We have been in our new home since late October and it is only recently that both Maria and I have discovered that the layout of the New Bedlam Farm is radically different from the old, and that we have a completely different experience and interaction with the animals here. The other Bedlam Farm was larger. The animals roamed a large pasture, near the house and down the road or across the street. We saw them in the morning, when we feed them, but they went up the hill or into the other pastures for much of the day. We could not see them out of our windows, and in the summer, when the grass was deep, we often didn’t see them for a day or two. They would come down to the waterer, but often spend the night up on the hill where the grass was high. Zelda and the sheep were very skittish around Red at the other Bedlam Farm. They were rarely close to him or me, it was always a chase. We fed the chickens in the morning, and saw them marching around, but they were not near us. Neither, really were the barn cats. It was different for the dogs, they lived in the house with us, and we felt very close to them.
The donkeys would come down to say hello, hope for a cookie, but they didn’t stay long. They love to climb hills and look down on things.
The layout of this farm is different. The pastures form a horseshoe and ring the farmhouse. They are just a few feet outside of our window. We designed it that way, but we didn’t really how significant a change it would be. The people who designed this farm knew what they were doing. The barns are right behind the house, the pastures looping around on either side. You can see the animals from every window in the house. They are our view, the sight out of our windows. We see and observe them all of the time. When I write, Simon and the donkeys come within 15 feet of my window (they are even closer to Maria’s studio). We can see them all the time, and they can see us all of the time.
The result has been a radical change in our knowledge of one another. There is a comfort level that is unprecedented and also much better opportunity to observe. Maria and I are trading animal observations all day. It is neat. The chickens are also right outside the door. The barn cats right nearby. We see the role a rooster plays, and the fascinating politics of even a small group of chickens. The animals hear us in the house and they can see us and sense us through the windows. When I go to the car, I walk through barn cats and chickens and Simon usually gives me a loud bray as a send off. The sheep were skittish and standoffish at Bedlam Farm, but they see me all the time, and although they obey Red, they do not run in panic from him as they did before. They will graze and eat at the feeder within a few feet of him. And they easily permit Maria and I to change their coats or brush them. I can put a camera right in their noses, and they don’t flinch or back away.
The donkeys are also much more at ease with us, coming to the gate when we leave the house, braying when we get up or go outside. I can see their grazing habits and watch the very complex sexual and social interactions between Simon and Lulu and Fanny (Simon has been gelded but doesn’t seem to know it.) I see how Zelda leads the sheep and acts as a sentry for them. How the animals drift to the highest ground, even if it is not very high. Where they go to get out of the wind and where they go to absorb the sun on cold days.
The effect of this at the new farm is one of intimacy and familiarity. This is a significant change. Maria sees donkeys, sheep, chickens and barn cats right outside of her window. They come and bray and cluck and meow at her all the time. She loves it. We are all much more aware of one another, around each other much more. I love that every time I look out of the window I see an animal grazing, or chickens marching, or a barn cat slithering. This is teaching me me a lot of new things about the animals I live with. I will share the things I am seeing and learning.