Farming Friends

Should farm animals be named?

I have had a firm policy for the last few years of not naming animals that I am raising for meat as this has made it easier for me to deal with the loss of the animals.

Some people wonder how I can spend time raising and keeping animals when I know that they will end up as meat but I enjoy looking after animals and I enjoy eating meat from an animal that I know how it has been raised, what it has been fed and how it has been treated.

This year I have raised pigs for meat and I vowed that I would not name them as it would make it easier for me to deal with, however one of our neighbours wanted one of the pigs and decided to name her. From that moment, as I began to identify the pigs and see their personalities develop, I came up with names for them linked to their distinguishing features.

Juliet, Pinky, Rocky - White Stripe, Stumpelina, Perky, Lightening & Spot were all recognisable and although naming these pigs went against my policy of naming animals I am raising for meat I have to say that I do believe that these animals became much friendlier and easier to handle as I spoke to them.

Giving the pigs a name has helped me to bond with these curious and intelligent creatures. I have found that they have responded to their names and it was always the ones with a name that came to the pig stye door first or responded to my voice and this has made the experience of keeping and raising the pigs a much more memorable and enjoyable experience.

My sows are in pig again and I will certainly be naming my piglets again.

Let me know your thoughts about naming animals.

The Farming Friends farm animal penpal scheme enables the penpal recipient to learn about farm animals in an interesting way.

At a cost of only £12 the Farming Friends Farm Animal Penpal will receive;

An introductory letter from the farm animal penpal.
A photograph of the farm animal penpal.
A birthday card from the farm animal penpal.
A Christmas card from the farm animal penpal.

You can choose a hen, pig, cow or guinea fowl penpal.

Recently Linz bought the Cow Penpal as a Christmas present for her step daughter. I am pleased to say that the gift was well received. Linz sent me this comment,

Thank you very much for my step daughter’s penpal letter from Milky. Being 18 she can be difficult to buy for, but on opening the letter on Christmas day, which had been wrapped up. Her eyes filled up with tears. On this response I wondered if I had done something wrong and went to comfort her to find out what was wrong. She thinks that the cow penpal is the most wonderful and best gift she has ever gotten.
Thanks again Sara for the chance to give my step daughter this penpal gift.
Linz

Thanks Linz for taking the time to send me this comment, your feedback is much appreciated.

I am pleased and honoured to be tagged by Julie from Succulents by J for 8 happy facts.

So here are my 8 happy farm facts:

1. I am happy when my five beautiful white and ginger cats greet me in a morning and I am particularly happy if none of the cats are missing!
2. I am happy when Hatty the hen looks healthy and is laying her beautiful flavoursome eggs every day.
3. I am happy when I have found the ground nest that my guinea fowl like to lay their eggs in and I am especially happy when this nest is not in the middle of a nettle patch and the circling magpies have not taken the eggs.
4. I am happy to have seen at first hand calves being born and it is a special moment when they stand and start to suckle.
5. I am happy that my husband decided to allow me to have my pigs (Cagney and Lacy) and that I saw my first Saddleback piglets being born.
6. I am happy when the eggs start to pip in the incubator and I am even happier when all the chicks have successfully hatched out.
7. I am happy when I see the farm wildlife merrily going about their business - it is a thrill to have seen such range of animals from the barn owl, pheasant, hare, deer, toad to the snail, mole and even the fox, as long as it keeps away from my poultry!
8. I am happy when I hear my guinea pig squeaking out as I walk on by the guinea pig hutch.

The Rules

When tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you, then post the rules and list eight things that make you happy. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to eight other people.

If you would like to write eight happy thoughts then consider yourself tagged. I hope you have enjoyed my eight happy farm facts.

I have been tagged for eight random facts, by 2GreenThumbsUp, who said,” Because I enjoy reading these blogs and I haven’t seen any evidence of previous meme participation, I’m tagging…… Sara at Farming Friends - I’m just getting to know the animals on her farm.” Since 2GreenThumbsUp is just getting to know my animals I thought that I would write 8 random facts about the animals on the farm.

The Rules

When tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you, then post the rules before your list, and list eight random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to eight other people.

Here are my 8 farm animal facts:

1. The family farm has been breeding Charolais cattle for 48 years.
2. The cattle breeds on the farm today include Charolais, Limousin, Blond D’Acquitaine and Saler breeds.
3. Between 2004 and 2007 I have raised approximately 60 guinea fowl from eggs in the incubator.
4. The farm has five resident cats that live outside and although they are supposed to be ferral cats are becoming more like pet cats as each day goes by!
5. The farm used to breed pigs when my husband’s Grandad was alive and this year we have started to successfully breed British Saddleback pigs, we currently have 2 sows and fifteen piglets.
6. Guinea fowl, partridge and quail are all game birds that I have raised on the farm in the last few years.
7. Hatty the hen, is the resident White Leghorn hen who lays white eggs through the Spring, has befriended the guinea fowl flock, rules the roost and has yet to get broody in the 3 years she has lived on the farm.
8. The cattle do not like the guinea fowl, although the guinea fowl are not afraid of the cattle but the farm cats are afraid of the guinea fowl.

If you would like to write eight facts about yourself then consider yourself tagged. I hope you have enjoyed my eight facts about the farm.

Have you bought all your Christmas gifts yet?
Well don’t worry if you haven’t because Farming Friends has the perfect present. For any of your animal loving family and friends then the farm animal penpal gift makes the perfect present.

The Farming Friends penpal gifts let the penpal recipient learn about farm animals in an interesting way. At a cost of only £12 the Farming Friends penpal will receive;

Choose a chicken, cow or guinea fowl penpal.

Order now as a Christmas gift and get a complimentary gift for the penpal recipient.

Buy a Farming Friends penpal as a gift for a friend, family member, a child, a group or class of children. This is an ideal gift for a child or group of children as it not only enables the children to learn about farm animals and life on a farm but it can also help the children to develop their reading and letter writing skills if they want to write back to their penpal. The penpal will of course find time to send a reply.

This gift will provide the recipient penpal with;

• Facts about the chosen farm animal - what type of animal they are, what breed they are, what they eat and what they produce.
• An insight into farming life.
• A link between food and farming.
• Personal information about the farm animal.

So get shopping now from the comfort of your home and remember that your gift will be sent straight to your door or even the penpal recipient, so don’t delay order one of the farm animal penpals today.

I love farm animals - especially the ones found on my farm. Our farm currently has;

• 1 white leghorn hen called Hatty.
• 38 guinea fowl.
• 1 guinea pig called Guiness.
• 5 cats - Snowy, Fluffy, Snowball, Spot and Stripe.
• 80 cattle of varying breeds and ages.
• 2 British Saddleback sows called Cagney and Lacy and 15 piglets.

Click on the link to have a go at the mystery animal puzzle and see if you can identify the animals.

Click on the link and have a go at the animal jigsaw puzzles and see if you can beat my time!

Click on the link to listen to the sounds of the farmyard and see which animals you can identify.

Which is your favourite farm animal?

If you would like to join Photo Hunters then click on the image below for more information.

Which is your favourite farm animal?

This was the poll that farmingfriends has been running for the past two months.

The categories included cattle, chickens, sheep, guinea fowl, pigs, ducks, goats, horses, geese and turkeys.

In a 2 month period 145 people voted - thanks to everyone who voted.

The results were as follows;

Cattle = 25 votes.

Chickens = 16 votes.

Sheep = 12 votes.

Guinea Fowl = 7 votes.

Pigs = 22 votes.

Ducks = 12 votes.

Goats = 11 votes.

Horses = 32 votes.

Geese = 3 votes.

Turkeys = 5 votes.

The most popular farm animal was the horse and the least popular farm animal was the goose. I could have predicted geese being the least favourite but I would not have predicted the horse as the favourite.

Let me know your opinion about the results of this poll and whether you agree with the voting.