The farm is winter ready - ❤️ Billy the goat loves this time of year ❤️

Yeah, and that's why he smells like he does. Good morning and welcome to the Ten Acre Woods. It is Sunday morning. Got down to freezing last night. So, it's... Time to pull the carrots. Yeah, time to pull the carrots. So next week I'll do a video on... So, Tara will do a video on that. We're just going out to feed and finish our setup. We're pretty much done. I see Billy's over there. Billy. And... Levi. The ponies waiting for their breakfast. Now, something interesting that happened last week is... Well, Billy's been giving off his scent. So, this time of year we have... We have concerns with the girls actually breaking into the front pen to be with him. So, we've locked everybody up in the shelter for the next... I guess the next week or... Yeah. Week or two? Yeah. Because usually it's the beginning of... Halloween. Yeah, or the end of this month. Yeah. So, we'll leave them in there for a little bit. We just don't want babies too early in the spring. Yeah, exactly. And we want to know when they're coming. We don't want no surprises. Yeah. So... So, we've got our hay... Or, sorry, our flax straw... Our straw. Yeah, it's flax straw. I get my hays and straws mixed up sometimes. Flax straw is good for an insulation. You can actually see the frost here in the shadow. That's where I drove the tractor. Because it has oil in it. Flaxseed oil. Which preserves it. That lasts longer. Like, these bales are eight years old. Yeah. And this is our septic field. So, it's a raised septic field. So, it just kind of insulates it in. Prevents it from freezing. And all it's doing is creating a spot for the snow to gather. Yeah, that too. Yeah. So, when people normally put it on their septics, they break open the bales. Thinking it's actually retaining the heat. It's not. It's just... Leave the bales together so that they can gather snow around it. And it just builds up to snow. Yeah, we made that mistake the first year. Yeah. And you use bales every year. So, you're breaking your bales. Here, I just load them up and unload them every year. And then they go back on. There we go. Alright, so water. So, we've got our water system kind of set up. Is there ice in there? Yeah. There's a little bit of ice on it. Some leaves. I cleaned out their water yesterday as best as I could. So, there's still a little bit of staining in there. So, we will throw in the heater. So, the heater goes in this top section here. And I believe we have the... There's the old hose for the summer run. And this here so you can see how it plugs in. It will plug in here. And then we've got it kind of going up and over so the tractor doesn't hit it when we come in here. And then we'll run it around the side of the building and plug in the heater there. So, winters are pretty easy too. So, as long as you plan it, it's like one route through the yard for winter in case it's really cold. Look, the horses are drinking again. Yeah. There's a can there. So, we have what's called ditch hay. And, of course, people throw garbage out the window. And sometimes it gets bailed up. Waiting for breakfast, boys? Okay, get out of my way. Yeah. There we go. Go get it, Billy. Oh, you smell. Yeah, he's got a... He is strong. He's got a smell the girls like. You're a true ladies' man. Can't get enough of the smell, can they, Billy? You're not a fighter, you're a ladies' man. Now they're going to... Levi's going to keep his butt towards them. Yeah. Well, Levi's been a little frisky. He has, yeah. Levi's fixed. So, there's no concern there. And Meadow, of course, is Levi's daughter. All right, boys. Enjoy your breakfast. Oh, Billy. Yeah. And that's why he smells like he does. Not catching any mice in this little trap. No. Yeah, we bought these two of them. And, well, you know, you try different ones. We watched a couple YouTube videos on a guy who catches mice. Edgar's going to have a girlfriend for the winter. Oh. Edgar. Is that your girlfriend? Don't let her out. She's coming out because you think she's... I've been waiting for them to be in there. So, Edgar's fixed. So, he's of no threat, are you, buddy? And this one's a little escape artist. So, did you leave the door open last night? Yeah, on purpose. Ah, okay. Because she had gotten out. So, just left it open and she wandered back in without knowing. Do we know where she got out? Because we haven't been able to... Well, she's got about a hole under there somewhere that goes out the back. Yeah. But... We haven't kind of figured out where she got out. Yes, you're welcome for the hay. I mean, Edgar likes going out, but he's been in here a couple times. So, he's like, yeah, I could rest in here for the winter. Yeah. Oh, yeah. He looks like he's... Yeah. And then at least I know they're contained, right? Yeah. The eagles are out like crazy right now. Not on prey. Like, not on roadkill, but they're... Yeah, I've seen a few fly around. And then we got our boys over here. And they are intact boys, so we want to definitely make sure that they're contained. Yeah, so we filled these grain bins up. The other animals, the goats and sheep, are locked up. So, they're not going to make their way in here. What is it, Fernando? Are you going to be a pain this morning? I guarantee it. Fernando. I guarantee it. We don't know what goes through his head. Bite the hand that feeds you. Peck the hand that feeds you. Pigs are lucky. Now, something interesting about... Stop! That's cheese there, isn't it? Yeah. We give him mice. So, whenever we have something in our hand, he thinks it's a mouse. Even though if it's just something small, it might not even be... Look. I held my hand out. I'm teasing you. Cheers. He's eyeing it, but he's like, no, no. He's side-eyeing. Yeah, so whenever we catch mice, we feed them to him. Cheese and quackers. So, he's all around. Alright, so in the yard. Tank. Morning tank. And, of course, all of the ducks and geese. And the ducklings. So, there's five of them. There's two here. They're always separated from mom. Yeah, I know. There's two there now. The other ones are probably over on the other side. Oh, there's a chipmunk. Is it a squirrel? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, the little red squirrels. They were all over. Yeah, well... Oh, right there. There's the other three. Yeah, it's... She came out with those ducklings a few weeks back, and it's like, ugh, doesn't work this time of year, especially for Muscovy. Yeah, I'm thinking they'll probably have to go in the bottom of where the chickens are. Yeah, Muscovy's... They take about six months to get to adulthood, whereas a Pekin duck, six weeks. So, yeah. Alright, Fernando. Let's go get the rest of the food. And cheese. Oh, yeah, Fernando. He says, I'm right by you, Mom. What? There's a gate there. Yeah. Leave it open. Oh, silly boy. No, you're not coming out. Yeah, no, you stay. Hey, Poot. There's Poot. Oh, yeah. Poot lives in the outside hay barn here. Yeah, she hangs out. She is... Actually, she's not fixed, right? No. Of course. Wild rabbits and domestic rabbits can't breed because they have a different number of chromosomes. Is she the... See, I'd have to go back in the story. I think she's the one that was fixed by the city. Like, I think they rallied together and actually fixed her. Oh, okay, okay. She was found in the city, and a group got together and... Yeah, so she's just living her life out here. Yeah. And she loves the hay, but she's out... Oh, Billy. Yeah. Oh, he's loving life. And I've stopped catching mice in here. Yeah, I've been checking, and I actually reset a couple of traps. Was there any mice? No, no, there wasn't. The big one, I don't know if you used it, but it wasn't... I didn't set it. No, I didn't set it. It wasn't set, so I went and set it, but no. I guess the mice are where they need to be for winter. We'll see. Yeah, we'll see what happens. Yeah, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. It's my morning chore. Yeah, check all the traps. No, nothing in the traps. Nice. Okay, good. The mice are just getting smart. So our extra hay that we've piled in here has gone down a bit. You've moved some of it, though, haven't you? I've moved it because I've got pumpkin. Yeah. And I need... I don't need... I need countertop so it's easier on my back. Yeah, so we'll pile all the pumpkins up along here. So any pumpkins that don't get sold from the store, we have a few places that we either pick them up or they drop them off. So that'll be their treat moving into the wintertime. Yeah, and deworming. Yeah, natural deworming. So we'll go with the seasons. Of course, that cuts back costs, and if you plant it properly, it also helps with all your deworming. And look at John. Yeah, he's waiting. Now look at the shelving, Tara. I know. It is actually really nice. Look what I did. I actually put, like, little things because we're always, like, putting them at the top. Ah, nice. Yeah, so she spent, I don't know, a couple hours out here. Well, like, free weekend, I picked up these boards. So thank you, free weekend. Okay. So put, and everything's up so that I don't have to take it off of here to get into the bins. Yeah. Right? Nope, looks good. Yeah. Looks good. All cleaned up and ready for winter. Yeah, and watch this. Not ready yet. So they all get their food, right? Yep. And you've got, okay. So Blackie, yeah, is to go in. She can open the containers. Yeah, she knows. She can open the containers, so. That's good. Always improving. Yeah, Blackie comes in just because she's older to get her that extra nutrition. Ah, the alpaca get their feed. Java, are you waiting? There's a routine to this chaos. Routine to the chaos. No. Alpaca. No. Vivian Piper to the back. Close this gate. Turbo's scratching at the door. Onyx. What's your problem, Charlie? Blackie. Good boy. And Charlie gets fed out there. There we go. Did we catch all that? Blackie's over there. Charlie gets his. Without a routine? Well, and they know their routine. Yeah. Charlie has his bowl. And then we've got this gate here that flip-flops back and forth. So normally it's over here. We can move it over to allow access into the pen or into the building. Well, good morning, Willow. Is that the sheep pen? What are we doing? I would just get ready to get skinny in the corner. Oh, okay. No. Sit. He's like, I want more. No. Back up. Charlie. No. We're trying to train him. They are very smart. So we don't want to forcefully move them. We want them to listen to us. No. Good boy. No, Charlie. Charlie. No. Doesn't mean go around. Blackie's ready. Charlie. No. Good boy. He keeps on going to his dish thinking there's more in there. All right. Disconnect this. Get skinny. Close my foot. There we go. Well, it's a work in progress. Charlie. All right. So Blackie, Onyx, Charlie, and I guess Sheldon's outside. So the other water is in here, which we've disconnected the water, and there is an extension cord here that we will plug in. Oh, yeah. It's not chilly like it is outside. This plastic along the outside really works well. All right. Where's Sheldon? Sheldon. Not Fernando. Sheldon. He's probably in the sun right around the corner. He likes to hang out by his rock. Okay, kids. Enjoy your breakfast. Here comes the alpaca. Sometimes you get some stragglers like Willow there. Oh, trip. I totally slipped. You know better. Well, she hasn't been here as long as the others, so I guess she doesn't know the routine. Look at this. She's like, no, I want to go in. I want to see what this magical place is where all the other animals get to go. I slipped on the hay. I love you, Charlie. Can I have your ball? Get down. Sit your bum. Sit. Good boy. No, there's no more. He's like, where's the treat for that? Right. A belly rub. There we go. Good boy. He got a pig. Somebody came, it was her 60th birthday. Oh, yes. Her dream on her 60th birthday was to kiss a pig. So, of course, Charlie got the... We're trying to keep him from jumping up here. Yeah. Charlie, breakfast is over. Yes, it's over. Go have some hay. Yeah. Oh, there's Sheldon. Sheldon. Hi, good morning. I ran across some footage of Sheldon. Oh, what was that, four or five years ago? How old is he? Six. Six? This is six already? Wow. And I ran across some footage when he was just a little kid. And it was the cutest. We had goat yoga. And he was out there and he had his little, I think he had a bandana on. And he was just the cutest little thing. Yes. Weren't you, Sheldon? You're still cute. See, it's Tiana gets the water at the night shift. They don't drink overnight. Yeah, they drink during the day. They drink during the day, which is kind of good because I do the daytime feed, or the morning, and Tiana does the nighttime, so that means she's going to have to do more of the heavy water. Yeah. Okay, so this is Petey and Piper's water, somebody asked. Now, don't get me wrong, they can get water out of the big one. It just makes it a little easier. Yeah, and then we don't have a heater in it. We just, we know how much they drink, they generally drink. And then we just empty the ice out. We try not to have heaters, too many heaters around because it's just a fire hazard. Especially that low where you have hay and everything and things can get knocked. They don't have much of a nest yet. No, they did. They did have a divot. Well, I guess they've moved over a bit. Well, you're fine. Hi, Petey! They tend to move their bed all the time, so it's kind of in that area. As the weather gets colder, their nest will get deeper. Yeah. They do a good job in making their bed. And it's funny because when you think about space-wise, but in the winter, the pigs sleep underneath the hay pile, all the goats will sleep on top, and there'll be just a couple sheep and alpaca out here. Yeah. But it's funny because you think space, but this is a huge amount of space for these guys. Oh, yeah. And I've mentioned it before that they just need a place to get out of the wind and get out of the elements. And it can be, you know, minus 40 out. But they're nice and happy because they got somewhere nice and dry. Oh, yeah. Hey. Hi. Getting a little scrawny, not like Turbo. Yeah. Yeah, she's been showing her inches here. Oh, the sheep bums. Sheep bums. And next weekend is alpaca filthing class. Oh, yeah. Mitt class went fantastic yesterday. Yes, you had mitt class. Yeah. So, moccasins. Mitts and moccasins. Oh, mitts and moccasins, right. Yeah, you both. Because I saw some moccasins in there. Yeah. And then we introduced two new styles and really liked them. Just easier ones for people to make. Yeah, so then you have felting class. And then another mitts and moccasins. Is there a wreath making? No, they want one. The girls that were here want to do a wreath making. So, I always go by one suggestion. So, they figure they can get ten friends together. And then let me know and I'll do a wreath making class. Yeah. All right, kids. Okay. Later. Enjoy your day. Enjoy your day, Sheldon. And then this goes on for winter just to redirect it away from there. Yeah. So, what happens is the cold air comes in. And I've explained this a few times. And we don't want the cold air to come in and down here where the water is. So, we've got this elbow to direct it over. So, the elbow goes on. Goes on like that. But then we ran into a problem with frost. Frost getting built up inside there and blocking it. So, what I did is I've got this little dryer thing here, which it's got the flapper. Yeah. So, when air is coming out, it's open. But, of course, as soon as it shuts off, it closes. And it doesn't allow that more humid air to get in and frost up inside that pipe. So, that's kind of how that works. And then in the back, because you want cross ventilation. In the back, we have an exhaust fan that's hooked up to a mercury switch. And basically, I've got the mercury switch set to air conditioning mode. And then I just, it's on an angle. Because, of course, they only go down to like 15 degrees Celsius. So, I want it to get down to close to zero. So, I've just turned it sideways. And then there's a high-low switch for the fan. And we just usually put it on low and then set the temperature to about 2 degrees above freezing. And it comes on and off as required. So, it doesn't get below freezing inside the barn. Oh, yeah. Yeah. But now you're in the shadow, see. So, no one else can see you. There, you poke out. I'm over here. You just got to put up with the sun. I can't see. It's so bright. All right. Well, that's it for this video. I hope you enjoyed it. And who knows, maybe next week we'll have some white stuff. No. No. No. No. No. Hopefully not. Anyway, have a wonderful week. And we'll see you in the next video. Take care. Bye-bye.