New lambs for Christmas…. The shepherd boy caught one of his baby lambs and brought it up to the house for everyone to ooohhh and ahhh over. Newborn lambs are so sweet!
Critter Updates
Christmas Lambs
We switched out our ram at the beginning of the year. Our new ram looks nice enough but as we approached the end of the year, we were really wondering if he worked or not. Our worries were relieved when we found 3 new baby lambs in the field the day after Christmas. We are…
October Life
The autumn season is upon us and, like every year, I stand and marvel at the beauty surrounding me. Crisp air, leaves dancing about, the rustic smell of bonfires scattered about the valley and the thunk of the walnuts falling from the trees let us know October is in full swing. This year there is…
Raising a Hog
For several years now, we have been raising our own meat. It may sound hard and complicated but it really isn’t that hard. My men and boys around here may have just laughed at me for saying that since basically my contribution in the meat raising department is just about nothing. I mean, I do…
Coming Home with Chicks
Last week when my son saw the sign on the Amish farm, “Chicks For Sale”, I had a soft moment for some reason and stopped to let him look. He was so excited. He had been wanting to get a few chicks since we didn’t hatch any this year due to being roosterless. They…
Pregnant Ewes, Lambing Season and When Things Don’t Go Right
Our 15 year old son is a shepherd to a small, but expanding flock of sheep. He has had a relatively easy time with the sheep compared to other animals my kids have tried out. These sheep seem very hardy and resistant to disease. They lamb easy and often have twins. They are easy to…
How do I save my cow from bloat?
I hate when I have to ask this question. It is the usual story – at least around here. There is a new milker in the stall (both the cow and the boy), we are late for school, the barn door gets left loose, the cows take advantage and have free access to the feed barrel…
Training A Milk Cow?
1st time milking animals don’t know the milking routine. You have to train a milk cow how to milk. We’ve trained two enormous beasts how to milk. That means we are not experts and still have much to learn and even if we had trained 100 cows to milk… the 101st would be completely different.…
The Birth of a Guernsey Dairy Calf
We’ve been anxiously awaiting the birth of a dairy calf here on our farm. After weeks of checking and rechecking and nightly treks out to the cow pasture….One of our milk cows, Dixie, finally gave birth to a large, healthy bull calf Sunday afternoon! If you haven’t read my post about Waiting On A Dairy…
How To Hatch Out Chicks
I’m not exactly sure how to hatch out chicks at home using a incubator. We tried it once. We used a small styrofoam incubator a few years ago and attempted to hatch chicks very unsuccessfully. We religiously monitored the temperature, humidity and turned the eggs three times a day. At the end of the 3 weeks of torture trying to hatch out…
Don’t Cry Over Spilt Milk
A few nights ago, my 13 year old son was about to orbit Mars when our new Guernsey dairy cow, Izzy, kicked over the 3 gallon milking pail which was almost full of creamy, frothy fresh milk. She kicked. He scrambled for the milk pail and missed and we watched the milk flow like a river all over the milking area. …
Bringing Home A Dairy Cow
Last week, we took a 3 hour trip to fetch a newly freshened dairy cow to add to our Guernsey herd. On our way, we also stopped by a Guernsey Dairy Farm and picked up a newborn bull calf. The trip went smoothly. Everyone watched giddy and excited as we loaded her up. She handled the ride in…
Cow Pregnancy Test
It would be nice if they made a cow pregnancy test where you could just stick the little plastic indicator under the cow’s urine flow and have it read the cow baby hormone in about 30 seconds. I mean, really, how hard is that? But then again, I’ve seen a cow pee and I wouldn’t want to be the…
Downsizing our Chicken Flock
It was a very good day. About a month ago, we sold half of our chickens. An unusual feeling of happy giddiness overwhelmed me that day as I thought of those birds leaving my farm for good. I still think of that day and it makes me smile. Now, don’t get me wrong…. I love farm fresh…
Pastured Pork
We love farm raised meat! We’ve been raising our own meat for several years now and it’s been such a blessing to our family. Last year, our momma pig had 5 piglets who have now grown up and are ready to head to the butcher. I’m so excited about this for a couple of reasons: First,…
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