What Life is Like Living on a Farm
What Life is Like Living on a Farm
Three problems that occur when living on a farm are taking care of the farm animals, tolerating the wild animals, and keeping everything in order. Although these problems don’t seem very big, they are huge chores and are often way too much for one person to handle by him or herself. Usually, just as everything appears to be in order and all hard work has paid off, something breaks or a water line burst and chaos, once again, takes control of my life.
Taking care of the farm animals is my biggest and most important problem. Carrying feed and grain to the horses may sound very simple, but if an animal does not eat, he may be sick or overgrazed. Horses are very moody toward each other, and an older and stronger male will sometimes fight the other colts and mares away from feeding. If something like this happens, I have to isolate the horses and carry each one of them a certain amount of feed. Later, I have to return and open the stalls to let them out to water.
Once a week the horses are washed and groomed, and I ride them at least twice a week to make sure that they are staying fit and in good health. Although the horses are given the most attention and require the most care- taking, I also take care of other farm animals. I throw range pellets to the cattle, which have to be counted on a regular basis, and I feed the chickens and dogs, which have to have water carried to them by hand every day.
Along with having to care for the animals on the farm, I am often forced to tolerate wild animals that decide to come along and do whatever they please to the animals on the farm or to the land. Snakes lie around the pond, keeping the livestock from drinking. They will eventually move, but if one holds its ground and strikes, it will cause serious damage and often kill an animal. Black bears love to roll barbed-wire fences into huge balls and play with them, leaving an open space in the fence that has to be replaced. Opossums come into the yard at night just to make the dogs bark and keep everyone in the...