Getting It *ALL* Done

There are some days and weeks when everything falls into place perfectly and all my chores and projects get wrapped up......no wait!! That never happens.

This week was a prime example of how these little chores and projects here and there can suddenly pile up and smack you in the face.

The animal chores have piled up nicely, along with the serious need to spring clean the house. Animals have taken priority, however, and the house will have to wait. In the meantime, I wanted to post an update but have found myself super busy. In fact I have been too busy and exhausted to even take photos.
This is why I am so happy to have kids who like to play with my camera:-) Today's pictures were taken by Indiana and Willow.

I need to add that Indiana celebrated her 14th birthday on the 7th and Quinn celebrates her 16th birthday today! Yes, a busy week here.

First, we picked up more bottle bull calves this weekend. We drove to get 2, but the dairy handed us 4.
I was apprehensive about the youngest of the 4, but we made sure to keep the little guys separated and they are all doing well.

This little guy is beautiful with his white patches!  I think the kids are calling him "Spot."

This guy is the oldest of the 4 and is almost 2 weeks old. Gosh I love those little Jersey baby faces!

In order to have room for the new calves, we moved the older bottle calves out to a far paddock with the horse. These guys are weaned and tagged and doing great. Athena is not like you would expect a horse to be around cattle. She is a nice companion.

This is the Brown Swiss-Jersey cross calf. We had to burn some of the horn buds too, ones that were too large for paste several weeks ago. The burner is quick and effective.

Speaking of Athena, she is a happy horse to see some green grass growing. Indiana and Willow have been really good about keeping her groomed. Indiana has been riding her nearly every day!

The weather has been nice enough to move the meat chicks outside, however we moved the back into the garage this evening. We have two days of rain and cold air moving through. By Friday it should be warm enough to get them back outside.

The ducklings enjoyed the warm day, especially when the girls let them go for a short swim!

Last, but not least, the house lamb Flicka is still doing fantastic! She is in the house more than she should, but it has been a great week to get her outside and acclimated to the outside world.

The kids have her completely spoiled, but I can't blame them. She is a sweet creature.

 

Devin and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary as well this past week, and we decided a short trip was in order! We will be visiting a grass based dairy in Georgia and attending an artisan cheese making class! We are looking forward to the class, and I will be sure to post updates. If you are not following me on Instagram, please do! You can find me @barefootfarm

 

Also, please look for me on Facebook! My Barefoot Farm

 

I post updates through those outlets and will likely use them often during my trip and class.

 

Enjoy the weather and make the most of your time outside! Spring is almost here!!!

The Hard Truth of Farming

One thing we have learned as our family farm has grown is this: there will be births and deaths.

This week feels like spring in my mind, although the weather isn't agreeing, because the baby chicks have arrived.

These will be new laying hens for us this year and they are so cute! The kids have enjoyed having the brood box right inside the house.
Unfortunately, there is always a chick or two who do not handle the journey well and die. This batch was no exception. Three chicks died, and although it was sad, the kids have learned to accept this reality.
The remainder of the chicks are doing fabulous this morning, chirping their little hearts away.
It feels like spring in the house.

Lambing season is also upon us and that makes spring ever more a reality for me as well. We spent a good part of Tuesday preparing an area to lock the sheep in at night.

We used the temporary canopy area used by the cows during the polar vortex and simply fenced it in with cattle panels.

The area gives us a place to lock the sheep at night that is predator safe. No wild dogs or coyotes will get in and try to hurt a lamb. Now we just wait and see who lambs. I know that Lyla, the black ewe, is pregnant and ready for sure. Her belly is huge and her udder is filling with milk. The other two ewes I cannot tell for sure yet.
Spring lambing is always exciting and we are now ready.

Of course there are times when the baby animals or even the large animals do not fair so well.
Such is the case with our youngest bull calf we got just last week.

A few days ago this little guy showed signs of a respiratory illness. He had a slight runny nose, but he was still eating well. We treated him with an injection and he seemed much better the next day.
Yesterday morning he was curled up and lifeless in the corner of the calf stall. He was very cold so we brought him inside and placed him next to the fire.

 We tube fed him warm milk and placed heated cherry pit packs and towels on him. After a couple of hours he started to open his eyes. His body temperature was a low 98 degrees, however, as he was hypothermic.
I  called the vet and followed his advice of an injection and attempts to get him warmed up. We placed him on a dog bed and kept the warm pit packs and blankets on him. We pet him and rubbed him and did our best to keep him stimulated all day long.
He never did warm up enough. By 4 in the afternoon he died. It was sad.

We have never lost a calf.

Today we are aware of life and death on a farm once more. Just when you think you've got this all figured out, you are humbled by the fragility of life and you are more aware of the many animals in your care.
Some live and some die, despite your best efforts.

Today we are dreaming of spring and warm weather. We are discussing our plans of endless afternoons playing outside and planting a garden. We are remembering how grateful we are to experience farming in such an intimate way.

We are also looking ahead to a new milk cow. Yes! In about a week we will be getting another milking cow and we are excited! There is always something to look forward to!

Here's hoping you have a fabulous weekend and that spring shows up in your corner of the world soon!

Snow Day

This week we had a snow day. A REAL snow day, a day when the kids could actually dust off the sled we purchased 3 years ago and sled down the back hill.

Bless their hearts, we never have proper snow clothes or boots because, well...this is Georgia and snow rarely happens. The kids did their best to compile some layers of clothing and spent many hours outside, with hot chocolate breaks in between.

It was very cold out too so under the fluffy white snow was a nice layer of slick ice. Traffic was a mess and Chattanooga was a parking lot in many areas. We were all home, with the exception of Journee who had classes at Chattanooga State. She never made it home that day, but she did make it to her friends house and spent the night there. Her commute would have normally been 15 minutes but took 4 1/2 hours instead.

The cows had shelter to get under but they spent most of their time out in the snow. Crazy cows.

We were cold doing chores and keeping the water troughs clear of ice was a challenge. The good news is we are in Georgia and the temperature today will be in the 50's. It will actually climb to the 60's this weekend.
So we had two days of snow and ice and I happily welcome warmer weather, although there have been rumors of more snow late next week.



Now that the roads are all clear, we will head out after chores to fetch another bottle bull calf. This will give me 4 total bull calves to help me reach my goal of getting 10 this year. It can be a bit wild at feeding time with so many babies running around trying to lick and suckle everything in sight!

Have  a warm and wonderful weekend!