Animal Care At Beattie Farms

Dogs

We have 3 dogs – Lucy (black, older dog), Buddy (brindle, middle aged dog), and Lily (young golden retriever). The dogs should stay outside all day and night. We feed all 3 of them in the morning.

Food

The dogs all eat 1-2 scoops of food in the morning time. We usually feed them about 8am.

Lily’s can be fed here in her crate, or just outside of it in the yard where the dogs go. She will also be put up in here in the crate at night to sleep. Lily can have 1-2 scoops of the same food that Buddy and Lucy eat.

Water

We keep the spigot valve turned on all the time and control the flow off and on with the dual nozzles. One nozzle goes to the dogs water bucket, while the other nozzle connects to a hose that we use for the chickens. The nozzle is turned off when the lever is in the up position.

The dogs drink out of the 5 gallon bucket of water near the water spigot. The dogs can drink a surprising amount of water on a hot day. Sometimes they dirty it with grass or dirt in which case we dump it all out and give them a fresh 5 gallons.

All 3 dogs can drink out of the blue 5 gallon bucket. The dual spigot is useful for controlling water for the dogs on the right, and water to the hose for the chickens on the left. The spigot is off when the lever is pushed to the up position (as seen on the left side spigot).

Bed Time

For bed time, Buddy and Lucy can just be kept outside. They sleep in the same area that they roam around all day. For Lily, she will need to be put up in her kennel. We try to put her up later in the evening, usually around 9-10pm, so that she doesn’t have to be in the kennel for too many hours until the morning when she is let out.

Lily sleeps in her kennel out on the back porch at night time. The kennel door should be closed and locked so she stays in here at night.

Dog Area and Fences

We limit the dogs to the gravel area of the yard, where the shops and the trampoline are. We keep the gates closed around it so that they cannot get into other areas such as the grassy area of the yard by the chickens, the deck or the front yard. Be extra careful with the gate on the side of the house that connects the parking area to the back/side yard. If this gets left open the dogs have previously chased after people walking down the road (whoops!).

Gate 1 is the most important to make sure it gets shut all the way so the dogs can’t escape out onto the street. They’re rascals and sometimes try to nose it open.

Gate 2 is closed to keep the dogs off the back deck. Lily will need to be let in here for bed time however as her kennel is on the back porch.

Gate 3 connects to the grassy area. We make sure this gate gets shut to keep the dogs from tearing up the grass.

Poop!

3 dogs can poop a lot. They can each poop up to 3 times a day, so that’s a total of 9 piles a day! We utilize a bin and rake method for cleanup and use simple plastic grocery bags in the bin. There is a pile of plastic bags on the back porch. Each bag usually lasts for 1-2 day’s worth of cleanup.

The bin and rake are pretty effective at doody duty.

Plastic grocery bags like these are used to line the bin. Once its full, simply remove, tie closed and place in the large gray garbage bin out front.

Cats

The cats stay in the shop are just fine despite how hot it can get in there. They are “barn cats” and prefer to have their own little space. You may not see them. Generally they are in the top area which can be accessed via the ladder, though there is no need to go up there to check on them. The cats need food and water every day, but generally their food may last 2 days and their water may last a week or more.

Food and Water

The cat food and water is located in the shop next to the big red tool chest. The food containers can be filled all the way up, and the water should generally last a week or more.

Cat food is kept in the metal bin. We keep the lid on after use. There are two water jugs for the cats that should last awhile. The bigger one is brand new and its possible they may not need the water changed for up to 2 weeks.

Chickens and Ducks

The chickens and ducks all live in the same bird run and co-mingle. They get along great. We generally let the chickens out around 8am and give them fresh food and water at that time. Its a good idea to prepare the food and water prior to letting the birds out as they can get in the way and make it more difficult.

The birds are let out typically via the smaller chicken sized door seen open here. Once opened in the morning, we keep this door open to allow the birds to enter in and out to lay eggs. The bigger door can be opened as well if preferred to allow for better air flow.

We keep the windows open on the coop during the summer to allow for better air flow and to keep it cool.

Food and Water

We fill up the food bowl full each morning and be sure the waters are full as well. If the water has been too dirtied, as if often the case, we rinse the dirt out and work to make it fresh. The large 10 gallon metal water containers should last a few days and can just have the trough sprayed clean with the hose in case its dirty

We run the hose to the chicken coop and fill up the waters. For the 10 gallon metal waters, the top lifts off for direct filling.

For the metal water bins, note this small pin on the side. When setting the top onto the water bin, line up the pin to the cutout in the top piece.

The top piece can then be turned and the small pin will hold the top piece in place

Food is contained in the two metal bins. If the birds don’t eat all the food given for the day, we put it back into the metal bin at night time. There are 2 or 3 food bowls that we fill up for them.

We keep the waters and food mostly on the long board laying in the bird run

If you’re feeling generous, you can add water to the duck pond, though this is not necessary. The ducks do enjoy it on a hot day, but it takes quite awhile to fill up all the way and it gets very dirty, so we only do this for them occasionally.

Eggs

Eggs can be collected throughout the day, or in the morning and evening. The birds generally lay in the morning, but have also been known to lay in the afternoon. On a really hot day, the eggs can potentially hard boil in the heat, but that is rare. You can keep all the eggs!

There are two nesting boxes. We keep the doors closed unless gathering eggs.

The ducks will usually lay one egg each and lay them in their duck coop. The roof can be removed to access the eggs. There is also a nesting box on the side of it that they sometimes lay eggs in.

Bed Time

Generally the chickens will head back into their coop around 9pm, as long as you remember to keep the chicken door open on the coop. To put them up for the night, simply close the chicken door once you’re sure the birds are all in. Only the chickens sleep in the big coop.

As long as the door is kept open all day, the birds will put themselves to bed around 9pm. Just close the door anytime after then to prevent predators from entering.

The ducks will sleep in their duck coop, and just be sure to keep the duck coop doors open as well. Nothing needs to be done for the ducks as they prefer to go in and out of their coop as they please.