Spoiled Animals

Brie and Kit Playing in the Woods

Let there be no doubt about it, my animals are spoiled. Although all of the animals are treated well, most of them are treated too well. As any animal owner/lover knows, each animal has a distinct personality.  Even the chickens.  With each personality come different wants and needs. However, I am afraid that the animals here get their way more than they should.

It is obvious to anyone keeping up with the blog that the pigs are spoiled.  After all, they sleep on a hand-made Alpaca mattress next to the wood stove. The pigs wake up very early in the morning to get fed, then to be let out. But not before a few tummy rubs. Then, they “help” me feed the other animals by cleaning up anything that I “spill”. They then come back into the house on their own when they feel like it. If it is cold out, they are usually in shortly after I come in from my morning chores. However, on nice days, they could spend hours outside nosing around. Inside, there are only a few rooms off limits to them. They enjoy hanging out in the kitchen when I cook and in the TV room when I watch TV. Their favorite shows include Jeopardy, The Office, and Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman.

The other animals on the farm are also spoiled. Specifically, the sheep and goats seem to frequently get their way. Fresh hay and water twice a day, plus grain and treats daily keep their tummies full. They also enjoy a lot of attention and if I am too busy to spend time with them, they have no problems letting me know that food and water is not all they require. Incessant Baaa-ing and Nay-ing is frequent when they want someone to hold and pet them. As they have gotten older, they are a lot better about being okay without hours of attention, but still, they need good one on one time. Their water is also a topic of how spoiled these animals are. All the animals prefer warm water in the winter. They also prefer warm water in the summer, but especially in the winter. Thus, I am always lugging warm water out to the barn. They love drinking it warm and will all crowd around to get several gulps in. I tell them that it is warm tea (as they have never actually had tea, I figure they don’t know the difference…). After they have their fill of water and feed, in the evenings, they are let out into the greater yard. Here they act like crazy animals running and jumping and acting utterly silly. They love their evening play time and enjoy running into the woods and bouncing off of the trees. They have plenty of room in the goat/sheep yard, but they particularly love the freedom of the larger yard. Once it is time for them to go in, I lead them to the barn without much fuss. They go in, get petted a little, get a few treats, and then go to bed.

Although I love my animals and perhaps spoil them a little too much, they are all healthy and happy. Some people do need to watch that they aren’t over spoiling their animals causing obesity and behavior problems. You can be sure that if the health and well being of the animal is in question, their spoiling days would be over.