Jul 19, 20242 min read

The Summer Heat is On

I started writing this post last week when it was super hot out. It's still hot but not like it was at the beginning of the month. I hope everyone is having a wonderful July so far. Most of my siblings came out to the farm at the beginning of the month for my sister's family baby shower. It was great to have most of the family out.

A lot of progress has been made on the farm! My uncle was out and helped get most of the bathroom structure up and the well pump for the new well has been installed so we no longer have to haul water out to the alpacas!

The Tennessee alpacas never played in water before! The alpacas in Minnesota have been playing in water for years! They now have a kiddie pool to wade in (though there are always a few that prefer the water bucket!) and are no longer afraid of getting their legs and bellies hosed down to help keep cool on hot days!

The chickens are now in their tractor. They are in the alpaca pasture to help with pasture management and get moved along once or twice a day. The alpacas were not sure what to think about them at first! This is the first time we've have Freedom Rangers. They are a big bird but so very docile! They are one of my favorite breeds we've raised so far!

The jersey cows have moved a few times now. My dad finished the shelter in the small pasture and the jerseys went over for a few days so that they could eat down some of the big grasses that the alpacas don't like. They then escaped! My dad was coming back up the road from the alpaca barn and the cows were trotting down the roadside. They went back to their old home until the hay was done being cut and moved and they went over to where the highland cows used to live. They are so happy with their new big pasture and the boy alpacas moved to their new space too.

The pigs moved over to where the jerseys used to live and will help eat all the hay the cows left on the ground. They were getting to be a handful in their old area. The little girl had discovered she could go under the gate. The dogs would chase her back in so not really a big deal. The issue was the big boy was scratching his back on the fence and realized if he got the right angle he could pop the fence panel off the post. There was no stopping him then! And where the dogs kept the smaller pigs in, Louise thought that the big boy was close enough in size to her that they could go on adventures together and be BFFs. So when the hot wire pig fencing arrived we got them moved over to their new spot and they are enjoying it!