Farmlife: thunderstorms

Had a massive wave of thunderstorms go over the farm tonight; intense rain, cloud to cloud lightning, cloud to ground.

I don't have any pictures but i was out in it, making sure that all of the animals had found shelter and were using it.  I'm particularly worried about animals gathering near electric fences, or under trees.  I'd rather they take shelter in a barn (all of the barns have lightning rods and are grounded, one of the things that I did when I bought the place).

I have two pig herds that I  maintain separately, so that i can breed from one to the other with less chance of relations.  the older herd had mostly found the barn and were snoozing in the straw, but there were 6 stragglers out in the field, looking a little anxious.  Huge light show and amazing thunder; quite the spectacle. I could see them in the flashes, and they didn't spot me, but came to me when I called them, and I led them up to the barn; when they could see and smell the other pigs in there they all passed me but one stubborn sow.  She's an older pig, and set in her ways, and wasn't at all sure about this barn idea.  But i know pigs well enough to know that she'll notice in a few minutes that she's the only pig out there, and missing the other pigs, will overcome her wariness about the barn.

Checking on the cows found them in the barn; the dairy cows had pushed their hay out of reach, so I pitchforked it into their feeder, and did the same for the beef cows.  the chickens, geese and turkeys had all found places they were happy with in a barn, and having done the rounds, I walked back to the house.

The rain gauge we've got recorded 3/4" of rain in the 30 minutes that I'd spent checking on the animals.  I sure felt wet, but it also felt good, I could sleep, knowing that all of the animals were comfortable.