It’s August, and in most parts of the country, that means it’s hot. Really hot. Especially here in the South. It’s the kind of hot that makes you want to sprawl out in the ice cream aisle with a pint of Phish Food. Luckily we have ways to stay cool and comfortable on these sticky summer days. But what about our pets?

House pets are the lucky ones who get to spend most of the day stretched out on the cool linoleum instead of panting in the sun. But farm animals are a different story. Though they’re often exposed to the elements, they don’t have to suffer. Here are a few ways to keep your animals cool during hot weather.

• Keep them well-hydrated. This is a no-brainer for pets and humans alike. One of the best ways to endure hot weather is to stay well-hydrated. It keeps the body cooled and functioning at its peak.
• Provide shelter and shade. Whether you have a barn or a big shade tree, giving your animals a place to escape from the midday sun is essential for keeping them cool.
• Give them showers. Hose your big guys (horses, donkeys, etc.) with lukewarm water regularly to keep them cool. For smaller critters, especially water-loving ducks, fill kiddy pool with cool water and allow them easy access.
• Provide ice packs for small animals. Rabbits and guniea pigs, for example, don't endure heat well. They should always be kept in a shaded hutch with plenty of water to drink. You can also wrap an ice pack in a towel or wash cloth to put in the cage for extra comfort. 
• Got chickens? Try mud baths! Run your hose out in a patchy area of the yard where you can stir up some cool mud for chickens. They may enjoy nestling down into the cool mud to escape the heat.

Be sure to watch for signs of heat stress in your animals such as panting, staggering, swollen tongue, trouble breathing, or vomiting blood. If you suspect your animal is getting overheated, cool them down and seek professional help immediately.

And don't forget about yourself! Humans are just as capable of experiencing heat stroke, so keep an eye on your own well-being, too. If you begin to feel sick in the heat, try using peppermint essential oil to alleviate nausea and combat heat exhaustion. Drink some cool peppermint tea or take a lukewarm bath infused with peppermint oil to cool your body down and lessen the effects of overheating. 

Is it hot there today? Make sure you pamper your animals for a bit to keep them cool, and make sure you stay hydrated, too!

Whether you’re in Carolina or Colorado, temperatures are dipping down below the norm. Here in Eastern NC we’ve had a few ups and downs — 70-degree days, below-freezing nights, and plenty of opportunities to bundle up.

Luckily some of our animals have built-in winter coats. The alpacas, who thrive in colder temps anyway, have nothing to worry about. That’s precisely what their wool is for. The cats are good at cuddling in corners and finding warm crevices to sleep in. The horses have blankets and the birds have down, but sometimes it gets cold enough that we start to worry. If you’re anything like us, you tend to worry a bit, too. Here are a few tips for keeping your critters warm this winter.

Shelter
Okay, so this one is easy. If you want to keep your animals warm, you put them inside, right? Shelter helps, especially when the skies open up and snow or ice begin to fall, but you don’t necessarily have to keep your animals cooped up all the time. Let them get some fresh (okay, frigid) air during the day when the sun is at its peak. As long as they’re equipped with some natural or man-made winter gear (think down for chickens and blankets for horses), they’ll be okay to roam for a little while.

Bedding
Supplement whatever shelter your animals have with some extra bedding materials to keep them warm. This doesn’t mean you’re bundling up your finest Egyptian cotton just to keep your rabbits warm (unless you want to, of course…). It simply means buying some extra straw or litter to help them nestle in and retain more heat.

Food
Keeping your animals well-fed is a great way to boost their energy and warm their bodies. In fact, bumping up their daily feed may even benefit your animals during winter months. Don’t worry too much about the extra weight gain; you can always cut back again in the spring. Just don’t skimp on their feed simply because it’s too cold to bundle up and go outside.

Company
What better way to stay warm (besides a vacation in Puerto Rico) than to huddle close to someone you love? Animals benefit from this too. In fact, it’s the feline way of life around here. When sheltering your animals at night, group them as efficiently as possible to allow for shared body heat. This is a great way to keep hens warm, for instance. And while rabbits could also benefit from this, be careful to group them by gender (unless you want to add a lot of extra little bodies…).

It may be cold outside, but that doesn’t mean your critters have to suffer. For starters, keeping them sheltered, well-fed, and grouped together will help to keep the frostbite at bay.

I don’t think I’ve actually introduced myself.

I’m Meghan Bliss, and I’m Connie’s daughter. I’m a writer and editor, and I haven’t even been married to my handsome husband Patrick for a whole year yet. We moved to New Bern a few months ago, and we’re still trying to figure out this whole adulthood thing. I sort of wish someone had warned me…

Bright Star Farm was home for 6 years before I left for college, and even then a couple of years after college (isn’t that what all the millennials are doing?). Anyway, I won’t pretend to be the most knowledgeable alpaca enthusiast; I’ll leave that to the real farmers and, of course, my mom. And I won’t claim to be a dedicated farm girl, either. I spent most of my teenage years painting my nails instead of digging my hands into the nit and grit of farm life: the early morning feeds, the cat fights, the egg collecting, the frozen water buckets in January. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that most of my “farming” experience happened while I sat on the back deck during summers, working on my tan and reading Tennessee Williams’ short stories. So while I may not be equipped to write from experience, per se, I certainly have the memories, research materials, and sources to back me up. (Just ask my family.)

But if there’s one thing I actually can write about with my eyes closed, it’s my home.

I may be a self-professed city girl, but no place I’ve ever lived has had an impact on me like Bright Star Farm. When I went to college in Wilmington, I fell in love with the campus and the town. Just the right size, it had the perfect vibe to suit me. I adjusted easily, minus your typical freshman homesickness. (Hey, it’s better than the freshman fifteen, right?)

But when I graduated in 2010, I panicked. I had no idea what to do with my life. I’d just graduated, had my heart broken, and been accepted to ECU’s graduate program, all within less than a month. I wasn’t really thrilled about any of it, especially not the moving home part. Regardless, I packed my car to the hilt and headed home.

An entire lifestyle ended abruptly, and I wasn’t ready. With no permanent job prospects on the horizon, I had no idea how I’d become gainfully employed, maintain my friendships, and meet a great guy while living in the backwoods of Trenton, NC.

My mom said home is where we go to lick our wounds. It’s where we go to deal with our heartache so we can feel strong again. I didn’t know exactly what she meant at the time, but I took to the hammock under our giant pecan tree in the back yard (Old Bess, as everyone likes to call her) with a notebook, a pen, and plenty of novels and memoirs. I spent hours and hours under that tree, studying the cracks in those mahogany pecan shells, memorizing the spots on backs of cats when they’d chase one I’d roll their way. I learned the soft crunch of Twink and Lacey grazing in the pasture, the shrill chirp of guineas when a car would startle their flock, and the frantic blur of a loose hound dog, our Bones, whirring by in a fit of secret freedom, unaware that an angry owner was waiting on the other side of the (once again) broken fence.

I learned that bluegrass music and poems read by Garrison Keillor on NPR made the perfect soundtrack to my mom’s cooking. When Steve, my step-dad, got home late most nights and went out after dark to close the barn doors, I learned that it’s possible to still do that one little thing for your family, even after a long and stressful day. And down the dirt path, back in the rich, canopied woods behind our house (where I’d marry that ever-elusive great guy only three years later), I learned that the very best place to meet our God is right out in the middle of His creation.

Mostly, I learned that the best way to get over something is to go through it, to enjoy where you are in the meantime and to let even that heal you, too. Home is good for that sort of thing.

While I’m enjoying our modest duplex in River Bend (I can finally decorate!), it’s not quite home yet. Not like the farm. It takes a lot of breakfasts, dinners, loads of laundry, malfunctioning dishwashers, canine escapees, movie marathons, fights, parties, birthdays, Christmases, and quiet mornings before a place becomes a home.

And I think, just maybe, that’s the beauty of it.