Hollanbec Farm- Meet the Animals and the Daily Chores

Hello Again,

On Hollanbec Farm they raise goats, cows, chickens, and turkeys, and pigs. They have a giant farm dog and some kitties as well. We happened to come at just the right time to play with a new batch of barn kittens. Little Plate LOVED them! It was so fun to see Little Plate tend to the kittens and build confidence in handling them.

Of course with all these animals there were morning and evening chores. Mr. Plate, Little Plate, and I all got to help in some way. We would feed and water the new chickies and turkeys that were under heat lamps in brooder boxes. We helped give hay, grain, and water to the goats. We learned to milk a cow! And we got to bottle feed a few of the calves. Mr. Plate usually covered the morning chores so that Little Plate could sleep longer and I could work on something for breakfast or on getting ready for the day and tidying up our living quarters.

After morning chores we would eat a big late farm breakfast and clean up a bit. Then onto the projects of the day, lunch snacks, nap time and before you knew it, it would be time for the evening chores!

In the evenings sometimes one of us would stay and work on dinner prep but we also liked to go all together. Little Plate had a perfect perch on the short stack of hay in the corner of the barn which also happened to be where the kittens played and lived. She was such a good helper and would sit there the whole hour and a half while we did the chores but sometimes she wanted to help scoop the grain for the goats and watch the cows get milked. When I milked the cows for the first time she could even remind me of the steps and what not to forget like when I forgot to rub some bag balm on Annie when I was finishing up . . .”Don’t forget the cows lotion mom!”

We are so excited to have learned some of these skills and to get some hands-on practice. Henk and Heather were both so very patient and kind in teaching us how they do things. They work so hard every day to care for the animals on their farm. We were grateful to have the opportunity to learn from their expertise.

Heidi- The Farm Dog