It really is a fascinating place. The Great Barn is a late 19th-century German bankbarn . The sloping bank up to the second floor provides easy access to the upper level through sliding doors. Here, five separate bays are used for storage of hay, straw, feed, and farming equipment. The animals live in the lower level, where the new-borns are also cared for and the cows are milked.
Cows produce milk for seven to ten months after they freshen , or give birth.
Heifers , cows that have not yet given birth, are bred to freshen for the first time at about two years of age, and then every year after that. The Pig Barn houses, of course, pigs, as well as livestock. The pigs here are bred using artificial insemination, a common, economical solution for a small farm. A variety of equipment can be seen in the Implement Shed. And the Vegetable Garden supplies fresh produce for the farm family that lives here.