Update: Jersey Calf

Some of you might remember a previous post that introduced our newest farmyard animal, a Jersey calf. It is now over 3 months later, and he is no longer a calf but a steer! And, unlike the original post about him, he now has a name. According to the results of the naming contest, our visitors’ favorite choice was Max. Thanks to everyone who voted! When Max was a calf, his diet consisted of milk formula and sweet feed. AsRead more

The rewards of stonedusting

One of the most physically demanding jobs we have as keepers is the maintenance of our farmyard animal yards. The substrate in their yards is called stonedust, and as the months pass the stonedust in the donkey, goat, steer, pig, and even poultry yards gets packed down, raked up, and washed away. So every so often we have to re-stonedust the yards, which is back-breaking work and involves carrying heavy shovelfuls from a pile of stonedust and distributing a 1-2Read more

Creature Feature: New Jersey Calf

The newest addition to the Farm Yard, a Jersey calf, arrived at the museum three weeks ago. The Montessori Farm School in Hillsborough, NC donated the calf to us after they found out that Moo, our Belted Galloway Steer, was no longer with us (click here to read about Moo the Steer). We were delighted to have such a generous offer, and were also pleased that Chummix the Goat (who used to live with Moo) would soon have another companion.Read more