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Farm Q's and
Farm Q's and A's
So, for those of you who don't know, I live on a farm! I was taking care of our ducklings yesterday and this idea just hit me like a bullet. I want to share my knowledge with you! Ask me any farm-related question, like gardening stuff, animal stuff (although, I don't know much about cows, pigs, or horses, as we don't have any yet), electric fences, and more!
I also know a lot about exotic pets, if you're suddenly gripped with an extreme curiousity about rats, mice, geckos, ferrets, parrots, hand-raising mice or wild birds, or the not-so-exotic bunny rabbit.
P.S. I think that the 'post type' addition is cool! How/when should I use it? (I wasn't exactly sure what I should have labled this one as.)
Chip says, "Gggv!" Wow, Chip, you sound like you're speaking gibberish. Maybe you should--what's that? Oh, I get it. You want a green bean. Here you go.
submitted by Micearenice, A Farm
(April 9, 2016 - 1:12 pm)
(April 9, 2016 - 1:12 pm)
Oh my gosh, this is perfect.
For all the writers on here, we should just make this thread about sharing stuff about settings and what the land is like and what people are like where we live, etc. I've been looking for this forever!
I actually am writing a story about a girl who lives on a farm, and I do have some questions.
1: (If you own farmland) How many acres of land would an average farm have? One that grows corn, soybeans, wheat, etc.
2: What do you do with chickens in the winter? Do you leave them in the coop, or ????
3: What are some ways to keep rabbits, squirrels, and other animals from eating gardens and crops?
And, this is sort of off-topic, but do you have geckos and parrots at your farm? You said you don't have cows, pigs, or horses yet, does that mean you are going to get some eventually?
(April 9, 2016 - 8:59 pm)
We own chickens, but we don't have a farm, so....
2. It depends on the weather. If the snow was really deep, or it was cold we left them locked in, however if the snow was melting a bit, we usually let them out.
(April 10, 2016 - 7:58 pm)
(April 10, 2016 - 7:24 am)
CAPTCHA says Ftop! Good job!
(April 10, 2016 - 7:30 pm)
I live on a farm too!
We only have chickens now, but we used to have pigs, a cow, and horses. We even had a couple goats once.
(April 10, 2016 - 8:38 pm)
Wow that sounds soo cool to live on a farm!!! Technically, we have a fram, but nobody lives on it. It's like one of those delapitated types, with only cows living on it. The barn is all messed up, and I haven't seen it since I was four. We hired a guy to look after stuff there, and to keep buying and selling cows.
Tbh, I wouldn't realky call it a farm.
Anyway, I have some questions
1. what type of farm? Like cattle of livestock or growing stuff?
2. YOU HAVE PARROTS AND FERRETS AND DUCKLINGS?!! OHHH CAN I HAVE SOME?!!!
(nope just kidding)
3. how long do you spend on the farm? Like do you have to work or something?
Those were mostly personal questions . . .
(April 10, 2016 - 11:36 pm)
1. We have a medium-sized garden, but we mostly have animals. Our sheep are pregnant, our goat just had a baby, and we're hoping to get some more animals soon! I'd say we have a more livestock set-up. Our soil isn't that great for crops yet; we're having to lime the soil.
2. I have or have had all the animals in the exotic animal list except parrots, which is unfortunate. I once wanted a parrot, but decided not to get one after intensive research, so I know a lot about them now but I don't have one. (I do hope to have one when I grow up, though! And I'm considering taking in a turtle whose owner wants to give it away. Anybody have tips or advice for keeping box turtles? I checked out a book but I really need advice from people with experience.)
3. We live here on the farm, and every morning and every night we go and take care of the puppies (Artemis and Mr. Benedict, young guard dogs), sheep, chickens, ducks, and goats. I have to jump over an electric fence--it's so scary. I've been shocked before, and it is not enjoyable at all. First your mind goes blank for, like, a milisecond and you can't see or think or hear for only a fraciton of a second, but it feels like a whole second, then it all comes rushing back and you have to get away before you're shocked again. Afterwards, it feels like somebody thumped you really hard where the wire made contact with you.
That's cool that you have a dilapidated farm! I bet if you went back one day you could find some lizards or mice or maybe even snakes there! I don't know why, but I like the thought of an old farm.
(April 12, 2016 - 7:15 am)
Oh, awesome questions, ClassyNat!
1. This is a toughie! I had to google this one, 'cause our farm is smaller than an average farm. (43 acres) It said that the average farm size in the US is 441 acres, in this day of age, but the average farm size in 1900 was 141 acres.
2. Our chickens are fine in the winter; we let them out just the same as always. We let them free-range, which is good and all, except they can get eaten by a fox easier. (Which is just what happened. I would love to rant all about it, but it's probably best if I don't.) Chickens typically eat more in the winter due to a lack of bugs, and they also don't lay as many eggs.
3. There are many ways to keep these pests out of your crops. Here is some info you can use to create a method for de-pesting:
-Squirrels aren't typically a problem unless you live near the woods. Otherwise, you might have to resort to desperate measures: A gun or a specialized electric fence
-Rabbits, well, they're everywhere. The best way to keep them away is to have a fence that is either electric or goes slightly underground so they can't dig under it. One time a baby bunny snuck underneath the electric fence that goes around our garden and we caught it! It was cute. We set it free in the woods.
-Raccoons will eat your corn. They are the most awful pest ever! They almost always have rabies! Don't let your guard dogs near them unless you have given them rabies shots!!! We've caught lots of raccoons using baited traps. They'll eat anything, so it doesn't matter whether you put rotten turkey, bird seed, or tuna as bait.
Electric fences are great, but in the olden days they didn't have any. I don't know what time frame your story is set at, so you may have to create some of your own methods! (Electric fencing is always our go-to. It's easy, inexpensive, and teaches the animals that silver wire is bad.)
4: I LOVE pets, and I have lots of not-typical-farm-animals around the house, but unfortunately, I don't have parrots. I did want a parrot once, and did tons of research on them, but in the end I decided I had too many animals.
5: We are hoping to get cows, horses, and pigs one day!!! I'm really hoping for horses. But we still have a fairly small stock of animals, and are preparing for larger animals by keeping goats and sheep.
I hope this was helpful to you, ClassyNat!
(April 11, 2016 - 9:10 am)
Chickens are usually fine in the winter, just make sure that the coop they sleep in has no drafts and is dry. When it snows we put straw on the ground to keep their feet off the snow and to give them something to do, because Chicken + Straw = EXTREMLY HAPPY CHICKEN!!!!!!!!
(April 11, 2016 - 1:04 pm)
Thanks!
(April 12, 2016 - 6:56 am)
(This is Mice)
We have these two barn swallows who come back to our eaves year after year, and one of them hit the window today. It's still alive, and I'm giving it water every twenty minutes. I think it may have broken its wing, but it's kind of exciting caring for a wild bird that you'd otherwise not be able to see.
(April 13, 2016 - 4:43 pm)
That happened to us once. A Canadian goose got abandoned by its parents so we had to take care of it. It was so darn cute! Ahhhhh, dying of remembering how cute it was!
(April 21, 2016 - 12:36 pm)
That's cool, but also not cool. Poor birdie!
One time I was at my friend's house and we found this baby bunny that got run over by a lawn mower. We tried to take care of it but I think it ended up dying.
I hope your swallow turns out okay!
(April 13, 2016 - 7:06 pm)
I answered your questions, but I don't know if you saw them. They got buried amongst other posts, but they're right underneath your questions.
(April 14, 2016 - 6:54 am)
Oh yeah, I did see your post. Sorry, I keep forgetting to check threads. :P
Anyway, that's really interesting! Also, thanks, I would like to visit is again sometimes, but my mom is petrified of reptiles, so . . .
(April 18, 2016 - 2:42 am)