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Pearl, Peony, Ping and Pong

Finally a moment to add photos of our newest farm babies. First is Pearl, our Highland heifer calf. She is getting prettier by the day! On a sunny Sunday, our first lamb of the year was born, Peony. Two weeks after Peony was born, came twin lamb rams, Ping and Pong.

Pearl of a girl!

Peony with her livestock guardian dog (LGD), Fiona

Ping

Pong

Udder Me This, Udder Me That

Unlike some folks, we don't watch to see when our Highland bull Gunner, has bred our Highland cows, when our Shetland ram Stormy has bred our Shetland ewes, or when our Mulefoot boar Henry has bred our Mulefoot sows. Because we aren't producing babies on a production or big Ag type level, the exact moment isn't as important as when we allow them to breed (so that the babies are born during an optimum time for thriving) and what comes from the breeding. Every chart I've seen noting gestation periods have always provide a range of days...nothing is ever an exact date from here to there. Which makes the time of upcoming new babies on the farm like the days leading up to Christmas morning!

Patsy and her new calf!

So how do we know when a cow, ewe or sow is close to giving birth? Super simple and easy to note...udders that begin filling. Because we see our animals every day twice a day, we can watch the changes in the girls' udders and track out from there.

One week ago, we noticed two of our Highland cows' udders were filling up and dropping down a bit. So we have been waiting to see, with anticipation, which girl was going to drop a calf first. Christmas morning came January 29 when I walked out into the field and found a new white calf parked behind a small hill of hay.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Patsy wins the "first calf of 2012" award!

Because she is rangier than the others and very protective like a good mamma cow should be, we've only been able to get a far off photo of her and the calf. So we don't know if it is a bull or heifer calf. If it is a bull calf, we will band him. If a heifer calf, we have a new young Highland/Limosine cross yearling bull that we can put her with.

Patsy has given us two other bull calves over the years since we've had her: Lil' G who is a silver and lives on a friend's farm not far from us and Freddie, who is a blonde like his mom and whom we sold to another friend who was starting a Highland beef herd (he has meat for sale, so contact us for more information).

Highland calves are the cutest things on the face of the planet...and I'll prove it as soon as Patsy brings the baby up to the water trough and I can get some photos.

Happy New Year!

I had to put Happy New Year as my title because it is, after all, the first day of a new year. Living in the city, you get a more tangible sense of that...leaving the past behind, dealing with a hangover from the party(ies) attended the night before, and knowing you'll forget to write the correct year on checks for at least the first 2 weeks of the new year.

Here on the farm, the animals do not celebrate the new year. They do not have a party, they do not watch the ball drop, they do not get drunk, they do not suffer hangovers, they do not "take the day off" as a reward for getting to start over, and they do not write checks. It is, for them, a new day--as is every day! Their celebrations come with the changing of seasons and sometimes the weather. The males are particularly fun to watch when the the females come into estrus (talk about a party!!). When the babies are born, there is a celebration of new life and the babies bounce and play as though they have been around for forever.

We did not sleep in, staving off hangover effects. We got up this morning, just like we do every day, had a cup of coffee and headed out to do our chores. At the warmest part of the afternoon, we'll head down the hill to gather a good load of dried firewood. Later in the afternoon, we'll head back out to feed and water. Early evening before it is completely dark, I'll fuss at the geese for not being inside the coop when the barn yard light goes on and they'll make their waddling way down to the chicken coop. I'll close the door after the geese go inside, turn out the light and say good night to the chickens, geese and ducks. Then it is time to fix dinner and relax.

Some would think there is a general "sameness" to living on a farm. I suppose if you looked at it that way with chores that must be done every day, twice a day, 365 days a year, that description would apply. Yes, the animals must be fed, watered, and hayed each day.

For us, however, there is always variety. The variety comes several perspectives, such as the season or the weather. This morning it was colder than it has been this past week and very windy, which produces a lot of natural wind chiming from the dried leaves on the trees. The sky, a brilliant aquamarine blue playing host to a bright and smiling sun.

So while it is essentially yet another day, for us this has been the prettiest morning of a beautiful day of a fresh new year...and tomorrow will be just as varied, just as surprising, and just as wonderful.

Wishing all of you a very Happy New Year...a very Happy New Month...a very Happy New Day!