Eggers and I spent the morning at a preschool.

Eggers was warm. She was away from those annoying hens, Siouxsie and Tina. The children fed her lots of cracked corn, and it was ALL HERS. No sharing. She was held and pet gently by little hands. This made her very happy.

The children were happy, too. They tried to capture Egger’s beauty in their drawings. Of course, it’s impossible to paint a chicken who is so perfect in real life, but they came close.

If you would like one of the “actresses who play Tillie” and me to come to your school email me (terry@terrygolson.com). Eggers, Betsy and Coco are all eager for more road trips.

It’s raining. The chickens have heads of cabbage to keep them busy and full. The goats hate to get wet. They’re stuck inside and bored. I have one of their favorite foods in my fridge’s vegetable bin – Italian flat leaf parsley. I thought I’d be nice to them and feed it to them instead of cooking with it. I carefully made my way out to the barn. I have to stomp through the snow because the shoveled path is too slippery. The boys look delighted to see me. I offer the parsley. They sniff, but, they don’t even nibble. It’s wilted! They look quizzically at me. Why would I be showing them this worthless stuff? Don’t I know that if it’s hangs limp, that it’s inedible? They think, “that goat maid is well-meaning but none too bright.” I get them some hay.

They might be fussy, but they are polite. Caper thanks me.

I feed the parsley to the rabbit. Candy says that it’s delicious. There’s no mushy spots and the color is a nice, deep green. What do those silly goats, know, anyway?

Torrential downpours starting tonight (Sunday) and going through the day tomorrow. The rain will be pounding down on frozen ground, ice and snow. It’s going to be a mess, and treacherous walking to the barn on the slippery path. I’ve cleaned out the coops, added extra bedding and bought cabbages. I’m ready. But not happy.

As anyone who has watched nature shows knows, there’s a lot of organisms out there that we don’t think about or see. Some creep us out, like bed mites, and the creatures that live on our eye lashes, and those parasites found in Amazon rivers that find their way into your urinary tract. Eww.

Farm animals also have critters living in and on them. Some are necessary, like beneficial bacteria in their intestines, and some can kill. Worms and larvae can decimate a flock and fell your goats. There are chemicals that you can spray and dust and feed that will protect your animals.

Some farmers worm on a regular basis. When I managed a horse farm, we were on a rigorous schedule of various products. My dogs are on monthly heartworm pills. (When I was growing up, my dog died of heartworm. I’m grateful for the products now available!)

But, since these chemicals are strong enough to destroy the parasites, they also have the potential to harm the host, so, for my small backyard menagerie, I have a different approach.

The coop runs and paddock are on virgin turf. The last time they were used for farm animals was probably around 1890. It was unlikely that the soil harbored parasites. But, every time I bring in a new animal, or visit a friend’s farm and then wear the same clothes in my backyard (I should disinfect, but don’t, it all seems so benign at the time), I run the risk of introducing harmful pathogens and parasites.

My first line of defense is that I’m fanatical about keeping my coop runs and paddock clean. There’s no manure build-up to host eggs and larvae. I provide the flock with food-grade diatomaceous earth (see the blog archives for more about this.)

Instead of worming as a preventative measure, I take fecal samples to the vet. The vet tech looks at it under a microscope and lets me know if there are any parasites, which ones they are, and what I should use to get rid of them. The goat fecal cost $25, which is worth it. Yesterday, it came back negative, so I don’t have to spend anything on medicines.

I’ve had the chicken manure tested, too. All healthy so far.

Have you thought through a preventative health schedule for your animals? That old adage, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” still rings true.

(I decided to spare you the photos of round worms, bot fly larvae and chicken gape worms. Do a google image search if you’re curious!)

The temperature wavers between just below freezing and just above, but it keeps on snowing. The snow is heavy and sticky. It should be called “slushing.” Everything is sagging – electric lines, branches, and my mood. I’m surprised we still have power.

This is what my favorite tree looked like this afternoon.

I feared that it would break under the weight of the snow. So I shook it.

It shed some small branches and last year’s robin’s nest, but it sprang back to shape. I should have before and after pictures of me – I went from dry to snow-covered. This is not the sort of snow that slides off my jacket, or flutters down. It whomped me and got under my collar. But, it was worth it. The tree is a “Fox River Birch.” It has the most gorgeous bark, and every year wrens and robins make their nests in it’s branches. Tomorrow I’ll have to go shake the Chinese Beech trees in my backyard. They’re twice as big. I’ll have to wear protective headgear. Maybe my son’s fencing helmet?