Farm Animals – Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm

Local Trees & Their Uses, Sheep Shearing, Chicken Breeds

Deb D (Aunt Eunice) — Thu, 23 May 2019 00:17:00 +0000

Good Day, Folks,

Aunt Eunice is back to remind you if you didn’t make it last weekend to our Farm Animal Frolic, you still have this weekend, May 25 from 10am to 4pm and May 26 from noon to 4pm to come on out.

This Saturday May 25th will be a busy one with many special activities. The PA WoodMobile will be coming and will share a beautiful display in their 35 foot trailer exhibit. Learn about local trees in our area, the history of the forest industry and what everyday items are made with different woods. The early settlers couldn’t have survived without the native trees. Most everything was made from wood especially in the early years of settlement. The black locust tree is known as the strongest timber in North America and is the most durable American wood for ground contact. This was used on the farm for fencing. White oak was used for basket making and red oak for flooring. Cherry trees provided medicinal benefits as well as other ones such as its fruit. Black walnut hulls were used for dying wool and as a stain.

Margaret Quinn will be here on the 25th to shear our sheep, an interesting demo. It is amazing how small the sheep look after being sheared. Their babies don’t always recognize them at first. The spinning and weaving group will take one of the fleeces and turn into a shawl during the day.

Lots of other fun activities will also take place. You can shop at the Friend’s Collectible tent and find some nice bargains. The gift shop is open as well and contains some lovely hand crafted items. There are games, hay jumping, wagon and pony rides, storytelling and more!

We are all waiting to see if Sweetie Pie, our pig, has her babies by this weekend. Maybe you will get to meet them. If not, there are plenty of other animals to meet. This year’s chicks so far are the Buff Orpington breed which is beautiful with a nice personality and winter hardiness. The breed originated in Orpington, Kent, United Kingdom in the late 1800’s. There are Black Orpingtons, White Orpingtons, Blue Orpingtons (somewhat rare), and Buff Orpingtons – the Buff color being the most prevalent. They are raised for the purposes of both meat and egg production; also Cuckoo Marans which were developed in France in the mid 1800s in the town of the same name, Marans, France. The breed made their way to England in the early 1900s and quickly became very popular for their rich, dark brown eggs – a trait they are still known for today. These beautiful birds were first exhibited in 1929 in Paris by the Poultry Breeders Society of France, and since then have become popular around the world. This is a good, hardy breed which does well in a free range setting.

Come out to our historic farm and learn more about the farm animals and meet the babies. It will be fun for the whole family.

I hope to see you at Frolic. That’s all for now. Thanks for checking in. Aunt Eunice

Lasting Lessons for School-aged Visitors at Quiet Valley

Deb D (Aunt Eunice) — Tue, 16 Apr 2019 21:59:00 +0000

Hello Folks,

Aunt Eunice here. The “peepers” are calling, robins moved in even before that and a number of groundhogs are out and about. The farm had its Spring Clean Up on Saturday April 6 and looks like a shiny new penny. We’d like to thank all the folks who came out and helped.

School groups came out yesterday for the first day of Spring Farm Tours. On this historic tour of a traditional homestead, children have the opportunity to observe a typical day on the farm, visit with the animals, and learn something about family life in 19th century rural Pennsylvania. There is also time to visit the one room school and have a “science” lesson on simple machines and play some old fashion games. It’s nice to see the classes as they absorb information about the past and have a good time while doing it.

Today was Egg Day for the April preschool class. They observed frog eggs from the pond, and learned about chicken eggs and how babies hatch out of them using their egg tooth. They dyed eggs in natural materials such as onion skins and red cabbage. They also examined the eggs of the largest of birds, an emu and ostrich. Their little eyes grew almost as big as the ostrich egg as they saw just how large an egg can be. After a story they all headed down to the farm and had a chance to meet the latest additions to the farm family, baby chicks. Such fun! I feel young as a spring hen when I join in the activities of their class.

Speaking of eggs, this is Easter week and the perfect time to start a family tradition of an Easter tree if you don’t already practice it. It is a great activity for your children or even adults. It adds quite a festive touch to the yard this time of year. The original Quiet Valley family was Lutheran, but if you aren’t it can simply be an Egg Tree, a celebration of spring. The egg tree traces its roots to Germany. There, it is known as Ostereierbaum, or Easter egg trees. It is also popular in neighboring Poland, Austria, and Hungary. In the Guinness World Record race for the tree with the most eggs, a red oak in Rostock Zoo earned top prize for its nearly 80,000 egg display. The Easter egg tree tradition is centuries old, but the origins of the story have been lost over time. In the U.S., Easter trees are especially popular in the Pennsylvania Dutch region, but you can find pockets of the South that embrace the tradition as well.

If you would like to learn more about the farm Quiet Valley’s first event of the year is coming up in May. Farm Animal Frolic is on May 18, 19, 25 and 26 and it is a great chance for you to see all of our wonderful farm babies. They stay little for such a short time so come on out to Frolic and visit them while you can!

Thanks for checking in and don’t be a stranger. Aunt Eunice

Signs of Spring, Baby Bunnies, Eggs, Schoolchildren Visit

Deb D (Aunt Eunice) — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 20:45:00 +0000

Hello, Folks. Aunt Eunice here.

Though the weather has been too cold for my old bones and definitely too cold for Spring, signs of the changing season are all around us. Robins and other spring birds have arrived and pussy willows are blooming. The farm has Spring Clean Up Day on Saturday April 6 and we will be grateful for any helping hands. Call before you come if it’s rainy.

As I walked through the farm early this morning there was a definite feeling of expectation, as if Spring were poised on its tippy toes ready to take the plunge. I am sure in just a few weeks we will find it hard to believe we were wearing our winter coats such a short while ago. Another sure sign of Spring on the farm is the birth of animals. One of our mother bunnies had her babies. We knew it would be soon since she made a nest out of hay and lined it with fur she carefully pulled from her own neck/chest area. While the babies are this tiny we won’t see hide nor hair of them. The only reason you know they are here is that the fur in the nest moves around a little. At this point we can’t tell how many there are. A baby rabbit is called a kit, which is short for kitten. A male rabbit is called a buck, and a female is called a doe. Rabbits have a gestation period of around 31 days. The female can have up to 12-13 kits, and as small a litter as one. Some people have rabbits as pets. though they are also raised for their meat. Ever hear of Hasenpfeffer? It is a traditional German stew made from marinated rabbit, cut into stewing-meat sized pieces and braised with onions and a marinade made from wine and vinegar.

Since April is almost here in about two weeks the school children will be running around the farm learning about the 1800s and how things were done back in the old days. The homeschool children who participate in the tour program are very excited about helping out and playing roles as members of the farm “family”. They have had their training day and have been assigned their areas. Duchess, our barn cat, will be so happy to have all of the children around again since they will stop for a minute and pet her. It will be good to have all those youngins’ dashing about! It keeps Aunt Eunice on her toes!

One more sign of the season is the Quiet Valley hens are laying lots of eggs. I am eating deviled eggs (my favorite), hard boiled eggs, fried eggs, egg salad sandwiches, pickled eggs and baking up a storm. I am soon going to turn into an egg, but since I am already shaped that way I guess it doesn’t matter. I have a pretty tough shell, too. I will save some eggs to dye in onion skins for Easter and have a traditional egg tree in front of the house.

Well, that’s the latest news I have for you, but I’ll be in touch again.

Take care and hope to see you soon. Aunt Eunice

All About Sheep: Wool, Food, Behavior & Intelligence

Kat M — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 03:46:51 +0000

This week on the farm we had our first lambs of the season born. Molly, who has never given birth to twins, gave birth to two little boys on Easter Sunday. Which prompted this week’s post about sheep.

Sheep are ruminants meaning that they have 4 chambers in their stomach to assist with digestion. This process combines mastication (chewing with teeth) and fermentation to increase the amounts of nutrients received from eating plants. Sheep are usually kept for wool production, meat, and/or milk. Here on the farm, we tend to use their wool most often and shear the sheep in the spring. Wild sheep tend to come in shades of brown while domesticated sheep have a variety of colors from dark browns to white. Humans began selectively breeding sheep to have lighter coats to make it easier to dye the wool.

Sheep have a five month gestation period. Since our sheep were bred in mid-December, we should expect more lambs to arrive soon. We only have one ram, Perry, in the Quiet Valley herd. Male rams often fight to establish dominance by ramming or headbutting each other. So, by only having one ram on the premises, conflicts within the herd are greatly reduced, maintaining safety for these animals, visitors, and the staff who care for them. Most female sheep, or ewes, have one to two lambs at a time. Most lambs are born with long tails which are docked short for health reasons. (If tails are left long, fecal matter can build up and encourage disease from flies.)

According to the University of Illinois, sheep are rather intelligent animals. They rank right under pigs, which are considered one of the most intelligent mammals. Sheep can easily recognize faces and facial expressions. We experienced this the other day during one of our programs. When I walked through the room where the class was taking place, the sheep bleated very loudly, startling all of us. She was saying hello and reminding me to feed her.

Sheep play a big part in our culture from religious symbols to childhood songs to truck brands and even sayings. If you think about it, there are quite a number of sayings related to sheep. To be sheepish is to be shy. The black sheep in a group or family is the out of place person. You can count sheep when you need to fall asleep. And perhaps my favorite is that a group of people who go along with something without thinking are called sheeple. So that’s a little bit about sheep.

The Story of Pigs: Quick Facts, Domestication, Pop Culture

Kat M — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 01:43:16 +0000

A little over three weeks ago we had piglets born on the farm. Squeakers, the proud mama, timed it just right and gave birth on March 1st, which is National Pig Day! We even made the front page of the local paper, the Pocono Record. (Finally some good news on the front page.)

Coming into work at Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm, I knew very little about livestock, thus the baby pigs have been an exciting challenge. My dad, in his twenties, had worked on a pig farm. He told me that if you fell into a pig pen, the hogs would eat you. (That’s why the farm hands freak out when Dorothy falls in during the Wizard of Oz.) And no degree of Charlotte’s Web or Babe could dissuade the thought in the back of my mind that was reinforced by Criminal Minds; pigs are an excellent way to dispose of a body. So I have to admit I’m a little surprised by how gentle and loving Squeakers is to her babies. I’ve learned a lot about pigs and wanted to share some of the fun facts about them.

Pigs belong to the genus Sus and fit into the Suidae family, which includes other even-toed ungulates. This means that their weight is carried evenly across their toes. To us non-scientific people that translates to animals with cloven toes like deer and pigs are related. (Which, apparently, also includes whales and hippos in the Suidae family.)

Pigs were likely first domesticated in China. Most pigs are omnivores. That means they tend to eat the same food as humans. In one of my anthropology classes, we learned that people who live in desert regions tend not to keep pigs, since they compete for the same food source. It is much better to keep goats and sheep that eat things humans can’t, like grasses and shrubs.

Pigs are very intelligent animals. They are able to be house trained. During the 1700s and 1800s many country fairs were home to a Learned Pig. These animals were often trained to pick up cards to spell words and perform math problems. They often became a good source of inspiration for cartoonists and satirists. The most popular pig in the United States appeared in 1798 and was billed as “Toby the Sapient Pig”. Toby and other learned pigs have made a recent comeback in pop culture.

Variety in Egg Colors: Chicken Breed & Genetic Factors

Kat M — Thu, 02 Feb 2017 05:56:00 +0000

Let’s talk chicken today. Yesterday I was given a couple of the Quiet Valley eggs to take home. Among the brown and white eggs was a blue one! As I looked closely I noticed that some of the brown ones weren’t truly brown either; some were speckled and others were almost pink. While this may not surprise some folks, I was intrigued. (Truth be told, some part deep down in my brain knew that eggs came in all sorts of colors. Notwithstanding, my brain decided to hold that piece of information for ransom.)

I was so intrigued by those colored eggs that when I got home I blew out the yokes to keep them. If you’ve never done it, blowing out the yoke is a very easy process. I wash the egg and then with a large sewing needle make a hole at the top and bottom of the egg. I usually swirl the needle around inside the egg to break up the yoke. Then I blow into the top of the egg and the insides come out the bottom. (Some people use a straw instead of putting their mouths on the egg.) Now you’re left with just the shell and, with care, these will last forever.

The blue egg comes from a particular type of chicken called an Ameraucana or an Araucana. These chickens come from the Araucana area of Chile. These chickens were there prior to contact with Europeans. (What is often referred to as pre-Columbian.) Interestingly, these chickens are closely related to populations found in Polynesia. This speaks to contact between Polynesians and Chileans in prehistoric times, which while a very interesting discussion draws us away from the topic at hand.

The color of a chicken’s egg is determined by genetics and breeding chickens from two different colored egg varieties can lead to new colored eggs. A brown egged rooster breeds with a blue egg hen and now there are olive green eggs! (Not what I would have expected from my art class days.) That’s why some eggs look brown, while others appear pink. We are used to brown and white eggs being standard because of the grocery store. Also, the color of the chicken has nothing to do with the color of the egg.

There are over 50 billion chickens in the world today. They were domesticated by the 15th century B.C. in Asia. They are omnivores and will eat lizards, small snakes and mice as well as seeds and corn. Chickens are gregarious and have a social structure with dominant individuals who control access to food and shelter. That’s where our term “pecking order” comes from. We have a number of different varieties of chickens here on the farm. I will hopefully learn their breeds and names soon.

Getting Acquainted with Quiet Valley’s Farm Animal Friends

Kat M — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 04:34:21 +0000

Today was my first day learning how to feed the animals here at Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm. There is a wide range of animals here at the farm including: pigs, horses, a mule, turkeys, rabbits, pigs, goats, and sheep. This time of year, in the winter, the feeding goes pretty quickly and easily. The animals are mostly in the 1850s bank barn, the chicken coop, and the pig barn. (During the summer, the animals are all spread out across the farm.)

The day started in the barn feeding the horses, pig, turkeys, geese, Lily the goat, and the rabbits. The turkeys were the only ones who didn’t seem much interested in food. They preferred perching in the window and showing off their tail feathers. Did you know pigs drool in anticipation of food? Apparently they do.

The most exciting thing that happened other than a few slips and spills on the icy ground was when we were feeding the rabbits. We opened the rabbit cages to change out their food and water. Normally the rabbits think nothing of it but today one developed an unusual idea. One of the rabbits is a big, white one like the kind from Alice in Wonderland sans waistcoat and pocket watch. She looked at that open pen and saw an opportunity, the new person. She sprung over the edge of her cage like a graceless pole vaulter (or someone planning a painful belly flop in a pool). Dumbstruck, all I can think of is ‘the rabbit escaped’. Will she bolt and get out of the barn. She, I assume, thinks it too as she rests on the floor under her pen. In an attempt for a quick recovery, I scoop her up. Immediately, my thoughts change to ‘Goodness she’s heavy,’ before putting her back in her cage. We had a moment as she watched me go to get her food. As much as she seemed to relish that brief moment of flight, we both agreed her pole vaulting career was over.

This blog is written to help visitors fall in love with the farm. This post was written by Kat Muller the new administrator about her experiences as she learns about the farm.

My First Week at Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm

Kat M — Tue, 10 Jan 2017 23:48:30 +0000

Hi everyone, my name is Kat and I’m a new member of the Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm Staff. I’m inviting you to come along, meet the farm, and learn along with me.

A little bit about me to get you started: I have always loved working out of doors. (To the point that I told my first grade teacher I wanted to grow up to be an oak tree-still working on that, roots take a long time to grow.) I have a strong background in experimental archaeology and living history. (Experimental archaeology is a subset of archaeology where the scientist tries to reproduce past lifeways to better understand archaeological deposits. AKA we make pots to smash them and see if they look like the pot fragments found in excavations.) I particularly enjoy metal working specifically blacksmithing, in addition to spinning, weaving, historic clothing construction, herb lore, and anything else I can try.

The first week on the farm was a fun challenge. I’m trying to catch up on the history of the farm and the evolution as the site as a teach/historical farm. My favorite encounter so far was with Baby Llama. Baby Llama (don’t get mislead by the name-like I was the first time) is a sheep who may be the reincarnation of Harry Houdini; she doesn’t stay in her pen. She hops in and out over the fence. To be fair, Milt the farmer did warn me about this. Yet, I was still surprised when we rounded one of the barns and there was Baby Llama placidly eating on the lawn of the house. Before my eyes she walked over to the fence, not the lowest part of the fence where the railing was slumping but to a high portion where the rocks made a five foot difference between the sheep pasture up to the horse pasture/ lawn, and POP over she went. She landed rather gracefully, I might add.

On Wednesday I’m going to tag along and start learning how to feed the animals including Baby Llama and the other sheep, Wilhelm and Gunther (the draft horses), the mule, the pigs, the rabbits, the geese, the turkeys, the barn cats, and many others. Wish me luck.