Flood Farming

We thought you might be interested to know what it's like to have this much wind and rain on a farm...

It could have been a catastrophe with the animals, but with all the kids helping, we managed to rescue them, one group at a time...

This aint no duc' tape weather!!! If it wasn't hinged, staked, or bolted down, then it's no longer here. The layer hens did fine in their egg mobile, but the meat chickens had another story. They were all cozy in the Greenhouse for a few days... until the cover blew away --- oooooh no! But we got there in time to move the birds to a secure location.

Moving the birds turned out to be the best part of the storm for Joseph, because he got a chance to practice his 4-wheel driving skills. Actually, I was still putting my boots on when I saw him down by the creek and thought, "I hope he's not planning on driving through that!" Well, he sure was, and by the time I got there, he'd already been back and forth a few times. I just had to laugh and then reflect on my own youth thinking, "Funny, I wonder who he got that from."

The little pigs needed extra bedding in their hutch. They lay down next to one another (and even on top of each other) to keep warm. The main idea is to help them with a dry space, then nature works it out from there. The big pigs carry enough fat on them to weather any storm, and they usually stay under trees for cover, so they were all okay. 

The cows are big enough to handle pretty much anything - except maybe lightning. Here they are coming up to us in their current pasture. We called them in to look them over... all present and accounted for!!! 

So we've got some clean-up to do, but all in all we seemed to have weathered the storm pretty well. It presented a good opportunity to react together in a semi-emergency situation. The kids fell right into our family hierarchy of leadership (with obedience and respect to one another) as the various dangers were systematically calmed.

All has ended with reflection, stimulating conversation, and peace... Another bonding experience for us in "Life on the Farm."