Dawn til Dusk

Day begins early at the farm. Though with our brief summer fading to fall, day break comes a wee bit later each morning.

Its dark when Jonah and I head out to do our morning chores.

First we feed and water the cats, the rams (who are in the barnyard this time of year), the goats and the pigs. The chickens are busy in the early morning so I leave them to their work, and feed them later in the day when I gather their eggs.

The sheep have spent the night in the yard, and by the time the other animals are fed daylight has arrived, signaling it is now (relatively) safe to take them to their pasture.

The coyotes and wolves tend to hunt at dusk and dawn when the light is dim and shadows for hiding are abundant. (Unless they are really hungry, in which case they will hunt at any time.) So I wait for full daylight before taking them out, and bring them in for the night before the sun is down.

The sheep know the drill - they and Bonnie run to the gate and wait when they hear me coming. In this case the gate is 3 strands or portable electric wire that sub divides the pasture into smaller paddocks - more efficient for grazing and easier for Bonnie to supervise.