This morning I woke up to another warm sunny day! It is still cold at night so my pajamas are still winter clothes, but after feeding everyone outside I think shorts and flip flops are needed. For anyone reading this who lives in a place where January weather is snow, this is a normal Southern California “winter.”

I prepped the dishes of sweet feed, alfalfa pellets and a mixture of cracked corn and chicken pellets. On the way out to the barn, I stop at the back porch to feed the outside cats. I was greeted with many welcoming meows. Then, I fed Shadow the sweet feed and Donks the alfalfa pellets near the barn. Today, they get to come back out to the front pasture so they didn’t get hay. We want them to be hungry and eat all these weeds.

I journey to the goat pen with two empty pans, one full pan of corn and chicken pellets and a couple flakes of hay. A wild chicken, who lives in our barn, was eating the cat food I just poured. I yelled at her and tell her to get down. Bandit, our Australian Shepard, knows that means I probably need his help. Bandit chased her until she flew over the fence. (No chickens were harmed.). I called Bandit to me, gave him pets and told him he was a good boy.

Finally. we make it out to where I can see the goat pen. That also means the goats and chickens can see me too. The goats call out dramatically as if they haven’t eaten for weeks; they do this every morning. Then, the baby berries, Blueberry and Kissy come running and flying towards me! They are so excited I am there to feed them. They let out little peeps as we all walk together to where I feed them. I split up the flakes of hay and throw them over the fence into separate piles so they don’t fight each other. Then, I throw handfuls of the chicken feed on both sides of the fence. Some for Kissy, the babies and Momma on the outside and some for the goat rooster, Blondie. (Why we call him the goat rooster is a story for another time.) Angel, the pig, eats as much of the chicken feed as she can find before she goes on to eating the hay she is supposed to eat.

My job of feeding is all finished. Mom let out the chickens from the pen so they can scratch. I went to open up the back gate so Shadow and Donks could graze the rest of the day. As soon as I headed for the gate, Donks watched me and started walking my way. Once it was opened up he started running. Shadow watched as he ate Donks’ pellets. Don’t feel bad, Donks was over there eating Shadow’s sweet feed.

I made coffee and grabbed my laptop so I could go back outside to work. When I went outside, the first thing I saw was Shadow and Donks both out front cleaning up the left over hay from when I fed the goats. I was glad to see them both out here ready to munch.

Oh, the joys of feeding on a farm. The animals may not always do what I want them to do, but it’s okay. I love them all so much. I am so grateful that I get to be here experiencing this everyday.

-Cassidy