Come read about our favorite farm animals! Do you have a favorite farm animal? Have you ever been on a farm? We were blessed last year with the opportunity to move onto my sister’s farm in Tennessee.
We’ve learned a tremendous amount about farm life in the year since our move. I think by far the best part has been understanding the roles our favorite farm animals play on the farm.
Our Favorite Farm Animals
There are many different types of farm animals. Our small farm has cows, goats, and chickens. But many farms may also have sheep, ducks, geese, alpacas, or even horses! Each of these animals plays an important role. Here is a list those animals and what they contribute to a farm.
- Sheep are generally used for their wool (hair) which is great for spinning into yarn! Sheep are also raised for their meat and milk.
- Ducks are usually used for their eggs or meat but they are also great at eating unwanted bugs.
- Geese can be used for meat but are typically used for their eggs which are larger than chicken eggs or duck eggs. They are also great at eating unwanted bugs. Plus their downy feathers are known worldwide as being some of the warmest in the world.
- Alpacas are known for luxurious wool but most often are raised for the pleasure of having them as pets.
- Horses were once used for plowing the fields, and pulling carriages. But these days most farmers have tractors and other vehicles to take the place of a working horse. Most horses now are kept for pure enjoyment and recreational riding or racing.
- Cows can be used for their meat, milk, and manure. Yes, cow poop is great for the flower and vegetable garden!
- Goats can be used for their meat, fiber (hair), and milk. Goat milk is a great alternative for some people who cannot tolerate cows milk.
By far our favorite animal on the farm is the chicken. Chickens come in a plethora of colors and sizes. Our chickens lay eggs in an assortment of browns, pinks, greens, blues, and whites. An adult female chicken can lay up to one egg per day and she doesn’t need a rooster around to accomplish that task!
Although, if you want baby chicks, then a rooster is needed. This is why even people in the suburbs have turned to raising backyard chickens. The children and I love having pets that make us breakfast each morning.
Our Favorite Farm Animals
With warm spring like days becoming the norm, our chickens have begun laying more and more eggs. The children decided to track the egg laying with a chart and graphs. This was a fun project because our son learned how to make his first chart. Then he decided to compare our two different hen houses egg laying to each other.
One of our hen houses contain Bantam chickens which are usually 1/4 the size of a regular chicken and lays smaller eggs. The other hen house contains our standard size chickens. The children collected eggs twice a day everyday for 1 week and graphed the egg totals on their charts.
They were excited to see which hen house would come out as the winner and biggest egg producer. For the week, the Bantam chickens laid 33 eggs while our Standards only laid 30 eggs. The winner was the Bantam chickens!
If you want to read more about kids with farm animals and chickens in particular then check out A Kid’s Guide to Keeping Chickens, Fresh Eggs Daily, and Barnyard Kids.
Thank you for reading Our Favorite Farm Animals post! You may also enjoy 4 Reasons We Got Goats, Our Beekeeping Adventure, and Harvesting Honey!
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