pictured: sheep time!
today felt like a million days in one. I guess working before breakfast then taking a long break in the middle of the day before working in the evening will do that to you. it may also feel that way because we did a lot.
goats are smart. Sheep are stupid (so we were told, and so far it’s proven true). Which means that the sheep stay where you put them, and the goats - who do as they please - jump about into other animals’ areas. And so that’s how the day started – putting the goats back where they belong…and separating the lambs from the sheep before it was milking time.
Today franz (host) did the milking alone and alex and i fed, cleaned, fed, cleaned, fed, cleaned.
pictured: giving cow milk to a lamb (weird) // me putting lambs in their place (so soft!)
The feeding for the sheep and goats starts by wheeling over the green food - a healthy diet of cut grasses and flowers. This happens three times a day – along with a corn pellet and sliced-bread snack. As I wheeled over all this food (there’s A LOT of it) I couldn’t help but think it’s a big waste of time – seeing as all that green food comes from the field just down the way….but apparently it’s too hot for the animals to be outside in the day and I guess it’s not practical to herd them back and forth for milking twice a day. Anyway it appears they like the convenience food – as they gobble it up really fast. But even after all that grass and a corn snack they are still left looking oh so hungry – so I snuck them a few extra pitchforks full of grass. of course after that, they still looked hungry. Oh well. Sheep are stupid (but so cute!)
As far as cleaning goes - there was a little doody-duty to be had. Okay, lots of doody - sheep, pig, and cow shit to be exact. Cow shit is by far the biggest and wettest. But surprisingly the least stinky (although it feels as if you are sniffing ammonia the whole time…it’s probably just the methane burning the hairs in your nostril.) It was nice to see that the animals are given clean living quarters (unlike the hen house experience back at rosenhill.) I even kind of liked (I know…) scrapping the cow shit off the burning hot cement. It felt a lot like baking a pizza.
pictured: poo time! alex scrapping poo into one big poo pile // cow poo patties - cool!
The more enjoyable things (even more so than the poo-pizza play time) of the day included: teasing the piglets – and touching their noses, holding the new born lambs for bottle feeding, and eating german delights like Bavarian pretzels with sweet mustard (really the best thing ever) and fresh cooked cherries with thick-cut pancakes. Yum.
pictured: piglets being lazy // me teasing the little guys
And as I think about the day I realize that it’s the first time on our wwoof journey that I truly feel like a farmer. Before I just felt like a gardener. But animals put you on a whole new level…because when you no longer care about the flies covering your clothes (which are the kind that bite…not sting, or bite like a mosquito, but bite your skin off) or the poop smeared on your legs – you know you’ve made it to “farmer” level.
pictured: true farmer
pictured: bavaria by night
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