Brookview's Animal Farm

"Robbie" Moves In

You might have heard some new sounds coming from the farm.  We now have a pygmy billy goat named, Robbie.  He is of unknown heritage but may have some Angora lineage judging by his long, black hair.  He is the self-appointed "King-of-the-Farm" and has decided that he needs the lion's share of the grain.  You may have seen him fend off the sheep with his big horns.  This is normal dominance behavior among herd animals.  The sheep has a thick wool coat and has still managed to put on quite a few pounds since joining us here in spite of her bottom of the totem pole status. 

Robbie has a definite odor about him, which comes from a gland located just behind his horns.  You can see him or smell him, showing off from the top of the birthing shed.      

Sheep and Goat

Brookview welcomed two new animals to our farm this year, a buckskin pygmy goat and a black suffolk sheep.  These animals were rescued from a farm not far from Brookview.  They were starving and almost feral, running in a herd with one other sheep and four nanny goats.  Most of the other animals have since found new homes, and Brookview is proud to have given two of them a chance at vitality.  They are recovering nicely, sunken sides filling out and strength returning.  They are learning to trust humans again.  The goat is even learning how to walk on a lead!

  pygmy next to a dairy goat

Snowy

Members of the Brookview comnunity may remember Snowy, our old domestic sheep that birthed two lambs at Brookview over ten years ago.  We are sad to share the news that this past summer Snowy, at the ripe old age of fourteen, passed away. 

There is one lamb left to rescue, another little black Suffolk like the one we have.  He was the most severely malnourished, unable to even stand when he was found.  He was rushed to a clinic with uncertain expectations of his survival.  Though his red blood count was lower than the vets thought possible to survive, he pulled through.  He has recovered.  Although he's undersized, he is able to stand now and browse the field.  He loves red clover in particular.  “Livingston” still needs to find a home and we would love to bring him to Brookview.

          Black Suffolk Sheep

Students and the Farm

 Our youngest students - the infants and toddlers - greatly enjoy observing the animals.  Older students learn responsibility and animal husbandry skills through the daily care of the sheep and goat.  Feeding and watering must be done twice daily even in the worst weather, and the fourteen farm "shifts" are distributed among the classrooms with weekends being covered by parent and teacher volunteers.  Many students feel real satisfaction from the hard work of raking out the barn or putting down fresh straw.  Groups of older students have observed the processes of shearing, de-worming, vaccinating, and even the birth of a new lamb. 

Our Sheeps' Wool Put to Good Use

The wool that results from the annual shearing is used in the classrooms in a myriad of ways:  washing, carding, spinning, weaving, knitting, crochet, and felting are all activities that Brookview students may engage in as practical life or arts and craft activities.  It is extremely gratifying to create something- be it a woven placemat, a hand-knit hat, or a felted pair of earrings- knowing that the raw materials used to create it came from the sheep that you have helped take care of. 

Hatching Chicks at Brookview 

The hatching of new chicks is an exciting time for young and old alike.  We hatch chicks in an incubator inside the school and then move them outside a few weeks later.  As with the sheep, the responsibilities of feeding and changing the water is shared.  As the chickens mature, and the hens begin to lay eggs, the students take turns collecting eggs daily.  The eggs are used in the Brookview kitchen for classroom baking or cooking projects.  We hope to begin another lifecycle study soon.

Animals in the Classrooms

The study of biology and life cycles is an important part of the Montessori curriculum.  Most of the teachers have one or more animals in the classroom.  The school farm provides yet another wonderful resource for the teachers to integrate into the curriculum to spark the students' interest and enhance learning. 

Previous animals on the farm