What is an Arche-Hof?

Galina, the head Cow

Galina is the self-proclaimed leader of her herd of cows, a lady of significant stature, and the bossiest beast of the lot. She can been seen daily at the front of the herd on their walks to the field in the morning and back to the stables in the afternoon. She is the one being guided by rope, although she puts up somewhat of a resistance when she can, pulling the worker in the director on different trees or scattered apples that catch her eye.

Each day is a battle against the flies that hang around her face, and she spends a great amount of her time on the field whipping her head against her side to rid herself of the insect annoyance. The rest of her time is spent grazing the grass, drinking water, or mounting the backs of her fellow female Cows – in a display of dominance.

Occasionally other cows will attempt to usurp the lead position in the herd, but they do not take this place for long. A rush with her horns puts any lower ranking Cow back in their place, and they will sure not make the mistake of challenging the mighty Galina’s dominance again.

Tony the Bull

If Tony the Bull could talk, he would probably say something such as this: “Tony love Potato. Tony love his food. Tony want potato and power food. Give Tony food. Where are Tony’s cow friends? Mooooooooo.”

No, Tony the Bull can’t actually talk sadly. But this attempted understanding of Tony the Bull’s thoughts comes from many days of observing the Bull strolling around his territory, which is the Stables where he lives with the 20+ milking cows. When a farm worker from Sammatz is nearby with either Potatoes or power food (also known in Deutsch as Kraftfutter, is a combination of seeds and grains with all Cows love), Tony will appear excited and follower the worker around until he is given some of the potatoes or a scoop of the power food grain mix. His long tongue with extend to reach any potato offered to him, and it can be some wonder for new workers or onlookers just how large in size his tongue is.

During the day, when his female cow companions are herded to the field, Tony stands in the stables, either eating, sleeping or looking for them. It is perhaps a little sad that he doesn’t understand where his Cow friends go to each day, and he will often call for them which is signature ‘moo’ – a very long and loud kind of a moo, which can move from low to high sounds with such intensity, that surely if there was a competition for the best vocal chords on the farm, Tony we come at the top.

Tony is popular with many of the people living at Sammatz, who will often stop to give him a pat or say hello on their way past. Occasionally Tony will try and escape, and when this happens he will perhaps attack a hay bail or wheel barrow with his horns, but he is yet to attack any person directly or cause any major damage. For this reason we think of Tony as a kind hearted bull, although he is very muscular and impressive in size, and surely is a prime example of the male gender of his breed.

Good parents

You can find our healthy and happy Angle Sattelschwein pigs and piglets living in many places around the Sammatz Archehof. Because of the genetic strength of this breed, with their behaviour of traditional pigs rather than factory pigs very evident, they are able to be kept living in the fields throughout the year, not just in summer but winter as well. The old pigs can be found running around in special areas near the grassy fields for our cows, whereas in the stables you will find two big Sattelschwein Mothers, a Father and their offspring, little healthy piglets whose curiosity and intelligence is evident upon even a short visit.

This breed are known as good parents, the large parents almost never sit on or hurt their children as other pig breeds might, they play with their children and the little piglets are very playful and friendly in return. The traditional behaviour of the pigs can be seen in winter, for example to survive the cold days and nights they will by instinct dig their way into holes in the ground to live in, which will keep them warm.

They, therefore don’t need to be housed indoors as other more genetically mixed breeds would have to. Of course, they’re an intelligent animal, and can be taught to be walked around the farm following their owner if need be. When the tractor arrives to give them their daily food supply of spoilt milk and dairy products (which they love), they will often greet and follow the tractor with such excitement it is as if they see tractor as a caring, giant sow.

They will also greet humans in an excited manner, but it is particularly interesting to see the instinctive association the pigs have made between the tractor and food.
As well as being a friendly and fun animal to observe, they give a quality meat product. Our current supplies can be found at our farm shop.

Famous goats: Astrid (no longer at Sammatz) and Felix

Of the animals that have lived at Sammatz, there are few more famous than the sleek white coated Astrid. The odd one out of the Goats, she had no horns and was devastatingly beautiful – testifying to her attractiveness were the crowds of visitors gathering frequently to give attention to her. The other goats knew this and would bully her to no end. She was often found hiding in a corner, away from the goats, eating when they were not near. Spotted by animal film agents, she was picked up as an goat-actress for filmtierhof.de, and would appear in many commercials and even a feature film, Schellen-Ursli (Xavier Koller, 2016).

Astrid is no longer with us – no, she hasn’t passed away, she’s back living at her owner’s house now, but there are still many other interesting goat that can be found living at Sammatz.

Another acting goat is the male buck, Felix – who can be found strutting his stuff around the farm.

Name: 30185 (aka Cindy)

The goats are milked twice daily for use in the Meierei for making feta and other cheeses with. One of the more popular animals with the workers in charge of the milking has the name 30185.

That is not a particularly catchy name, because it is also her code number, and many of the goats here do not have official names. 30185 has also been nicknamed Cindy by an Australian girl called Maddie who works at Sammatz and often milks the goats. Maddie has described the goat Cindy as one of her favourites, as she is friendly, likes people and will often be the first goat to approach a human, looking for hugs and attention. She often perches on a ledge next to where the milking is happening, and tries her best to sniff and lick the milking people, often resting her head on their shoulder. This can be nice for those people looking for goat attention, but also a bit annoying if they’re just trying to get the milking finished as fast as possible.

As with the other goats, Cindy enjoys her daily walks to the field, stealing the occasional bite from a nearby bush on the way, and once at the field she enjoys competing with the other goats for a place on top of the water tank.

Spend some time with the goats at your next visit to Sammatz. Maybe you’ll meet a goat more famous than you realise, or get a lick from a particularly friendly goat such as Cindy, or maybe you’ll see the Zeige battling to stand on the highest platform possible.

Adventurous animals

The sheep is the standard farm animal in many parts of the world, but it’s presence and cuteness is not to be understated. They are a necessary part of our Archehof, which would not be the same without their sheepy contributions – that of milk which we use for our delicious artisian cheeses and also of fur for winter clothing and wool supplies. Not to mention they add to the archehof environment and are popular with kids and visitors of all ages.

As well as sitting happily in our Archehof stables environment, and being milked in the morning and afternoons, the lambs and adult sheep are also herded to the fields daily and can often be seen running through the farm alongside the goats.

On the fields, they occasionally meet their smaller relatives, the Skudden sheep, which is the smallest breed of sheep in this region. Unlike our milk sheep the Skudden are highly undemanding. They have a shed for resting at night but stay on the fields all year long. They roam the hills next to the Arena gardens, sharing the place with a larger flock of geese – also an old breed, the Embden goose.

These more adventurous sheep occasionally find a way to break away, much to the bemusement of the farm working team. They don’t usually go far however and are easily hurded back to their home.

Take a visit to our gardens and stables and spend some time observing these most delightful farm animals, living in true bio-dynamic living standards.

Runner Duck

Descended from the mallard, and originally from South East Asia, so not an animal native to this German countryside, but still a delight to see waddling around the farm and garden landscape. They run fast, swim and cannot fly but are social animals, very keen on their food and good for keeping control of the snail population. Therefore they serve a practical role in the farm ecosystem, which is pest control – so our crops can grow without an infestation of ‹Schnecken› (snails), and without the need for pesticides. 

In the mornings you might see the duck napping by the lake, head tucked under its breast, staying close to its fellow Enten family and perhaps with one eye open, ready to run from any human that may stray too close. They are an animal very suspicious of human behaviour, perhaps quite rightly, and prefer to spend their time foraging around for seeds and berries, or the left over Kraftfutter (power food) after it has been given to the cows. They can often be found running around the stables area looking for what spare animal food they can steal, before being chased away by workies.
To be able to develop a connection to a runner duck in the same way a farm worker develops a connection to one of the cows, is a difficult task. I can’t say that it’s easily achieved – as soon as you get close to one, it will run away. But the wingless tall creatures are very relaxing to watch (and quite amusing to see running, in their upright waddling style) and seem to suit the pond and garden environment that they inhabit quite well.
It also helps that they’re delicious on a plate, when it’s the time of the year for meat.

Chicken

One of the many seriously endangered chicken species at Sammatz is the Ostfriesische Möwen or East Frisian Seagull, which was named Endangered Farm Animal of the Year 2012 by the Society for the Conservation of Old and Endangered Domestic Breeds. This is a fast growing breed, which are excellent parents, and known for their quality meat. They are striped black on their feathers with silver or gold around the neck.

Another of these species is the Deutsche Sperber, also called the German Sparrowhawk – known for its strikingly piebald feather pattern, similar to the bird of prey of which is it’s namesake – they are considered to be an active and friendly chicken.

We also have the light brown with black neck and tail Vorwerkhühner, originally bred by Oskar Vorwerk in Hamburg in 1900 and presented to the public in 1912 in Hannover. The breed declined in the mid 20th Century but has found a resurgence due to the efforts of the local Archehof breeding community.

Finally we want to make a special mention of the Sulmtaler chicken species from the Austrian region Steiermark, which is much loved for its delicate and graceful look.

These rare chicken breeds are important to foster and help grow in numbers, for reasons benefiting nature and consumers. A diverse stock of heritage chickens contributes towards a healthy ecosystem, and the rare breeds have some characteristics that make them significantly healthier than factory bred or hybrid chickens. Of course, the yield in eggs is smaller being just the amount a hen would naturally lay in the course of a year.
They also taste very good, like everybody knows who has savoured these many coloured eggs in Sammatz.

As the chicken is one of the oldest domesticated animals, living alongside humans and being farmed for thousands of years is easily overlooked. But at Sammatz is living a gang of chooks with their own personalities, showing the variations possible within different breeds of chicken.

Der Besucher trifft die unterschiedlichen Hühnerrassen an verschiedenen Orten des Hofs: Einige leben in einem großen Stall mit Auslauf bei den Kühen, andere in der Nähe der Gärten am Waldsee, wieder andere in einem mobilen Hühnerstall, der auf einer großen Weidefläche ‹wandert›. Tagsüber durchforsten sie, neben anderem Geflügel wie beispielsweise den stattlichen Truthähnen, ihr Areal nach Futter. Nachts haben sie es in ihren Ställen warm und gemütlich. Manchmal spielen sie ihre eigene Version vieler Kinderzeichentrickfilme nach und erkunden unerlaubterweise die Gärten und die Gegend um den Kompost – aber normalerweise dauert es nicht lang, bis ihnen die Gärtner wieder zurück in ihr Gehege helfen.

Die Hühner erfüllen dadurch auch einen guten und praktischen Zweck, dass die Seelenpflege-bedürftigen Kinder und Jugendlichen des Kinderheims Peronnik oft mithelfen dürfen, die Eier zu suchen und die Ställe zu säubern. Ihr könnt die köstlichen Bio-Freiland-Eier im Hofladen bei den Stallungen kaufen, nur ein paar Schritte von den Heimatställen der Hühner entfernt.

Lovable fellows

The donkeys are an indispensable element of Michaelshof; their main work is pedagogy and therapy. Children are very welcome to take short rides around the farm. For the children with intellectual disabilities who live in Sammatz, we use them as therapy donkeys. In the past, they also pulled a carriage, but this is at a standstill for now, as the oldest donkey, Karla, decided to take a break. This is an example of how donkeys have their own views on what they do and what they prefer.

Karla is 21 years old, has smooth black fur and has lived in Sammatz since she was six. She was already trained as a mount for children when she came here. The second oldest donkey is called Kalinka; she is 15 years old and has a grey head. The lovely little herd of donkeys comprises not only of these German donkeys but also includes a Catalan giant donkey and a French donkey with a special coat pattern (‘zebra legs’).

Our donkeys are in the pasture during the day so they can have their freedom and stretch their legs. We also make sure that they do not eat too much. Since they come from a hot, dry climate, in which food is scarce, they would certainly get sick if they were given as much food as the horses.

They undergo a thorough education before they can be used as professional riding and therapy donkeys for children. Overcoming trust issues, becoming accustomed to a saddle and weight and finally to carrying people, the process can take a year or two. This is because a donkey does not readily listen to people or accept their orders.

Our animals not only visit the donkey school diligently but they also lead a happy life in the stables and on the pasture. When mucking out and feeding, the Peronnik children are there as solid helpers. For them the donkeys are endearing companions, a work experience and at the same time a form of therapy and education.

Charlie

Charlie is one of our rarest breeds amongst the animals in the Sammatz farm, of the Schwarzwälder breed of draft horse, but also not the most common type, instead his ‘fox’ colour, distinguishes him as even rarer. He is one of the smaller horses in the stables and can be spotted with his signature white mane. Friederike, one of the professional horse riders living at Sammatz is one of the closest to Charlie and she’s shared her experiences with this writer, explaining that Charlie is an integral member of the horse family here. “He’s really diverse, he can do a lot of things” explains Freddie – which includes taking the disabled children which live within the Sammatz community for walks. As well as working as an occupational therapist of the Pferde sort, Charlie has also previously helped ploughing the fields. Freddie exercises him daily, making sure his walking, trotting and running techniques are of a fit and healthy kind and she also takes him along to a nearby riding school.

As with the other horses Charlie enjoys all kinds of food which is given to him.
He can be found within the Sammatz stables, hanging out with Katinka (a black horse), Luna (very ‘fox’ coloured), Lelek (with a black mane and black tale) and Applebee (a very large white horse). Charlie is one of the lower ranked within the horse pack but is very friendly, and will allow onlookers to admire him without any bother.