Bringing home the bacon...

In April we brought home two of the cutest pigs I had ever seen. One was a gift for AmberMae who wanted a pig more than anything and the other was a gift for Aeryn. Both girls wanted to try to raise their own pigs for pork. As I promote any sort of farming activity to get kids involved and thinking about where their food comes from I was a huge advocate for this idea.

What surprised me was my sister Evelyn's take on the situation. She agreed for Amber to have a pig and to let us house Aeryn's pig with it. I was very excited. The only reason it surprised me thought is that Evelyn is not much of a farm girl. I am definitely the farm girl of the family.And that is okay. Because it helps to make us unique. The world would be boring if we were all farm kids!

The piglets were so little and adorable. Aeryn of course picked the runtiest pig out of the litter. As soon as we brought them home the kids were in love.

It was a really long Summer and Fall for AmberMae. Since the pigs were at their house this seemed the best bet. I just did my best to keep the food coming. I am going to have to get AmberMae on here within the next few days. Or have her write something for me to type. I really think that it is important to get her perspective on what raising these beasties was like.

From my perspective the biggest pain was getting them slaughtered. Who knew that the slaughtering business would be so completely booked up so far in advance? Mom called around for days trying to get our piggies a place to go. Finally we found one and there was a whole new battle. Getting them there.

Every truck that we could get in touch with fell through with very short notice. Eventually I borrowed Mary's pick up truck hoping that we could get them into the bed. I built an ingenious enclosure in the back using some pallets that I managed to snag from TSC. Unfortunately after three hours of struggling with them to get into the bed of the truck we gave up. I was cold, wet and unbelievably smelly at that point. As a matter of fact I took off my shoes at the door and put them immediately in the trash.

 The pigs were picked up Friday by the nice man who we had scheduled to slaughter them. (Apparently we should have asked if he picked up sooner) For a small fee he drove to Walpole and loaded them into his trailer  Coincidentally it only took him about fifteen minutes to have both pigs in.

On Sunday night I called the butcher and gave him the order for the cuts of meat that I was looking for and he said it would be available to pick up today. Hurray. Final hanging weight of Delicious was close to 200 lbs and the hanging weight for Sir Bacon Bottom was close to 300 lbs. Tonight we enjoyed some beautiful lean pork chops. (Evelyn is planning to have some of the breakfast sausage that we ordered so I am sure that I will be reviewing that soon)

 My biggest fear was that Aeryn would not eat her pig once we got it into the freezer. We butchered pigs in the spring and she did not have a problem eating it. (even when she was a part of the cutting and packing process) But I felt that this was a bit different. I was afraid that the pigs would become pets and that she would have a problem remembering what their purpose in life was.

 I am so proud of my girl. Even though she loved the pigs she remembered their purpose. They are food, not pets. She believes that meat will taste better if it has been loved and cared for instead of growing up on a factory farm. After tonight's dinner...I agree with her.

The simple things...

Roseanna is looking at me with that
look that says "What are you looking at?" 

 The simple things make everything so much easier. They also make things more economical and efficient. By adding a round bale feeder we have been able to cut down on the cows wasting hay. Amazingly the hay stretches farther if they are not able to lay down in it. If they do not lay down in it they are more apt to eat it.

Aeryn tries to explain to them that they should lay down in the sawdust that we put in their stall but they do not seem to be listening. 

Taking cookies to the horses.
He thinks they need the
entire container. 

We have cut them down to one stall in the barn. Since they do not appear to be bedding down in the barn we have decided to stop wasting the sawdust to keep it bedded and clean. The girls don't seem to mind and it has given us extra storage space to hold all of our "stuff". 

We have a lot of equipment in the barn. Probably more than we need. But all of our halters and buckets are there. As well as hay, grain, shovel, wheel barrow....By using the spare stall as a storage area it is easy to keep everything neat and tidy as well. I am trying to drill into Aeryn that because we are "borrowing" the barn it is extra important to keep everything clean. 

They are intently watching Aeryn
 break the ice off the water tub. They know
that as soon as she goes into the barn it's
time to eat.

It's dinner time! He come the girls.

Our second recent investment is a 10 foot bunk feeder. Not something that you would think would be a big life changed. But one that makes things run a little more smoothly. No more feeding each animal individually without a bucket. It just makes things a little bit quicker. The cows are great and they walk into the barn as soon as they see a car pull up. And then they stand there, as pretty as you please, until you throw their food into the bunk. There is no more pushing or shoving. No buckets being tossed around and stepped in. It is a pretty amazing sight. And yes I know that most people would think it odd for me to believe that watching cows eat is a sight to behold. 

When asked why I stand and watch them as they lay into their food at night my answer is simple. This is one of the best times to see if there is anything wrong with any of the animals. When an animal is "off feed", it is a sure sign that something is wrong and one of the first indicators that I look for. It is a great time to see if they are acting any differently than usual. It is also a very peaceful time. 

I look at our cows, very content in their way of life and I think about that commercial that ran on TV forever. You know the one. The one that says that "Happy cows come from California". Well whoever made those commercials never saw the cows from southern New Hampshire because at Long View Farm we have very happy cows. 

Winter is coming...

I will not jump on a horse and ride up and down the road with these words shouted from my lips. Instead I will be farm more productive and plan for the hardest months of the year to come. And I say hardest lightly. It is not that they are overly hard. They are just a bit more difficult than the spring and summer months. I have to plan ahead and make sure everything is set regaurding feed and bad weather. What's a little more planning right?

Our first obsticle to overcome was housing for our lovely girls. Jay overcame that obsticle for us.  Our barn is perfect for what we need it for and the cows are amazingly happy. There is now a round bale feeder in our little pasture and we have started bringing in round bales for them to eat. (By we I would really like to say Jay)

What would Aeryn, Alex and I have done had we not met such an amazing friend? Without his help and tireless effort we would never have been able to embark on this adventure. He has been a huge help feeding on the evenings when I work and have not had a car. He hauls hay and grain for us and given us  the ability to have a better solution for winter forage. His friendship, and hard work have been an invaluable resource.

We have past the six month mark of cow ownership. November was the start of our seventh month. Roseanna is now weighing in at 1330 lbs, Lola is 1050, Rachel is 590 lbs and Rose is 604 lbs.  Everyone has grown up so much! It is kind of like watching our children grow up. The animals have also become increasingly more friendly. Since bringing them to the barn, where they have to come to get grain, there is much more close contact which is enabling them to get better used to daily handling. (probably something that should have been thought out before this endeavor started)

Alex is able to go in and out of the stalls and the barn without us having to worry about him being trampled unknowingly. The cows are much more aware of his presence and will back away from them. Though Roseanna is still a little pushy if you try to step between her and her food.

Jay has arranged with another grain supplier to get our grain and corn broght from a supplier in Northfield. We will be buying it in bulk instead of by the bag which will enable us to reduce grain costs. The cost of feeding over the winter is often a crippling expense and we are planning ahead for that.

When the world goes to crap...

While driving in the car the other day my lovely daughter says "Mom, I would like to learn to hunt". Now for any of you who have seen me, I do not in any way resemble a mom who goes hunting. I respect hunters and I respect the sport it is just not something that I have gotten into in the past. Nor do I think that it is something that I will do a lot of un the future. However I have made it a vow to make sure that my children are able to learn whatever skill it is that they want to aquire. So I guess I should start looking for someone to teach her how to hunt.

My mother then turned to me and said "You know, when the world falls apart. Aeryn is going to be okay"

I have been thinking about this statement for a few days now. And you know what? She was right. Aeryn is going to be okay. For the most part she is a very level headed child. She wants to learn how to farm and how to live off the land even though she knows that it is much easier to just go to the grocery store. She knows the importance of eating well. Which includes eating foods that are not loaded with preservative and other additives. She would rather eat meat that she knows has been treated humanely throughout its life even if it means saying goodbye to a friend in order to fill our freezer. (Not something that we have had to deal with yet. But we know it is coming and she is looking at it with an open mind) She understands that within a couple of weeks Delicious will be turned into bacon. And she realizes that without the sacrifice of Delicious's life, we would not have bacon.

This has gotten me to talking more with my child about other things she would like to learn. She wants to  hunt and fish. To have a garden and be able to can vegetables for the winter. She would also like a cider press.

On her list of animals to learn about she would like chickens and sheep. Chickens for their eggs and meet and sheep for it's fleece. Apparently she thinks that if she owns a sheep than she will get more warm, knitted wool items from mom and grammy once they have knitted said fleece.

I could easily picture her living her own life without being forced to interact with so many negative parts of society. Now it is a struggle to get her to interact with the positive parts. She would much rather be outside learning what she needs to learn in a hands on manner than being locked in a classroom. I don't blame her but stress the importance of having both classroom learning as well as hands on learning. She realized a benefit of this recently when they were reading a story about a man who was logging with horses and was able to give her the input of actually doing it. It gave her so much more incite into the matter to know what it was life first hand.

She also enjoys being able to share her experiences when she is around groups of people. Aeryn understands that what she is doing is not a normal thing for chilren in our day and age. Not that there are not a lot of other children having the same types of experiences, it is just not the norm. She loves to answer questions and talk about the things that we do. I am pretty sure that I am going to encourage her to go into some of the public speaking events that the 4-H program offers. Aeryn would be an amazing advocate for farm children everywhere. And she is prood that you do not need to live on the farm to get the farm kid experience.

So my mom was right. When the world goes to the crapper, my kid is going to be just fine.

Shadows of a dream remembered

There is a price to pay for every luxury that we want in life. I am learning that hard and fast these days. And yes before you question it, owning large animals is a luxury. Having our cows is part of a life choice that I have made for my children and myself. One that I will not regret no matter what happens.

I have wanted to own cows and horses for as long as I can remember. I had an amazing brother, Elmer, who got me into farming when I was a young girl. He worked at a local dairy farm in our small town in the Southwest corner of New Hampshire. Often we would go to visit him and he would take me walking out in the free stall where all of the big milking cows just lounged around waiting until it was time to be brought into the barn and milked. I loved those cows. I loved him and the time that we spent together.

When I was 8 years old Elmer brought me to my first 4-H meeting. The wife of the farms owner was the local leader and meetings were held at the farm. I was terrified. I was not a very outgoing child and being put in the middle of the kitchen with all of these kids that seemed so my bigger than I was at the time was a bit frightening. But Brenda was amazing. She treated me like one of her own children and soon I realized that being in this group was like having a bunch of brothers and sisters.

The older kids had so much to teach me. And I sucked it all up like a sponge. It did not take me very long to decided that farming was something that I wanted to do when I got older. I loved every minute of it. And most of all I enjoyed the time that I got to spend with my brother as he helped me train my first heifer. A big black and white girl named Alli.

After my first show season I was addicted. I started spending free time at the barn doing work in exchange for leasing Alli. This eventually turned into a summer job. I worked for Brenda, cleaning and feeding calves and whatever other chores she had to do. To a nine year old this was an amazing opportunity. I learned so much about farming and animals. I also learned a lot about myself.

Elmer and I got into the habit of talking about the kind of farm I wanted to have when I got older. There was an old red barn that we would look at whenever we drove into Keene. Secretly we had wished that someday that would be our barn. I had vivid dreams about what it would be like restoring the broken down building to the grandeur that it had once possessed. I knew Elmer had thoughts like this was well.

I lost my brother one cold November day when I was 15. And along with him my dreams of owning my own farm died as well. I continued to work for Brenda for a couple more years. After my 18th birthday I got completely out of 4-H and away from farming. It brought back to many regrets and memories that I had thought were better buried away. It took me a really long time to come to terms with Elmer's death. But eventually it happened.

It happened when Aeryn begged me to let her join a 4-H group. She had been around cows since birth as one of her baby sitters used to also work at the farm. She knew all about 4-H and could not wait to be old enough to join. Through her I have once again found that love that I once had. There are days that I can not help looking at her and seeing the shadow of my brother following closely at her heals. I know that he would be proud of her. Proud of the amazing young girl that she has become and her ability to take the bull by the horns and come out on her feet. What an amazing child she is.

I tell her about him. The funny, loving stories that we made together. The memories of a time long gone by. Deep inside I believe he is watching her as she succeeds in the goals that she has set for herself. I also believe that he is smiling down on me. If anyone would support the fact that I have made a wise choice it would have been him.

Headstrong children = headstrong cows...

Aeryn is teaching Alex how to make duck
noises to call to the ducks in the pond.
At this point Alex is almost able to
mimic the sounds his sister makes.

The quality of stubbornness is not in short supply in my life. I face it daily with both my children and my cows. Cows are often just like children. At least we treat ours like children...Maybe we are doing it wrong. Nah I don't think so . 

Last night Aeryn tried to take Rachel for a walk. The girls have not been on a halter much since we came home from Cheshire fair due to time constraints on our part. Needless to say it was a bit of an interesting experience. 

A few of the ducks in
the pond.

They are getting much better about the barn. They come right in now when it is time to eat with no hesitation. Before, the small ones were a bit scared. Now they associate the barn with getting food so its all good.Having them in an enclosed space makes it a whole lot easier to catch them. We have no problems getting their halters on and off any more. 

So last nights task was to get them all in the barn, get their halters on them, and get them out walking on show halters. In my mind it sounded like a really good plan and it sounded super easy. We started with Rachel who walked really well out of the barn for me. However when Aeryn took the halter Rachel seemed to remember that she was over four hundred lbs heavier than Aeryn and managed to get away. So there she was running around on the lawn with her show halter on. 

She wanted nothing to do with coming to a bucket of grain and even went so far as to jump over the electric fence to get away. (I am now thinking that the electric fence may not be so productive after all if my heifer is able to clear it like a horse. Maybe I should look into show jumping cows?) It took a little patience (and a lot of Aeryn running around the field) but we finally managed to catch her. 

One thing that I have learned in all of my years of working with cows is that when they break away like that it is NOT time to stop the training session. If we had let her go and just do her own thing it would have taught her that she could do it every time and get away with pushing Aeryn around. So after we caught her I am the one that took her for a walk. The made the evening not as productive as I had wanted it to be because I had wanted to be able to take more than one animal out. But I would rather put a kink in my original plan and change it up a little than to risk one of my children getting seriously injured.

Alex wanted to walk down the road with us and Aeryn managed to get a few pictures of him walking along holding Rachel's lead. He is quite the little farm boy.

Our friend Dan...

For a couple of weeks we took care of a horse. A big Belgian draft horse named Dan. He belonged to the people who owned one of the pastures that we are going to be using for the Fall and Winter. When they moved to Virginia they started looking for a family to adopt him.

Dan is 23 years old. Pretty old for a horse. He limps when he walks and take a little extra time to get from point A to point B. But that did not make him any less likable. He was friendly and strong and proud. Over the course of the time that he shared the pasture with the cows he and I would stand at the top of the hill and watch the kids, dog, and cows run around in the field. He was like a sentinel standing over the younger generations. 

Aeryn fell in love with him immediately. She has wanted a horse for as long as I can remember and this was kind of like her getting one. For a brief time. We spoke with Jay and told him that if the owners did not find someone to adopt him than we would feed him and love him right along with our cows. As Aeryn says "Old horses need love just as much as old people." Smart little girl. 

Dan has moved on now. To a new life. He was adopted by what appears to be a wonderful family and is now sharing a pasture with a couple of other horses. He seems to be very happy in his new location. This knowledge softens the heartache Aeryn felt when I told her he was leaving. 

But Aeryn made me think. She is right when she says that old horses are like old people. Just as old cows are like old people. Animals have thoughts and feelings too even if we can not always tell what they are at a given time. My observant little girl is able to tell when her cows are happy, sad or scared. She knows when they are getting nervous or a bit stressed out. And the same applies to horses. Which makes me wonder are they really that much different than humans?

For the majority of my life I have preferred the company of horses and cows to humans. They are farm more pleasant to be around. Animals are also not deceitful. They are truthful and honest in their actions and mannerisms. 

Alex also seems to have a connection with animals. He could sit and watch Jay and Lilly's chickens for hours. Yesterday he and Aeryn got the joy of feeding them some bread under Lilly's watchful eye. I hope within the coming days to catch a picture of Alex crouching down with a big red chicken in front of him as he tries to get her to come over for him to pat. As a mother I have a horrible fear of the chicken just pecking his eye out. But my innocent boy has no fear. 

So I would like to give a thank you and a shout out to our friend Dan. He has made me think about the wonders of having animals in our lives. For us it happens to be being surrounded by horses and cows. For others it may be goats, sheep or chickens. And then there are people who have cats, dogs, birds....Animals are a blessing. Our lives would be empty without them. 

It's not about the money...

     If you want to earn millions of dollars, I am doing the two things in life that you do not want to do. I work in education and I am a die hard farm girl. However I think that these are two of the most rewarding passions anyone can pursue. Just not financially.
     When embarking on our bovine endeavor our resources were very quickly depleted and I realized that if this was going to continue I needed to do something a little different with our finances. My answer to this problem was to get a second job. And where did I apply you might ask? The local Tractor Supply Company. Finally a job where it is okay to bring out my inner redneck girl.
     So I am really writing this post for one of my coworkers, who after friending me on Facebook decided to read my blog. Not a bad thing. I WANT people to read what I write. I just never actually think about WHO reads it. It made me a bit self conscious but after a couple days of thinking about it I decided that it was a good thing. After all, he admitted that he does not like to read. And yet here he is reading my blog. SO...go me. Anyway back to working at Tractor Supply. I have worked there for about a month now. And things are great. I work three or four shifts during the week after I get out of school. The money is good and it also provides a discount on feed and supplies. Not a bad incentive to be good at your job.
     But as I was saying. Farming is definitely not about the money that can be earned in doing it. If you were to calculate man hours compared to profit and loss you would be seriously disappointed. Yet there are many people like me, who are getting back to their roots and working their own farms.
   Why would they do this? Who wants to work all day at a full time job, and then come home to feed animals and clean stalls and fix fences? Who wants to have to worry about all of the vet bills and hassles of worrying about the health and safety of a herd of animals? The answer...
     People who are real. In all my days of working on/around/with farms all of the people that I have met are down to Earth, real people. They do not have delusions of grandeur or aspirations of owning that fancy car and huge house. They are honest, hard working people. The ones that I want to be around. Tractor Supply has helped me connect with those people. (another bonus to the job)
     Back to the point though. No matter how bad a day I have had or how tired I am I know that I can go to the barn and feel better. Even stringing fence with Jay and Aeryn after a long day just makes me feel...satisfied. Like somehow, all the hardship, is worth what we are doing. I know that personally, my gains are worth the extra time and effort that we are putting in.
     My children are happier and healthier for all of the work that they do. Even Alex. He is out in the field with us feeding and fencing and having a good time. I look at them and realize that they already know more about life than most adults that I know. Aeryn knows the rigors of a hard days work. But she has also learned the benefits. Alex already knows safety rules and where he can and can not go without someone being with him. He has learned what an electric fence is for and not to go into the pasture alone. How many other people have toddlers who know these boundaries?
     So for us, it is not about the money. I am willing to put in the hours needed at TSC for us to continue this adventure. We will continue to learn and grow. And I will continue to write. Lets see if my coworker continues to read.....

Rotation, rotation, rotation

     So, thanks to Jay, we now have four more fields to rotate our cows into. Three of which are, or can be, attached to a barn. What a life saver for this winter. The barn is the perfect size for our four ladies and their new friend Dan (who I will talk about later) It gives us a great place to feed them on those cold winter months as well as a place to store bulk amounts of hay and grain. It also prevents us from having to lug the grain the distance from Jay's garage to the field. 

     More fencing was in order to get these fields ready to move the girls in. Well, in all actuality we moved the cows first and then worked on the fencing when they were getting used to their new field. Jay had brought down hay on the horse drawn wagon and we also used the horses to fence the far end of the pasture.

   Mary was with us fencing that first night. She helped set fence posts while Aeryn and I fixed the gate at the top of the field. Alex got to sit in the wagon with one of his favorite peope, Lily. He is actually even calling her Lily now. As opposed to calling McKinley Lily because he was under the impression that all dogs are named Lily. Jay drove the wagon and laid out the string. 

   The second evening we had set aside to work on the fence I got their a bit late because I had had to work a shift at Tractor Supply. The sky quickly darkened and we made it from the end of the field into the barn just in time for the sky to bust open and pour down on us. The cows had yet to go into the barn so I wanted to show them that they had a shelter from the rain and I diligently stood their, in the rain, until they came to the sound of my voice. 

Everyone enjoyed eating their grain where it was nice and dry. I on the other hand could not wait to get home and get into some dry clothes. 

Last night we did a bit more fencing and moved the grain barrels, and wheelbarrow down to the barn. Aeryn has gotten off pretty easy with the cows being in a pasture all summer. Now she will have to do some real chores and keep our "borrowed" barn clean, neat and tidy. 

We also got to weight tape the cows since we had them in an enclosed area. Though no one wanted to stand still to get a rope halter on so that they could be tied to stand. We got it done though. Weights will be posted later this evening. 

A little help from our friends....

Sometimes life seems to get in the way. Even when you are farming. Maybe I should say especially when you are farming. My car has been out of commission for a couple of weeks now and we were depending on that of my mother. Unfortunately, this car is also out of commission for a couple of days. Which makes our lives a little bit interesting. 

Thankfully Aeryn and I are blessed to have wonderful friends in Jay and Lilly who have fed the cows for us for the past couple of evenings. It is another chance that I can reiterate the point that it really does "take a village". Not just to raise children. But to succeed. Never would Aeryn and I have been able to set out on this venture without the help that Jay has given us. (And the land that we are using of course) 

Aeryn and I stopped into Jay's classroom the other day, and on the way out she saw a sticker on his door that simply stated "No farms, no food". She looked at me and grinned a little bit. I like that she understands the meaning of this. I also enjoy the fact that she is realizing the benefits of raising our own food and is willing to work hard to help me achieve this goal. 

Without farms, we ARE without food. Or more importantly without American farmers, we are without food that is nutritious or that the majority of America can afford. Aeryn is learning every day that buying local is better for both our bodies, and our community. I will work to support this mindset in my child. 

Back to the grind...

Aeryn is now back from summer camp but has been so busy getting ready for the fifth grade she has not had a chance to make time for blogging. Even though I have informed her that it is "her turn". That's okay. I have lots of thoughts to share.

It is now the end of August and we have had our cows at the farm for four months now. Though it seems like it has been much longer. Aeryn loves them more every day. I think they even may have missed her when she was at camp.

We have moved the girls into a different pasture. It has been suck a long hot summer trucking water to them was getting to be a bit of a chore. One that we could not keep up with. So now they are in a beautiful pasture with a pond and more green grass than these four girls will ever be able to consume. And they LOVE it. We moved them over the day before Aeryn got home from camp.

Aeryn loves their new pasture. She likes to feed them at the edge of the pond so that she can watch the ducks play while the cows are eating. Though she may not be doing that much more after having to fish a feed bucket out of the pond with my mother's umbrella. Silly girl had left the buckets their over night and one fell in.

I love going with her to watch her feed. Though it happens less and less lately with my work schedule. She can stand anywhere in the field and call to the cows and as soon as they hear her voice they come running. A couple of evenings ago we could see both Roseanna and Lola from where we parked but we could not see the twins. Then from up near the pond we see a little head poke up and then look back for her sister. All of a sudden Rachel comes barreling down the hill out of the pond, water flying everywhere! Apparently she had been taking an evening swim and we had interrupted her. Fortunately she decided that coming to get her dinner was not an event event to be missed.

Cheshire Fair 2012

Aeryn has had a very hard time keeping up with blogging. As have I. Apparently blogging does not fit as well into our lives as we had thought but we are going to keep at it. Eventually we will get better and will be able to look back on our sparse beginning.

So here we are at the beginning of August. Amazingly we have survived our first show with our little herd and Aeryn is VERY pleased with the results. When Aeryn gets home from summer camp she will be writing out thank you's to all of our wonderful friends that made this possible.

What an adventure the fair was! Nancy and Robert kept Alex busy while Mary, Aeryn and I dealt with the animals for the most part. And it was so tiring. Aeryn worked her little tush of every day to make sure that her animals were clean, fed and watered. I have never seen her take such responsibility for something before.

She also got to spend lots of time with one of her very best friends. Rhyan became my second daughter for a week and it was a lot of fun. Nothing like sleeping in a tent with a toddler, three other adults and two giggling girls!

Pavlov's...cows?

 So we have had our beautiful girls for almost two and a half months now and are still just as happy as that first day that we brought them home. Their registration paperwork in Aeryn's name should be coming in our mailbox some time this week and they have already had their first visit from the vet. Big shout out to Claremont Veterinary Hospital. I called and they were able to find an address that was really "a field at the end of so and so's driveway". They were also very patient with our girls who were a bit naughty when it came time to give them their shots. 

 I LOVE taking the camera out into the field with them. The twins who Aeryn have dubbed "The Tweedles" when we are talking about them collectively are two of the funniest animals I have ever encountered. We had a huge scare when we went to feed them last night. Aeryn went out in her usual manner, bucket of grain in hand, and only came back with Roseanna and Lola. The Tweedles were missing! Poor Aeryn immediately looked as if she were going to cry. And all I could think to myself was that it was a bad day to bring Alex to feed cows and to not have another adult handy. But the welfare of the animals is one of our topmost concerns and while Aeryn got the bigger cows settled with their buckets of grain Alex and I set out in the field to find the missing babies. After about fifteen minutes of frantically tramping through the over grown milk weeds we found them. They had found themselves a nice place to settle down for a nap. We quickly herded them over to their mamma so that they could have their dinner.

So I mentioned Aeryn's routine of going out into the field with a bucket of grain to round up the cows. This is really the inspiration for my post tonight. We discovered early on that we did not want to be trucking buckets of grain all over the field to bring dinner to the girls. As they grow, and they get more food, this would have been more and more cumbersome. So we knew that we wanted them to get used to eating in one location.

To start with we would go out into the field and sit kind of close to them with the buckets of grain. Letting them come to us to see what we had. This worked amazingly well. It is how we have managed to gain their trust and bond with them well enough to train them safely and efficiently. Eventually we started having the cows follow us a little way before we would give them the buckets. This worked out just as well. As long as they were getting grain at the end of the process things were golden!

Now to understand the rest you kind of have to understand the construction of the pasture. It makes kind of a U shape. Near the gate there is a smaller area that leads to a larger area that leads back up into another smaller area. (On the other side of the fence between these three "sections" is a house. Poor guy didn't know what to expect when we started fencing around his house.) We wanted them to get used to eating in the first smaller area closest to the gate. This is beneficial for a number of reasons. The first of which is not having to lug buckets all around the field. There is also the fact that we usually bring my mom, who sits with Alex so that he is out of the way of pounding feet. (Toddlers and cows are not always a good combination) We are able to park the car near the gate and then mom and Alex can see the cows and watch Aeryn work with them. So this extra effort to get them to eat over there is completely worth it.

Eventually I had Aeryn start to walk the cows from where ever they happened to be in the field over to where I would be standing at the gate. The result was this adorable little parade that I get to watch every day. Usually Roseanna is as close to Aeryn as she can get without running her over. Lola follows closely behind with The Tweedles bringing up the rear. It is truly a sight to behold. So it has been about a month now that we have been doing it this way. And one day last week we happened to be in a hurry. We were not going to stay and work with the cows we just wanted to feed them. I can not remember now where we had to be by a certain time but it was pretty important.

Usually we drive to the house, fill the four buckets, and then go back to the field where Aeryn starts her little parade. This evening we had a small bucket in the car. It was not even a grain bucket. I think it was one of those plastic buckets that you can buy ice cream in. Aeryn and my mom got this brilliant idea for Aeryn to take that little bucket out into the field to see if the cows would follow her to their "eating spot". So Aeryn happily jumps out of the car with her little bucket, throws some pebbles in the bottom of the bucket to shake around, and heads out into the field. When I returned with the grain buckets, sure enough, Aeryn was just getting to the "eating spot" with the four girls. They had followed a bucket of rocks!

I seriously could not believe it. And now thinking about it, it is all about conditioning. These cows have learned to associate Aeryn, and a bucket, with getting something to eat. So they trusted, even though the bucket looked different, that Aeryn would be giving them something yummy if they followed her. I have warned her that we do not want to do things like that too often. I do not want them to stop coming to the bucket any time soon.

So I end tonight on a peaceful note with the smiles of my little girl. (Who does not like being called little) She is happier now with these animals that I have ever seen her. Though I do have to say that you do not often see girls in a cow pasture wearing outfits like hers! I look forward to many years of raising animals with her and her brother by my side. Assuring that we have healthy, nourishing food on our table. Food that was raised with kindness and love before it served its life's purpose. Our little farm will grow. And our lives will be much better for it.

It just fits....

     Farming fits who we are. I come to that realization more and more these days. Nothing makes me happier than watching Aeryn stroll through the field every afternoon. There was a week recently when I could not go with her to feed our girls in the afternoon because I had commitments helping one of my sisters and I truly missed it. 

     

     Aeryn is bonding with Lola more every day. We still have to keep a halter on her in the field or she makes our lives difficult but she no longer jumps away when it is time to grab her. She is actually starting to lead beautifully. We have worked with her on a show halter a few time at this point and the two of them are starting to work well as a team. Today Aeryn tried using a show stick and got a little frightened when Lola did not take to it as easily as Big Mack did last year. 

     

     Alex loves to go watch us he sits with my mom at the entrance gate yelling "Lala!" and clicking his tongue. He can not say Lola yet but she come to him saying "Lala". She even stands still while he is in the pasture and lowers her head to a level to let him pat her. 

Rachel and Rose are a whole different matter. Since the are not in a barn halter breaking them has been an interesting adventure unto itself. We have worked to gradually gain their trust so that we can get halters on them. So far Rose has a halter on her. Rachel does not. Rose, however, does NOT like the halter. Every time we put the slightest bit of tension on it she throws herself down on the ground on her side. The first couple times she did it Aeryn was scared to death that we had killed her calf. For the next few days, by the advice of our friend Kim, we will just be catching her and tying her up while she eats her grain. We will see how she acts on a halter after a few more days of this. Rachel is the more illusive of the two we have yet to get close enough to get a halter on her yet. But I am sure we will have it done within the next couple of days. 

Crazy times are happy times....

Aeryn and I have been crazy busy working with our new friends. Though I have to admit it took a few weeks for us to reach the "friend" stage. But we are finally there and I am completely in love with this big red cow. Which I am sure that I have stated before. She reminds me of a time in my life when I was genuinely happy. A much simpler time than the one we live in now. My days in 4-H were some of the best days ever. And even though raising beef animals is slightly different than the dairy animals I am used to I am enjoying this every much. I have something to look forward to when I get out of work. No matter how bad a day I have had I can count on this beautiful cow to cheer me up. If Aeryn and I choose to do nothing but sit in the field while they graze she is not shy about coming up and getting our attention for a bit of grain, or a scratch behind the ears. She is loving and devoted to her calves and Lola, who I am thinking she is treating like a daughter. The start of our beautiful herd at Long View Farm, beautiful Roseanna. This happens to be one of the few pictures that I like of myself. Not normally one to like being in front of the camera I like that this pictures captures actual happiness.

It also shows a love that I share with my beautiful little girl. Though she does not look nearly as happy as I do in this picture. Inside she really is happy because this is the first time that she has gotten to lead Roseanna. (Granted this picture was taken a couple of weeks ago) When we first brought the animals home I was not sure that Aeryn would be able to handle a cow this size. She looks so small next to her. But Roseanna has turned out to be such a wonderful girl. At least she has not tried to drag Aeryn all over the pasture, which is an option that she would definitely have if she had the mind to do it. Fortunately that has not seemed to cross her mind. At least I think that it has not. And as long as Aeryn has a bucket in her hands ( it does not even have to have grain in it ) Roseanna is willing to follow her anywhere. It usually ends up being a parade with Aeryn in the front being followed by Roseanna. Lola is usually close behind with the calves bringing up the rear. It is a very entertaining sight. 

Rachel and Rose are growing like a couple of weeds. Even though they kind of blend in with the remnants of the rosebushes that we had to get rid of. They are eating grain full time now and have began to associate the buckets with something tasty. They are just as eager to see us these days as the two older cows are. Which makes me laugh. All of the animals have began to recognize our car as it drives past the pasture to get the grain buckets from the garage. If we choose to walk to the pasture from the house they are usually waiting right next to the fence by the time we get down there.

Lola is also growing like a weed. She is wonderful. And now that we are able to get a halter on her and lead her she makes me proud. There was a week or so when I was starting to get worried that we would never get her trained. But, we were able to get her on a halter and she has been working wonderfully. Aeryn is not quite up to handling Lola by herself yet, but we have avoided being dragged across the field by her as well. We have even gotten a show halter on her, which she has responded very positively too. 

The Adventure Has Officially Begun....

This week was our week to bring both the cows and piggies home. And our adventure has now begun. We headed out in the truck and trailer on Wednesday morning. Aeryn was very excited as can be expected. After a little over four hours in the truck we made it back to the farm safely with all of the animals healthy and sound.

The girls were very happy to be unloaded off the trailer and to munch on some of the fresh green grass. The rain that we have been having lately has really made the grass beautiful . Rachel and Rose did not stray too far from their momma and it looks like Roseanna is going to be just fine in her position of "boss cow". Even Lola is treating her as sort of a mother cow. And I am okay with that. Because it means where ever we can get Roseanna to go, everyone else will follow pretty closely behind.

 Aeryn is really enjoying every minute that she spends with them. She loves to go in the field and sit with them. I stand back and watch. Also loving every minute. This is her project. I want her to be able to bond and do things on her own. It is okay if the animals do not trust me as much as they trust her in my opinion.

 We also brought home Sir Bacon Bottom (the black and white pig) and Delicious (the red pig). Here they are laying in the sun soaking up some rays. They are two of the friendliest, most adorable pigs I have ever seen. They come when you call them, and love to sit and be scratched behind the ears much like a dog. I do  not have much experience with pigs but I certainly think that Aeryn and AmberMae will enjoy these two. The biggest trial however, is going to be in the fall when it is time to turn these two cuties into bacon. Both girls assure me that they will have no problems with it. But we will see.