pathetic - I love them.

Tonight I also filled water buckets for the sheep pens.  Wayne usually has the watering done before I get home but had too much going on today so I was happy to do it.  He does the morning chores and although he doesn't have to hand feed Barney, he gets to feed the birds.

I almost forgot to mention that I had help feeding this evening - Dozer was on hand to critique me

So by the time I am finished, darkness has fallen and I have to find ways to fill my evenings so that I don't crash on the couch.  Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights I go to ZUMBA and on Tuesday nights we have been walking up at the indoor track in town. 

Sometimes I wonder what "regular" people do in their spare time...   Now you know what I do with mine.