One of my favorite jobs at our little farm is feeding the animals. No matter how frustrating and tiring my day has been (or threatens to be) the excitement that the animals have when they see me immediately puts me in a good mood. I’m not a complete idiot. I realize the only reason that Spec and Levi run (faster than they ever have in a barrel pattern) is because I’m holding feed buckets.

Cash and Carter are in “Super Max”, a result of spending entire days plotting on how to escape and eat the neighbor’s garden, chase the horses, terrorize the dogs, etc. So, they are happy to see anyone that walks by their pen, especially those carrying Goat Crack…aka corn.

But…with feed and hay come another problem. MICE!! And, they were eating everything…tack, feed, feed bins, supplements, boots, and the walls. The whole rodent issue was just really ruining my favorite part of the day. And, then, a little bad luck turned into my pot of gold.

Builder Bob had brought home a small chest deep freeze from the Scratch & Dent store, and we had set it up in the laundry room. I loaded it down with Buster IV (our yearly cow purchase) and a few packages of deer. This would eliminate the need for me to walk out to the garage to retrieve Buster when we were feeling particularly carnivorous. One morning, I walked in the laundry room and it looked like a crime scene. The freezer had quit, and Buster had “bled out” all over the floor. Needless to say, Builder Bob had to drag the freezer back up to the Scratch & Dent place. The owner explained that although all of these are new, they get A LOT back because they just quit. This might be a tip they want to share with customers before they load them down with half a cow…just sayin’. The owner also said that people use them for all sorts of non- freezer things like…dog houses, root cellars, and feed bins. I immediately perked up. Feed bin you say?? “Yep…they are insulated, and nothing can get in them”. So, we left with ours and two more.

Builder Bob plugged up the drain holes with caulk, and put them in our tack room. We have not seen a mouse/rat/groundhog since.

Two freezers, side by side, on one wall.

One, of the side by side freezers holds both Goat Crack and Alfalfa Cubes using a simple divider Builder Bob made for me.

The third freezer…holds Spec’s Senior feed.

Who knew that repurposing an appliance would put the sunshine back into my daily routine?

By

Carole