Experience to share

Experience To Share

Moving to a different place is exciting! Then living life differently is exhilarating. Growing up, I had never lived on a farm. I always wanted one because of my love for animals. Living on, and Running a farm can be stressful. It's so important. You need to make sure your garden is protective and healthy. Make sure you collect vegetables for the family and sell them to the community.

Our chickens supply eggs. It's like having breakfast out every day. Each morning, I grab the eggs, milk the cow, and come in with breakfast every day. Then cook breakfast for everyone. Then I go to check on the garden, and gather vegetables, and pick fruit from the trees for snacks and dinner. So this saves money. When you're selling products, that's making money.

Some things that have happened on the farm give everyone a laugh. One time, I was in the barn. The string that unlatched the door came off in my hand, so I was locked in. Luckily, my husband heard me yelling to open the door from the outside. Now I was locked in the barn.

Another time, I went out to feed the chickens. When I opened the coop to get the eggs, One of the chickens was in a laying nesting box. She was not moving. I poked at her, but nothing happened. I ran inside the house, crying, because I thought she was dead. My husband came out and she finally moved. She was a broody hen. She was protecting her eggs. My father-in-law, and husband, thought the situation was funny.

One time, I got hurt, when I was being kicked by a bull. So a lesson learned. If walking behind cows let them know, by saying (name) behind. Cows can be very protective of you, too. One time, our cow, Maggie, pushed me into the gate. Then our Boss Cow, Rosie, pushed her right back. It was as if Rosie was telling Maggie, "How do you like it? We don't push mommy."

The animals are funny sometimes. Cows are so sweet. When the bull was castrated, his mom stayed with him, and his best friend, Chestnut, was right next to him. Watching the cows and their babies are so sweet. We were lucky to have good mom cows. In some farms, their mother’s don't really mother their calves. When they stop mothering their calves, you have to bottle feed them. The cows are friendlier now. They know who I am now, and better.

We have goats, including fainting goats. Cows and Goats are smart animals. The calves love the goats, they watch them through the gate. The bull was licking a goat yesterday. Sweet Bull.

My bunnies are very relaxed. They love each other and they get along well. They need to be brushed but it's so frustrating. One of the bunnies, Sophie, comes right to me. Charlie is the difficult one because he doesn't sit still. Sophie does sit still. Some people sell animal fur to people who like to spin it into yarn, and craft things with it.

We could have milked the goat, but we didn't. Some farmers do, but we perfect cow milk. When you own a farm, the animals are important. My husband and I had to put up fences, so cows had pastures to graze in. We have set up five or six different pastures for the animals to graze. We cut hay for them, so they have something to eat, and also use some hay for bedding.

My husband constructed a chicken coop. He set up pens, so that all the barn animals each had their own nesting box. It was difficult when one of the calves got loose from the pasture. The Mom cows alerted us by their moos. Getting them back into the pasture was a project.

This year was the test year. To see what works, and what we need for the animals and us, to run a successful farm. We prepare for the spring all winter. We take care of the animals. The farmers work on their tractors and mechanical things. Keeping a logbook with helpful tips, Keeping a logbook and all the receipts is essential to running a farm, or any business. It's always an adventure on a farm.

By: Kelly Vedder