Surprise!

Well, it's January and we've started the kidding season. I've got eight ladies in the barn, just waiting for them to pop and what happens...

We got a call last night from Aaron, my brother-in-law (teenager). We had sent a goat over to a friend's farm to get bred, but it turned out she was already pregnant, because she had babies last night! Goats have a 5 month gestation period, so she was bred in August, before we even got her. She had two bucks (males), though, so it doesn't really matter. They'll be castrated, then sold as 4-H projects, then shipped to market.

We (Robert, my husband) and I went to go check on them last night, and one was "down." That's what it's called when the baby is weak and can't stand to get it's own food, etc. We ended up bringing him home because he was not going to get enough care from his mom. She is a first-time mother and doesn't have a lot of milk, either. She was doing a good job with the other, but not with him. Her name is Pippy, so I call our little one Pipsqueak. I got up every 2 hours over night and fed him and he's doing better now, but is still weak and all he does is eat, sleep, cry, and poop, just like a regular baby. :)
Pipsqueak and our house cat, Dillon, this morning. Dillon is still undecided about our guest.

Well, I've gotta go. The water man is here to drop off a load of water (no rural water or city water for us, just a cistern) and I have to start on feeding.

What it's Really Like & a Little Background

Well, this blog is all about what life is REALLY like on a farm. It's for people who rely on farm products, but maybe have no clue what those products actually are. It's for those people out there who dream of chucking it all and moving to the country so you know what you're actually getting yourselves into. It's for anyone who wants to read it, actually (probably won't be very many of you, but you're more than welcome to read). Hopefully I'll be able to update every day what's going on, but as we are getting into kidding season and I also have a full-time job as a high-school teacher (let's get one thing straight - you can't make money farming, at least not really) it may be iffy some days. I kind of wish I had started this much earlier 'cause there have been some funny stories, but for every time the cows get out, you can bet there will eventually be six more escapes.

So here's a little bit about our farm. I live on a farm in SW Ohio with my husband (who also has a full-time job as an engineer). We have beef cattle and goats. We have about 30 head of cattle, some steers (young castrated males that will one day be your steaks), some heifers (young ladies who haven't had babies yet), and the cows (big mamas). Most of our cows are Hereford crosses (with a little of everything else thrown in), but we also just bought 5 registered Simmentals. Our goats, of which there are a little more than 50, we have LaManchas and Boers, and crosses. LaManchas look like they have no ears (although they are closer to human ears than other livestock, really) and are a dairy goat. They give milk and are very feminine looking. The Boers are a meat-type (goat is very yummy and healthy) and are stocky with long floppy ears and white bodies and red heads. We also have crosses between the two, which end up with very weird ears sometimes!

Some of our cows out in the pasture last summer. These are all Hereford-crosses.


Our home farm is about 75 acres, with about 40 of that being in fields (hay, corn, soybeans, it depends on the year), about 20 or so in pasture, and the rest the houses and barns. My in-laws live on the property, too and help out on the farm when they can. The place was originally my husband's grandfather's. I am originally from a large farm (1800 acres of crops, 200 cow dairy) just west of Cleveland, Ohio. We also have a custom baling business, so we add about 100 acres of hay or rented land for crops each season, too.

That's a little about the farm. Please feel free to post comments or ask questions about the farm and what goes on here.