CROWE S NEST FARM. Teacher Curriculum Packet

Transcription

1 CROWE S NEST FARM Teacher Curriculum Packet Teachers: Please use information about the animals at the farm to teach your children before you come for the tour. This will make their visit more enjoyable. General Information: A new addition has been added to the Garden Store. Besides having teacher posters, books and seeds for sale, we have a new selection of beautiful fairy items dresses, scepters, wings, crowns, books, stickers, and fairies. Please visit! GOURDS are available in the big red barn. These are dried and cured. Drill a small hole in the bottom and plant the seeds that fall out at your school or home. You will have gourds in the fall. DUCKS and GEESE: You will see as you walk around the farm that the duck pond is dry. We have not had rain in many months and this whole area is in a severe drought. Our water bill runs about $800. a month. We had to move 24 ducks and geese to Dr. Crowe s spring-fed pond behind her house. They are keeping away from the coyotes by swimming to the center of the pond. If you would like to bring old (not moldy) bread to feed the pigs, chickens or turkeys, you may feed them through the cage wire.

2 COWS Our Dairy Cow, BLOSSOM, had a calf in January. The baby calf is called BUSTER. Dairy cows are MILK MAKERS. Goats and sheep also make milk, but the dairy cows make the most. There are 5 main breeds of dairy cows: AYRSHIRE, BROWN SWISS, GUERN- SEY, HOLSTEIN, and JERSEY. BLOSSOM is a JERSEY.. A cow is able to make milk when she is 2 years old and has given birth to a calf. It takes 9 months to make a calf. (FYI Teachers: A few months after her calf is born, a cow is bred again to have another calf. Two months before her second calf is due, we stop milking her and she stops producing milk. She is dry. When her new calf is born, she makes milk again.) In the spring and summer, cows eat grass and drinks lots of water. Blossom eats about 50 pounds of food and drinks about 15 gallons of water a day. The cow is a ruminant and has 4 parts to her stomach. The food she eats is tough and coarse and goes to the first two stomachs (rumen and reticulum). The cow coughs up balls of food called CUD. She chews it again and now it goes to the third and fourth stomachs (omasum and abomasums) where it is finally digested. The milk is made in her udder and is squeezed or pumped out of her 4 teats. Teachers: Be sure to look at all of the products that cows, pigs, and sheep provide for humans. These are displayed in the dairy barn. It takes a person one hour to milk 6 cows. It takes a milking machine one hour to milk 100 cows. Blossom

3 LONGHORNS The Longhorn is recognized all over the world as the symbol of Texas. Longhorns are strong, resistant to disease, have tough hides, strong legs, fiercely protective mothering instincts. They are prolific breeders and have long, sharp horns_lethal weapons against large predators. The leader of our longhorn herd is FRED, an 1800 pound bull. He is the father of all of the calves born at Crowe s Nest Farm. His many wives are Moira, Mara, Pepper, Chloe and Blossom. The new calves are Buster, Lucy and Ladybird.

4 GOATS Goats are smart, inquisitive and sociable. Goats are also stubborn, mischievous and bossy. Goats are very curious, loveable, and great escape artists. Goats will eat grass, but really love leaves on tree branches, bark, brush and weeds. Goats will eat anything, even tin cans! NOT TRUE! In truth, goats are very selective about what they eat Careful getting too close to the fence; goats love to taste your clothes! Like sheep, goats have front teeth only on the bottom jaw. Ruminants cannot bite people.. The biggest difference between goats and other farm animals is that goats do not like to get wet or cold. DOE: Female goat BUCK: Male goat KID: Baby goat (We have 5 new baby kids. They love to play KING of the MOUNTAIN and knock each other off the rocks.) Goats enemies at Crowe s Nest Farm are coyotes. Goats, along with sheep and cows, are ruminants. They have four stomachs to digest the tough weeds that they eat. After eating all they can hold, goats will settle down and throw up their cud, the barely chewed up plants. We have Saanen, Pygmy, Nubian and Boer goats. Goat milk is very rich, thick and expensive. Many people pay lots of money for soap made out of goat milk.

5 SHEEP Sheep at Crowe s Nest Farm are born in January or February. When you visit the sheep pen, count the number of new baby lambs. EWE (pronounced you ): Female sheep RAM: Male sheep LAMB (called a lamb until one year old): Baby sheep What do sheep do all day? Our sheep are protected by 2 guard donkeys, Fancy and Newt. EAT! Sheep make wonderful lawn mowers. Baby lambs drink lots of milk everyday and can eat grass, grain and hay when only a week old. Sheep have a four part stomach just like cattle. They need such a stomach because the food they eat is hard to digest. When sheep graze, they eat lots of food without hardly chewing it at all. When they rest, tiny balls of food called cuds come up from the stomach for more chewing. Grown-up sheep spend about 7 hours each day chewing their cud. Lambs start chewing their cud when they are 3-4 weeks old. Cud-chewers are called ruminants. Like their stomachs, their teeth are special. Sheep have front teeth only on the bottom jaw. The top jaw has a thick pad instead of teeth. Sheep cannot bite off grass. Instead, they tear it by jerking their heads forward and upward. They have large back teeth for grinding. A favorite food of sheep is weeds! Sheep are very timid or sheepish. They do not have any good way to protect themselves. They do not have big teeth or claws or the speed to outrun predators (wild dogs, coyotes). Sheep have magnificent coats of wool that is sheared twice a year in Texas. Wool is used to make coats, scarves, gloves, blankets. It is dirt resistant, strong, waterproof and absorbs moisture. The daddy of all of our lambs is a Jacob Sheep with called RAMBO.

6 LLAMA Our llamas love to stay in a group and all of them take care of new babies. Baby llamas are called CRIAS. Our new baby is 5 months old and we call her DAISY. Llamas come from South America where they are used as pack animals. Most llamas are sociable and friendly, but can be stubborn. When upset, the llama will spit up a foul-smelling liquid from its stomach into the face of its handler. We have one male llama who spits. Do not get too close to the fence and beware when their ears go back! The llama is a plant eater and eats mainly grasses, hay and some grains. Like the sheep, goats, and cows, the llama is a ruminant. It has a multi-chambered stomach and chews its cud. Llamas can live up to 20 years. Llamas do not store water like their cousin, the camel. They drink lots of water. Many farms and ranches use llamas as guard animals. They protect the sheep and goats by kicking the coyote or dog threatening the flock. Llamas are sheared once a year in the summer so that they can endure the Texas heat. They do not like to be sheared so the shearers have to put a piece of plywood between the llama and their knees. They also have to watch carefully because the llama spits. It takes 350 days to make a llama. MULE Our beautiful red mule is named Sally and she is 31 years old. She is very kind and watches over the miniature horses housed with her in the corral. Mules are an offspring of a female horse and a male donkey. Mules cannot reproduce. Unlike donkeys, mules are as large as quarter horses. They are very hard workers. All the miniature horses and Sally love apples and carrots. If you would like to bring apples for them (6) ask David or Dr. Crowe about a safe way to feed them. Cut them in quarters.

7 DONKEYS The donkey has worked for humans for 12,000 years. It is a very strong animal with the ability to live and work under hot and rough conditions. Donkeys live in a group with one male and several females and the young foals. It takes one year to make a donkey. The single foal is born after one year and drinks its mother s milk. The donkey is not a ruminant and does not chew its cud. It eats grass or hay 20 hours a day and drinks water every two or three days. Our oldest donkey, PACO, is 26 years old and was one of the first animals we bought at Crowe s Nest Farm. He lives at David s house with another very old miniature horse, Sweet Pea. They live there because they are fed a special grain and the other animals do not bother them. CHULITA and CHALUPA are two miniature donkeys who are about 25 years old. They are very gentle and sweet and live with the main herd of donkeys. FANCY, a regular sized donkey and NEWT, a miniature donkey, live with the sheep and act as guardians. FANCY visits David s church every Christmas Eve and carries Mary in the annual nativity program. She has done this for 20 years. JACK: Male Donkey JENNY/JENNET: Female Donkey Fancy COLT: Young Donkey

8 Miniature Horses The miniature is a HORSE, not a PONY. It measures under 34 inches high at maturity, the height being measured at the shoulder blades, exactly where the mane ends. We still care for the original stallion and three females we purchased about 20 years ago. TOYBOY (30), SWEET PEA (25), SADIE ROSE (20), BRIDGETTE (21) live in the large front pasture at Crowe s Nest Farm. They have given us many beautiful foals over the years. Our newest miniature is ROSIE, a true miniature horse under 34 inches. She had a foal 6 months ago. The foal is called HERCULES and was only 18 inches tall when he was born. One of his front legs was twisted and we were concerned he would not be able to walk. Today, he is perfect! He is very special to us because his daddy is Champ, a Shetland Pony who has been blind his whole life. Right after Hercules was born, Champ would stand by the fence and wait for Rosie and the foal to visit with him through the fence. We soon put them all back together in the same corral and Champ plays with his son all day. STALLION: Male Horse MARE: Female Horse FOAL: Young horse under 1 year COLT: Young horse over 1 year

9 PIGS We love our pigs at Crowe s Nest Farm! Pigs are extremely intelligent and very social! Pigs are one of the cleanest animals on the farm. They will sleep in one area, go to the bathroom in another. When it gets very hot in the summer, they try to cool off by finding or making a wet muddy spot to lay down. Pigs cannot perspire to cool off as we do and cannot pant to cool off as dogs do. They will die of heat stroke if they cannot get wet. Our pigs have a shallow pond in the woods that they can soak in when it gets too hot. Mud also protects their skin from insects and sunburn. Pig skin is not smooth ; it is covered with short, stiff hair. They have small eyes and do not see well. BOAR: Male pig SOW: Female pig SHOAT: Piglet A hog eats about 5 pounds of feed per day or almost a ton of food a year. A sow gives birth to between 6 and 13 piglets a litter. Pigs are very important to humans medically. Pig organs are more like human organs than any other animal. The first hog heart valve transplanted to a human was done in Since then, tens of thousands of heart valves have been transplanted. Hog pancreas glands are a source of insulin hormone used to treat diabetics. Doctors use pigskin as a burn dressing because it is porous and breathable. Footballs are also made from pigskin. At Crowe s Nest Farm, we have Chester White pigs, pot bellied pigs, and Guinea Hogs. When you come for your tour, you may bring carrots, apples, pears, sweet potatoes and feed the pigs. They also love left-over lunches but cannot eat peelings, plastic or paper. Teachers, please talk to David or Dr. Crowe if you plan to feed the pigs fruits or veggies; we will instruct you on the safest way to do it!

10 POULTRY CHICKENS: We have many different kinds of chickens. We have to keep them safe from predators at night. Our worst predator is the raccoon. Raccoons can pull open doors or climb in holes around the roof We also have trouble with snakes. Sometimes the snake will squeeze through the wire hole, swallow a baby chick or quail, and then cannot squeeze through the hole to exit. He has to wait a few days for the bird to digest before he can leave. +Hens begin laying eggs at 6 months. One hen can lay up to 300 eggs a year. Chickens are also used for meat. +Comb: Red skin on top of head +Wattle: Two pieces of skin hanging on either side of beak + Gestation period to hatch a baby chick: 21 days +Hens are good mothers and protect their babies. They care for them for several months. +Mother Chicken: Hen Father Chicken: Rooster + Spur: Extra claw on rooster s leg for protection +Beak: Chicken s mouth; no teeth. Beak is as strong as teeth. +Grit: Small rocks the chicken swallows to help digest food. +Wings: Small; cannot fly +Egg Tooth: A hard beak on the unhatched baby chick that is used to peck out of the egg. Falls off after hatching. +Chicks live on egg yolk for 21 days while in the egg. +Mother hen turns the eggs while sitting on them. In an incubator, if the eggs are not turned 3 times a day, the legs do not form correctly. +Chickens go to sleep at sundown. +Eggs that we eat ARE NOT FERTILE (no baby chicks inside)

11 TURKEYS: We have Bronze Turkeys and Bourbon Red Turkeys. Father Turkey: Tom Mother Turkey: Hen Baby Turkey: Poult Gestation Period to hatch a turkey: 28 days Skin: Blue, red or purple Wattle: Skin under neck Caruncles: Folds of skin or bumps on head, neck & under wattle Snood: Pencil-like projection above the bill Beard: Coarse hair tuft growing out of chest; can be on male or female.

12 OSTRICHES: +Ostriches and Emus belong to the RATITE family. These are flightless birds. Their feathers are strong because the feather parts are locked together. The feathers are loose so the air will flow through them. +The ostrich is the world s largest bird. +The ostrich can run faster than any other two-legged animal +It lays the largest eggs of any living creature. +One ostrich egg is equal to 20 hen s eggs. +Ostrich and emu graze on plant shoots, leaves, flowers and seeds. We supplement their food supply with pellets. They store food in their long throat called a gullet. They have to swallow sand and stones to help digest food. +Ostrich hens lay up to 12 eggs in the nest; then other hens lay their eggs in the same nest. +Male ostriches take over nest duty at night. Egg incubation is about 42 days. +Size: Height in males is 6-9 feet; in females, 5-6 feet. Weight in males is 350 pounds; females up to 200 pounds. +Ostrich can run faster than any other two-legged animal. They can run up to 45 mph. +Ostrich is the only bird in the world that has only 2 toes. +Eyes of an ostrich are huge, almost as big as tennis balls. They have excellent eyesight. +Ostriches and emus will eat almost anything shiny: watches, keys, jewelry, glass

13 BIRDS: Emu, ostrich, pheasants, doves, quail, chickens, Seramas (world s smallest chicken), ducks, geese, Peacocks EMU: + Our emus are large, flightless birds that are second in size only to the ostrich. They are native to Australia. Emus were very popular in Texas about 10 years ago. Farmers and ranchers spent thousands of dollars for the birds, thinking they could make money selling their meat, emu oil and feathers. The market collapsed and many owners let their birds run free. This resulted in car accidents, birds killed by coyotes and dog packs. All of our emus were brought in by the sheriff or owners (3) who did not want them anymore. +Call: Male hisses and grunts. Female makes loud booming noises. + Diet: Seeds, fruit, insects, small rodents and lizards in the wild ; grains in captivity + Lifespan: 5-7 years + Male incubates the eggs for 5-7 months + Live in groups in the wild; females stay together in captivity

14 Many of the animals at Crowe s Nest Farm were brought here because they were injured or orphaned, or because they were raised by humans, sometimes illegally, in captivity. The farm serves as a permanent home for wildlife that can no longer survive in the wild. These animals are here for their protection, healing and educational value for the general public. Permits have been obtained from TPW, USFW, and USDA for the animals requiring permits. REMEMBER: Wild animals do not make good pets! RAPTORS: (Birds of Prey) Owls, Hawks, Falcons, Eagles and Vultures. Carnivorous; Sharp talons (claws) and beaks Owls: Great Horned, Barred, Screech, Barn Owls +All of our owls have been shot and cannot fly. +Nocturnal: Sleep during day and hunt at night. +Large head and large eyes that face forward (most bird eyes are on the sides of their head). This placement gives them binocular vision and precise depth perception. +Cannot move eyes within their sockets like we can; have to move their entire head. +Fluffy feathers give them almost silent flight. +See in black and white +Eat rodents, insects, frogs and birds. Owl is near the top of the food chain; predators are man & occasional hawk, eagle or bobcat. +Swallow small food (rodents) whole and larger prey in chunks. Throw up inedible parts (hair, feathers, exoskeletons and bone) in oval-shaped pellets.

15 Hawks: Red-tailed, Swainson s, Harris Hawks Falcons: Merlin +Some of our hawks are amputees (one wing) from gun shots; some have broken wings. +Diurnal: Hunt during the day and sleep at night. +Powerful carnivore who often catches it prey while flying; eats rodents, opossums, reptiles, amphibians and other birds. +Hawk eats entire prey, throwing up inedible parts like fur, feathers, teeth, and bone (pellets). Vultures: Turkey and Black Vultures +Our Black Vulture is blind. He was hit in the head by an incredibly stupid human when he was a youngster. Wildlife Rescue saved his life. He is very healthy and is safe in his pen. + Our Turkey Vulture has two broken wings that healed badly. + Vultures provide a service to the world by eating dead animals. + Powerful fliers + Vultures are scavengers. They have a strong sense of smell and keen eyesight.

16 MAMMALS: Opossum, Bobcat, Prairie Dogs, Raccoons, Coatimundi, Ringtails, Porcupine. Red Squirrel OPOSSUM: +Only living marsupial from North America. Marsupial is an animal with a pouch. When young are born, they are about size of a bee. Females have a fur-lined pouch on their abdomen into which these tiny, under-developed young crawl. The young live, grow and drink milk from teats in the pouch for about 2 months. + Omnivore (eat both plants and animals) It eats insects, lizards, mice, worms, fruit, nuts and carrion (dead animals). In captivity, our possum eats scrambled eggs or chicken, fruit, vanilla wafers, nuts. +When opossums are attacked, they will play possum, pretending that they are dead. This act makes the attacker lose interest. It is believed that this act is involuntary and the opossum faints from fear. BOBCAT: +Our bobcat is a spayed female from a zoo in North Texas. + Nocturnal; sleep during the day. + Carnivorous ; in captivity eat raw chicken, beef, or venison +Lifespan years + Called bobcat because of her bobbed or short tail PRAIRIE DOGS: + Not dogs at all, but rodents; live in burrows that they dig underground. +Black-tailed Prairie Dogs live in large groups with a complex of burrows called towns. Each town is divided into coteries. + Hands and feet have long claws that are used for digging.

17 (Prairie Dogs Cont.) Like all rodents, their incisor teeth continue to grow their whole life. +Herbivores (plant eaters). They eat grasses, seeds, leaves, flowers, fruit, eggs and insects. + Predators: Coyotes, dogs, bobcats, foxes, hawks + Protection: There are several guards in the prairie dog town. When danger approaches, the guards issue a warning call and all go underground. + Their homes are shared with burrowing owls, tarantulas, snakes (mainly rattlers), armadillo, mice. + Babies are born in the spring; 3-5 per mother + Live up to 8 years in captivity. RACCOON: Our raccoons are about 15 years old. They were illegally raised by humans and were imprinted and unable to be released. +Very intelligent and adaptable to their environment. +Long fingers and toes and excellent sense of touch. + Omnivores: Eat both plants and animals; eat almost anything. + Find most of their food in water. + In captivity eat scrambled eggs, chicken, salmon, dry dog food, fruit, vanilla wafers, nuts, marshmallows + Lifespan 10 years in wild; longer in captivity. + Predators: bobcat and cougar + Babies born in the spring; usually 3-4 kits.

18 RINGTAIL: The Ringtail is a small, fierce carnivore. It is a member of the raccoon family and has the distinctive black and white ringed tail that raccoons have. +Nocturnal +Omnivore: Eats chicken, eggs, mealworms, fruit, nuts, vanilla wafers in captivity; in the wild eats small birds, mammals, insects, reptiles, fruit, leaves. +Lifespan: 8 years in captivity; less in wild + Retractable claws like a cat + When threatened by enemies, ringtails emit a foul smelling secretion from its anal glands COATI: The Coati is a raccoon-like mammal found in South Texas and Central and South America. It has an unusually large nose, which it uses to sniff for food in the undergrowth. + Diurnal: Active during day and sleeps at night + Lifespan: 14 years + Wild diet: Invertebrates, reptiles, small mammals, eggs, fruit. Captive diet: Dry dog food, eggs, chicken or salmon, fruit, nuts, sweet potatoes, marshmallows, vanilla wafers. + Our female coati got too close to the raccoon cage (before we put up the board fence) and the raccoons pulled her long tail in and bit off 10 inches. She was in the animal hospital for a long time while she recovered. Notice how much shorter her tail is than the male s tail.

19 COATI: Found in S.A., C.A., Mexico, and small part of southern U.S. In the raccoon family Unusually large, trunk-like nose which it uses to sniff for food in undergrowth. Adapts well to different environments Active in day Arboreal Gestation: 2 ½ months Females live in highly organized, close knit family groups After mating, male is driven from the group so he will not eat young Food: Insects, scorpions, spiders, lizards, eggs, fruit Sharp curved claws for gripping

20 BOBCAT: Size of a medium-size dog; 30 pounds Nocturnal Very shy; seldom seen by man Most common wild cat in North America Texas home to about 6,000 bobcats Well camouflaged Territorial; usually one male and two or three females Lives alone Carnivorous (rabbit, rodents, sheep, deer, birds, sheep) One litter of kittens a year (2-3 in litter) Eat meat at 5 weeks Male brings food to female and kittens for about 5 months Eyes closed for first 9 days Good swimmers and climbers The further north they live, the bigger they are. (Largest in Canada) Home: underground den or hollow log Gets name from his tail; very short.

21 PORCUPINE: Our porcupine was brought to us by one of the sheriffs in Manor. She is one of our favorite animals! When I come late at night to feed the night mammals, she begins to make a humming noise, letting me know that she is glad to see me. +Herbivore (plant/vegetable eater) Eats trees, bark, berries in the wild. In captivity, our porcupine eats fresh fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, leafy green vegetables. +Arboreal (live in trees) + Very poor vision; near-sighted + Over 30,000 sharp, barbed quills ; rattle quills as a warning. Covered with quills on head, sides, back, tail. They do NOT throw their quills. + Lifespan 17 years + Hard hairless pads on inside of hands and long nails to help with climbing + Excellent hearing and sense of smell + Hair on belly soft and short; no quills + Good swimmers; hollow quills act like corks + Nocturnal: Hunt at night + Cannot sweat; bothered by heat; immerses in water + Babies born in sacs like kittens or puppies; quills are soft and wet when born + Sharp, orange-yellow teeth; can bite + Predator: Fisher The Fisher flips it on its back and attacks the soft, non-quilled belly

22 RED SQUIRREL: +One of our squirrels is completely blind, but has an excellent sense of smell and keen hearing. This enables him to go all over his cage and find and hide his food. The other squirrel has some nerve damage, but can climb and walk fine. +Diet consists of seeds, vegetation, eggs, small birds and mammals. In captivity consists of grapes, apples, greens, nuts, vanilla wafers, corn on cob. + Diurnal: sleep at night