A Different Kind of Farm

The salad bar is OPEN. 🥬🐐 We've been getting so many wonderful produce donations lately, which means the residents have been enjoying some pretty excellent salads, as well as zucchini, squash, cucumbers, apples, peppers, plums, carrots, and more! A huge thank-you to everyone who has been donating fresh produce for the animals! We’re so grateful—and so are they!

When Orson and Welles were abandoned just over three years ago, all they had was each other. After catching them and bringing them to the farm, we didn't know if they'd ever learn to trust us—or whether we'd find a home for them. When they started fighting each other, it became dangerous for them and for us. We knew we needed to make a permanent home for them, but that meant separating the boys. They went from having only each other to having to live apart. Now, after years of confusion from medical providers, reunions followed by separations, a road trip full of misadventures, and—finally—the neuters they needed, the boys are back together for good, in their home here at the City Goat Farm. Thank you to everyone who has been rooting for Orson and Welles and supporting their story, and for @easternsnouts for all they do for pigs. We couldn't be happier to see them together again. 🐖💕

A little bouquet for the goats. 💐💜 We picked some purple loosestrife for the goats to enjoy — and they were more than happy to accept their flowers! Purple loosestrife is a beautiful plant, but unfortunately it’s also an invasive species here in New York. It can spread quickly and crowd out native plants in wetlands and along waterways. We have our own ways of dealing with invasives here… 🐑🐐

How do you solve a problem like Mia (and Brie)? We're so glad Mia is healing from her abscess better than we could have hoped for. Here she has decided to lay her clutch in one of our two "doghouses", here for the turkey's laying pleasure. Brie, not impressed with having her doghouse occupied, had no problem squeezing right in…

While we are "sweating like a pig" in this humidity, Orson and Welles… aren't. 🐖 Pigs don't actually sweat much. They have very few functional sweat glands, which is why they love a good mud wallow on a hot day. The mud helps them cool off as it evaporates, protects their skin from the sun, and even keeps biting insects at bay. So where did the expression come from? Not pigs—pig iron. During the iron-smelting process, molten iron was poured into molds called "pigs." As the iron cooled, moisture would condense on the surface, making it look like it was "sweating." Once it started to "sweat," it was cool enough to handle. #themoreyouknow🌈 Meanwhile, our pigs have their own ways to keep cool, plus year-round access to the inside of the barn to stay out of there elements.

One of the things visitors comment on most is how well all of the different species get along. Honestly, that's usually the easy part. The biggest disagreements on the farm tend to be between members of the same species. Goats have goat drama. Chickens have chicken drama. Pigs have pig drama (as we well know). Padme, on the other hand, seems to think she's part of every group. She sneaks into the chicken coop, rubs up against the goats, hangs out with the pigs, and is generally wherever the other animals are. Blaze has never seemed to question having a cat as part of the herd. It's a good reminder that every animal is an individual—and sometimes the friendships you least expect are the ones that come most naturally. 💕