Should we start acting more like cows I wonder?

~*~Pepper - a.k.a "FARM DIVA"~*~

No, my dear Pepper hasnt changed one bit since I've last talked to you about her. She is as "divaish" as ever if not worse. The world revolves around treats and being anything other than a chicken which has become an unspoken word around her. It is a BAD word. She still thinks she is a cow, prefers cat food and pineapples over *whispering* chicken feed, and her best friend is my horse Gypsy second to only me. She coos to me- yet (excuse the french) B*@^&'s to everyone else who will lend an ear to her squawking. She has to approve of any change, movement, and activity that goes on in and around "her" barn. Man - I LOVE that chicken! For one little "cow" she is one tough bird!
She does however look on the Sunny Side Of Life and the best part of that is tattle telling on everyone she can! Makes me laugh every time...such a Diva!

57 calves left to come!!!! We have entered a stand still..happens every time right about now, seems they take a break before all at once they decide to fill the nursery up again. The "babysitters" have all been chosen and its one of my favorite things to see when I drive out on the farm when we go to check the cattle and do our counts of Cows and Calves to make sure everyone is safe and sound with no calving problems and that calves are all feeding well, and Cows are not having any health problems before calving. How awesome it is, that God has given them seemingly human emotion to "hire" a babysitter to watch over the kiddos when they need a break to graze, or mingle with their buddies for a "mom's day out", just like we do. Isn't it amazing how they also have they have the inherit ability to hide and bed them down when they are first born for the first week, maybe more when they go to eat until the baby's are strong enough to keep up and learn danger, or when its time to calve- to go into the woods away from everyone for labor and quietly give birth hidden away from danger, calves hidden away from everyone and everything. You can tell the weather if you watch your cattle, you'll know a storm or snow or a strong rain is coming - they will be heading for the woods, in flood they will head for high ground. People say cattle are stupid. Are they? Have you ever watched a cow, a herd? Why would someone say this, because they are cautious and can be coaxed into a pen? But lets look at people. How often are humans coaxed into a pen? Followers by nature, not curious enough in fact jumping in with both feet with NO fear of danger. We dont watch that hot wire fence - even when we are told its hot, we have to touch it to see if they are right dont we? No, I disagree, cows are smart, much smarter than we are. They have the sense to stay with they're baby's in quiet, to bond, to get their baby sitters, and often you will see mom run back suddenly to where the baby sitter is laying and check on her baby, giving her calf a lick on the side or head for her own reassurance and walk back to the herd to continue her "Moms day out". Her calf is NEVER forgotten in this important dangerous vulnerable time that is ultimately HER responsibility. She has the smarts to move with the herd when they ALL see the signs that rain or snow is coming, the sky's are darkening with a storm moving in, its time for shelter - move to the woods and protect each other. Letting the trees provide wind break and and umbrella from the rain or snow and cold temperatures. What do we do? We stand at our doors and watch, or go outside and drive to town to the movies with tornado sirens going off, send out kids down the street to play with neighbors we dont know. Keep our weapons in reach of small hands, teach them to be bigots and prejudice, we sit them in front of the TV rather than take them to church, let them out of our sight at ages we should be watching them and holding them closely. We dont say our prayers and often too tired for that kiss - if just to reassure ourselves they are still there, BUT momma cow does - and she is just a stupid cow huh?
I think personally, that we have a lot to learn from a cow when you come to think of it.

Just my thoughts this morning....

Yes...its really me! I'm back..for good this time!

Has it really been that long since I've written to you? Life can pass so quickly, and sometimes we have to take a pause in a few things, which is where I've been. As you know cows and crops never take a pause and keep on growing, having baby's, munching grass, and thinking its greener on the other side of that fence as usual. Which incidentally did happen the other day with one bunch, what a surprise for us! I dont know in how long something like this has happened. You know when cattle learn a hot wire, they mind it, for some reason the cows seem as anxious for spring as we are and decided to walk through an open gate (that we always leave open when we go through that they NEVER decide to cross to the other side - ever!). Funny thing is..the grass wasn't even green, at least no greener than where they were. Just like us always testing what we dont know that might be better, and usually wrong just like they were! Our calves are coming fast! I like to say they are popping like popcorn all over! With so many cattle we always suffer some loss. This year we have lost 5. But even with so much snow - the most we have had in a long time - its not been due to the weather! We have had over sized calves one of which was born too early, and it was born with an underdeveloped brain. The other had a leg folded. And another had its head folded downward and mom had pushed all night and by morning when we found her the calf was already dead and we had to have the vet remove the dead calf.

Each time we loose a calf it takes a piece of my heart with it. I dont like to loose, and that is how I look at it, like I've lost. especially those that I've brought into my kitchen to warm up a calf half frozen, or one that mom's milk isnt flowing enough to feed, pneumonia, or whatever the case may be.
This is a normal average loss for the number of cattle we have, so we are praying that the numbers are over now. So far we have had only 2 twins born....last year we had 5 sets...it made up for any lost calves...strange only 1 set this year after several years in a row of many more. Maybe there will be more in the others, since we are not even half way there...I think we have 60 calves on the ground at this point. How much fun it is to watch them play!God was good to us last summer with rain, not too little and not too much, just enough at just the right time. We had such a good year. Steers sold good too. The best year we've had in a long time. But farming is always a roll of the dice, never knowing what you get. As the song goes " He just takes the tractor another round, he pulls the plow across the ground, and sends up another prayer, he says "Lord I, never complain I never ask why, please dont let my dreams run dry...." Thats all a farmer can do.
As for me...the last 7 months have been a struggle with my health. I had some really bad days and was unable to write to you and had to put my farm journal aside, actually writing to you and being on the computer was something near impossible except for games or spending small amounts of time, and as you know a blog requires quite a bit of time. I put aside my photography, and pretty much everything. But my health has improved greatly, I have had many more good days than bad, and tho I still have some bad ones here and there, normality is coming back! And I'm excited to get back to my farm life journal and getting back in touch with all my friends I've made. Gee, I dont know if you realize how Ive missed you! I have thought so much about you and wondered what you have been up too!My horses.....Oh my baby's! They are so wonderful! Our baby Jack is not so much a baby anymore, I have so much to tell you about him and I hope to write so much more, but I guess a post about everyone individually would probably just be best! Everyone, critters and all, have just grown in so many ways, not just physically, but so many milestones! Our family too!
Speaking of the family...we are all so good...the kids are doing great, Douglas is taller than me and reminding me every minute he can. Leah is as beautiful as ever and doing good in school as always and just had the chance to shadow her farrier and was so excited about that! Norm has been working hard as usual, has really taken up my slack when I needed his help...I dont know what I'd do without him.
So, I'm back....full force....and I missed you - all of you - and I cant wait to talk to each of you and see what I've missed. Like I said - I have thought about each of you and wondered where you have been in your lives in the last 7 months since my absence! Talk again soon! I cant wait to update you!
~*~Rachel~*~

Calf Fries Anyone? (working spring calves...no rest for the wicked this weekend!)

First and Foremost...You havent heard from me in a few days...why you ask? My Internet connection is terrible....so I've visited you all, and a few that I've never read...but I cannot comment..I'm sorry as before please dont think I'm ignoring you. I havent had time to answer comments on my own blog..probably wont let me anyway *sigh*

The horses are really enjoying their new crib! Buck here found something interesting to smell and listen too. Dont you love that long doo he's sporting! If I could keep the others from eating his mane I'd be really happy. Any suggestions?

The weekend was absolutely beautiful. Warm and Sunny. Levi had to have his wet nose in everything...as usual.
We put Carrot out into the sunshine. That little bunny was so happy! I swear I saw her smile and mouth the words "thank you" to me!

On to farm business...

Saturday we worked calves. If you remember from earlier posts, that means the calves that have been born so far, got ear tags, vaccinated, wormed, and bulls castrated. We only did 1 herd so far...73 cows - 51 calves in that bunch. An 8 hour busy, dirty day. And I had fun! LOL

First we call all the cows and calves into a holding lot. They have been brought that way by Norm feeding silage to them, that way they are happy to go right into the lot...of course Saturday one cow refused to go in...so her baby and her were left out. He was only a couple days old anyway. We'll get him later.

Once they are in the lot, they have Hay to eat and salt poured for them. The girls are very happy about the latter of the two.Neil wanted to move my car for me, it was in the way. Its a stick shift..it didn't move. Poor Neil...Neil Norm said he'd give you lessons if you want...just call and ask!!! I must add though that Douglas finally after about 20 tries got my car to start, and then even drove it in first gear a few feet...not bad for a 10 year old! Leah too finally after several tries got the truck started and she too drove a few miles. Neil just didn't have enough time to work his way through it.Then the sorting begins...as many calves as possible are rounded up and pushed into an area penned off in the same lot as the other cows. Cows that wouldnt leave their calves go in too..this is done until all the calves -momma or not-are separated...Cows sorted out of calves. They were pretty easy going. So sorting went smoothly.This next picture is funny! NO Neil isnt hitting her on the butt. He just has the prod behind her, she got blocked and spun around and took off...I think its funny!

We had 3 of last years calves that came late in the stock barn for feeding until they grew bigger. We had to move them out to sort and work the other calves, so they got loaded into the trailer. Do you remember my bottle fed calf from last year - Andy? This is him now!Douglas and I took a little break while Leah, Norm and Neil sorted the calves into different holding areas to work. Did I mention that Leah is fearless? She did such an excellent job Saturday, worked hard and I think she had fun at it! I was really proud to watch her...she picked up almost immediately how to watch a cows body language and she is a natural!Douglas cant seem to take a picture without a silly face.

Can you guess what this next picture is? It's not a hard one, I promise!

Yep...it's Doug shooting his Air Rifle

Everything on the farm is green! FINALLY!

Below are our steeds that we use to cut and sort.....

Yeah I'd like to use a horse too, but these will have to do.
This momma was calling for her baby - quite loudly.

Here she is again giving me the ol' hairy eyeball look! She really wants her little one back! They were all so dang loud we could barely talk!

Here is a calf getting vaccinated:

Now - this next momma didn't leave the window into the barn the whole time....she was too funny, and obviously a very good mom!

Here are some others waiting for the job to be done and get the baby's back where they belong.

Then after everyone one is tagged and vaccinated and bulls castrated, we let the little tykes out by 3's or 4's...made sure they found momma and matched up and sucked...they were then (momma and baby_ sorted into the adjacent lot. Until everyone had been sorted.

They all rush over to see if the next little one is there's or not.

I probably posted too many pictures and didn't give enough information about the whole process. I've had one of those days where every thing I've touched turns to coal...not gold. More on that later...off to visit and hopefully leave some comments.

nite all...

Horses Horses and MORE Horses!

Today was fun...picked Leah up, and then we moved the horses around. Lots of musical chairs this weekend. We are working calves and moving the bulls, getting 3 of the calves from last year we didnt wean yet and putting them off to themselves. So in order to do all this and for Norm to make me happy, we moved alllllll the horses here to the house where I can see my babies ALLLL day every day! WOO HOO! I was excited as they were! (I posted some video at the end you MUST see!) So enjoy pictures for the day! I'll have more fun ones tomorrow...we are working calves (vaccinating and that dreaded castration of the young bulls! Oh goody! We sure know how to have fun around here!!!!)Here is Molly, Buck and Bella waiting in the trailor to be unloaded in their new home...I dont think Molly has ever been here to this pasture behind the house! King and Jack are in there now, and we are slowly going to add the others one by one so there is no fighting or bickering too much. Buck and Bella above and below! My! Isnt Bella All pretty prancing around!

Well there she goes again, camera hog! She demands attention!Here are all three "horsin around!"
Now THIS is what I call having fun and kicking your heels up!Awww my pretty boy Buck!And again.....having a good time exploring and wearing themselves out!Now its movie time, grab your popcorn and a coke and sit back and enjoy!

Number 2


Numbers 3 and 4 the last is King and Jack all handsome!

I'll blog more tomorrow and tell about our fun day and answer comments from the last 2 posts! Sorry guys been busy busy busy! Will visit you as well...good night all!

~*~Rae~*~

Some great goodies I recieved and Wed. Farm Report

April Showers bring May Flowers.....

Today has been a really boring day here on the farm. Its been either raining or drizzling...blah. But we'll need the rain for planting...crossing fingers its going to be a good year.

No big news on the furry farm critters.

I've been going over my inventory of the supplies I need for my soap making. Making a list and checking it twice. I'm going to make the following for a craft show on May 5th and for my shops:

1. soap (of course) in designer frangrances
2. gardners salves
3. lip balms
4. perfume sticks (designer fragrances)
5. body butters
6. lotion bars
7. lotion sticks
8. solid pet shampoo bars
9. bath salts
10. salt scrubs
11. bath bombs

What product would you be more inclined to buy?

Douglas has began coughing hard again - wondering if he has caught that dang Whooping Cough again...the cough will linger for a long time, but it had gotten better...he didn't feel good all day. In fact his asthma has been bothering him alot today and he is wheezy. May have to do another doctor visit! bummer.

Thats about all the farm info to blog about. I've been reading Farm World about the said "Fart Tax" (cow tax for those of you who arent familiar with it...they basically want to tax farmers per head of cattle a tax because their farts pollute the air...I'll write about that more tomorrow. Then i was reading about raising goats over cattle..interesting..again tomorrow.

But I do want to blog about some really great people!

Do any of you Plurk? It's like twitter, but better...its a chat forum..you really must check it out! GO HERE to join..maybe we can "talk" sometime!

I had sent some soaps to a Co-op in Covington Ky...and did so-so. I had to price them high since the co-op took 40% out of the price, I got 60%

Miya who is on my Etsy team got out of the Co-op and she sent me my unsold soaps. I told her to take a few bars for herself as a thanks for giving me the opportunity to sell my soaps in her co-op. She sent me back some wonderful surprise goodies! I was so excited and happy when I opened my package and found them!

She sent me an awesome purse she made!

An adorable box made of records that have been molded into a gift box, with a little grey fuzzy soft scarf tucked inside!

What a talented crafter! You really should check out her Etsy shop!!!!!!! Shes a wonderful sweet woman and very good at what she does!
Next to tell you about another one of my favorite Etsy sellers is Dee with 3DeesPlace.

She is a very talented Crocheting crafter!

I had ordered from her a custom ordered scarf, hat and gloves!

I got them and was so happy with her work and the way that she was so happy to do a custom order and really worked with what I wanted and was wonderful to do business with!

Another great shop on Etsy you should visit sometime! I'll be shopping again with her soon..she has a little coin purse that matches my purse that Miya sent me!!!!

Okay...I need something sweet to eat...looks like its fruit loops, dont have anything else sweet in the house!

nite all!

Views of the farm...and more LONG READ

Our girls from one herd (71 cows)

On to the next herd....

36 girls here

Awww too cute I love this next picture!

67 calves so far! Today we found a cow with a "tag" showing us that she has calved, however her bag is huge, teats haven't been sucked and no baby in sight....we looked but never found the baby. Its such a large area, and they often calve in the woods, and with all the limbs down from the Ice Storm we had last month it's much harder to find where the momma has laid her calf down at...

I'm really tired of problems with our animals.

When I went to feed today King was limping something terrible again....*sigh*....we cleaned hooves, and placed him in the dry, straw bedded, barn for the night. Josh comes tomorrow at 7:30 am to trim his hooves and take a look at him, then it will be off to the Vet. Luckily it looks like he can be trailered tomorrow. If not, we'll have to call Dr. Mike on out again. I'm so disappointed, for one I want my boy to be feeling good and happy, for two I wanted to try riding if he was up to it.

This week has been a rough one. When I get off my sleep pattern I take awhile to get back on track. I take some meds that make me sleep and when I don't, its still in my system, so a deviation from routine is really hard. Besides being emotionally drained makes it even harder. I've had a hard time getting up and going back to sleep at night the last 2 days.

The stud muffin (aka Douglas) wrote Carlie (the girl he likes) a note and gave it to her:

Carlie,

I really like you.

Do you like me? (her answer was YES)

Douglas...insert phone number

(Calie left:)

Calie...insert phone number

I'm surprised he didn't have a check yes and no box! ;-)

Norm went to lease 3 bulls today (Angus), they will be delivered May 1st....to be added with the 3 we already have. I sure hope they are gentle.

I got some information and an order form for Chickens today. Now I have to decide on what to order! Now to decide what kinds to get.

Here is what they got:

NEW HAMPSHIRE'S - A profitable bird that is not quite so large. They lay for 12 months excellent livability during the growing and laying season; 245 eggs per hen per year.

RHODE ISLAND REDS- the preference for country-style eggs. Produces brown eggs (more profitable) 1 -being in most places, brown eggs bring a premium of tow to ten cents a dozen over white eggs. 2- the salvage of a heavy hen after she is through laying increases the total new profit per bird.

GOLDEN SEX-LINKS (COMETS)- Their best selling brown egg layers. Mature hens weight 5 1/2 lbs. 245-255 eggs per hen per year. Shell is a rich brown with excellent interior quality. Pullets hatch out a beautiful golden brown color but the cockerel chicks are a creamy white. They dress out clean with no dark pinfeathers to detract from the appearance of the dressed bird.

WHITE LEGHORNS- Fast maturing, early laying. Excellent producers over long periods of time. require less feeds per dozen than the larger breeds. Shells are strong smooth and white. interior quality is unsurpassed. 98% free from blood spots means that the eggs are solid with pride and confidence. Producing 254 eggs per hen per year.

BUFF ORPINGTONS- Big beautiful gentle birds are a long favorite..brown eggs.

GOLDEN LACED WYANDOTTES- Similar to the Silver Wyandottes except coloring. Golden bay laced with greenish-black.

BLACK SEX-LINKS- dual purpose farm flock type breed. Mostly black when hatched, pullets mature into excellent layers of large brown eggs. Black with some red color on neck and breast. Cockerels resemble Barred Rocks.

ARAUCANAS- rare breed known as the Easter Egg Chicken. Not a large bird but in much demand for beautiful eggs..they actually do lay tinted eggs in the most surprising colors! - hmmmm I'll have to get these for the fun!

BLACK AUSTRALORPS- beautiful shiny black bird with greenish tint. Hens mature at 5 - 6 months and weigh approx 6 - 8 pounds, makes a nice fryer.

CORNISH CROSS- rapid-growing and efficient broiler. may expect a few black flecks in their white plumage. Brown Eggs.

BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCKS- Average lay 250 eggs per hen per year. Weighing 6 1/2 pounds at maturity. Big brown eggs of superb quality, those who raise declare they make the most delicious Sunday dinners over any other breed.

WHITE PLYMOUTH ROCKS- fast maturing, heavy bodied pullets, top production of large, brown premium grade eggs, when laying season over enjoy quality meat at low cost.

You can tell spring is closing in!

The March Lilly's have begun to bloom!

Soon I'll have a carpet of yellow covering my wild flower garden back in the woods.

Well, that's all I can think about for now to write about...OHHH thought of something else..I'll save that for tomorrow, this is long enough already!

Rae