North Carolina Diary
Also in residence at Reidhill Farms are chickens, rabbits, llamas, a Jersey cow and her calf, a miniature donkey, a Belgian Draft horse, and an assortment of dogs. With a variety of personalities and temperaments, there’s never a dull moment. Diarist Kim Reid described some of the antics of the animals that make life at Reid Hill Farms interesting.
My day starts with feeding the dogs. There is no peace until that is done. We go through 50 pounds of food each week. (That’s not counting the canned food.) Dog bowls have to be put down in the same order each day and in the same spot for each dog. I must stand in the middle while they eat. If anything gets out of order, chaos can break out. Several of the dogs are rescues with a history of physical abuse or neglect. Everyone gets along for the most part and all are healthy and happy living on the farm.
It is interesting to see the routine that the animals have for feeding. When Ursula, the Jersey cow, sees me, she comes into the barn and goes into her stall, waiting for me to close her door and pour her feed so that she can eat in peace.
The goats go outside to the troughs, and the sheep stay inside at the troughs. Jolie, a goat kid, demands to be let into the feed room to eat. If she’s not, she sticks her head through the boards and cries. She is spoiled rotten, and Donny has already figured out that she won't be going anywhere. Her mother, Jewelette, has started joining her.
The llamas come in to their feed and wait until I am standing close to them with the cattle prod before they’ll eat. I have to fend the goats off so the llamas can eat in peace. The goats know that if I am standing there, they are to stay away or get zapped.
I’ve had to nail up boards over several windows in the barn. Because they are small, the Nigerians and Minis can squeeze through places you wouldn't think that they could. The bottle babies are the escape artists. They think they still need to follow me around.
One day while I was hooking up the water hose, Dusty's hyperactive colt, Sparky, reached over the fence and grabbed the toboggan off my head. I had to chase him to get it back.
Tippy the llama and Linus the Jersey calf play tag. Tippy finally has someone that wants to play with him and is big enough that I don't have to worry about him getting hurt.
While watering, Linus discovered the water hose and had a good time picking it up out of the tub and trying to run away with it.
When the weather warmed up, I worked in the yard for awhile, putting down pine needles and picking up around the barns. Rodney the Rooster and Hattie Mae the Bantam hen followed me around. They had a good time scratching up the pine needles as I put them down.
Most of the chickens are in the hen house, but I have three that roam free. Rodney is a good watchdog, chasing any animal or human that he doesn't think belongs.
Thumbalina is my 4-year-old Belgian mare. Dusty in going to break her soon and then train her to pull. Right now she is just a big baby standing well over 16 hands.
When I turned her out one day, she decided that she was going to pick on Patrick, our miniature donkey. He tried his best to kick her, but his back legs wouldn't kick that high. He finally ended up running underneath her belly, reaching up and biting her.
Templeton is a 10-year-old Boer/Lamancha cross that we bottle-fed at birth. He stayed in the house with us and rode in the cart when I went to Lowes or Home Depot. He loves to pose for the camera.
Several days ago, a fox pulled a board off the hen house and killed six hens. Donny tried to blame one of the dogs, but knew he was wrong when we heard chickens screaming during the night and went out and saw the fox. He tried to get a shot at it, but it hid between our two Guardian llamas. Donny has not been too pleased with the llamas since.
Rooster is our 16-year-old Rat Terrier. He has heart and thyroid problems and has had several small strokes. Donny has tried to pronounce him dead several times, but he always bounces back. He has lost most of his hair and is not the prettiest dog, but his eyes are still bright, and he is pain free and happy.
One day, I spent a half hour trying to get McCallum, our black lab, out of the pasture. He is 13 years old, blind and partially deaf. He had a small stroke. He does okay in and around the house, but when he gets into the pasture, he becomes confused and then gets scared.
Inside the house, I vacuum with the help of Tara, our Fox Terrier. As I push the vacuum, she places her toy on top of it and helps with the pushing.
