Fiona and Nellie graze in the back pasture at sunset.

In the past month or two, I have chuckled at myself even in the midst of some tough situations. The reason: I’ve made some pretty asinine statements out loud to my animals as I was feeding, watering, or walking with them.

About a month ago, I raised my voice and told my KuneKune pigs to stop acting like pigs when they were squealing loudly and roughly shoving one another out of the way to get every last morsel of food on the ground. I started laughing when I realized I was saying that out loud to actual pigs! Over the past ten years of pig ownership, it has become abundantly clear to me where that saying derived its meaning.

Another “pig saying” that has become crystal clear to me over the last ten years is someone screaming like a stuck pig. Nothing will get your attention faster than a piglet that is caught in something or accidentally stepped on or just wants its mother’s undivided attention! It gets your adrenaline pumping fast!

Not long ago I told my roosters to “stop acting like chickens” when I threw some scratch in there and they acted like I had thrown a hand-grenade in their midst. I’m not even kidding that every single time I go into the chicken coop, they act like they have never seen me before and I’m wearing a Tyson-chicken vest or something indicating I’m coming to take them out.

Fiona, the donkey, usually acts like an a$$.….which she SHOULD….lol….when you feed her treats or even just regular food. She literally shoves everyone out of the way, pins her ears back, and kicks anyone….including her best buddy, Nellie, who gets near the food or treats that she thinks are only for her. Also, Fiona is as stubborn as an a$$, too. If she doesn’t want to move from a certain spot that is directly in your path, she won’t budge even if you push her as hard as you can. **This is my first time to curse in public. lol. It’s uncomfortable for me, but it seems absolutely permissible in this instance!

On certain days, our dogs run in and out of the water dozens of times and then wrestle with one another in patches of dirt, hay, and poop. I can’t help but smile when I refer to them as “dirty dogs” as they run towards me.

I’ve also been totally shocked when introducing new chickens into the coop when there arises a clear and, oftentimes, brutal pecking order in the coop with the new chickens residing clearly at the bottom. That saying has really come to life in front of my eyes as they peck and pick on the newcomer mercilessly.

The mother hen? There’s one in every coop. She will try her best to take you out if you mess with any of her chicks.

It all just makes sense to me now. I always thought they were just funny little sayings, but the people who coined all of those phrases must have actually lived out their years on farms and interacted regularly with farm animals. Those same people have, also, probably clearly understood what it actually means to make hay while the sun shines. All farmers know that, in order to avoid mildew, the grass used for the hay must be cut and dried out completely in the sunshine before it can be baled. Farmers all around us make hay while the sun shines high in the sky all throughout the spring and summer months. They know to take full advantage of the extra long hours of sunshine and heat. The rest of us just thought it was a whimsical statement.

I hope you enjoyed reading about the actual, farm-related moments behind some of these common sayings. Now, go make hay while the sun shines in whatever field you desire!