Another busy week on the farm has come and gone. Monday morning, our goat, Hope, had her babies! She had twin boys that are black and white, and they each have a different kind of ear. This is because their parents are different breeds. Their dad was a Nubian buck, which is a breed that has long floppy ears while their mom, Hope, is a Lamancha, which have little ears called “gopher ears”. We named the baby goats Drake and Josh. Drake has the little gopher ears and Josh has long floppy ones.
Hope is a great mom so far. She has been allowing us to hold her babies and play with them whenever we want, so as long as she can still see them. The babies really enjoy running around the pen and chasing after each other. It has been quite entertaining to watch them play.
Also, on Monday, we got two new baby chicks from a family friend. They are a laying breed, so we will be raising them to lay eggs for us. I named them Sugar and Honey, and they are currently living on my porch until they can go live outside. They are so tiny and cute. The only person who isn’t a fan of the chicks is my dog, Daisy, who is afraid of them and runs away when we take them out of their pen.
On Tuesday, my brother Victor and I cleaned up the barn and gave all the animals fresh bedding. We then did a Facebook live video tour of our barn for our family and friends so they could see all our new animals since they can’t come out to the farm to see them in person. We had a great response and lots of people asking questions about the farm.
I did a lot of things at Cedar View Dairy, which is the dairy farm that I work at down the road from my house. I assisted with three cows that were having difficulties during calving, which means they needed some extra help giving birth.
We assisted one cow named Star on Thursday night, and she had a little bull calf that I call Twinkle. After we got her settled in with her calf and closed up the barn, I decided I needed to check one more time on a Jersey cow that we knew was going to be calving in the next day or so.
When I came back in the barn, there she was! The jersey was laying on her side and working on pushing out her calf! I hopped in the pen and helped pull the calf which already had his feet and head peeking out. Once I had the calf out, the cow jumped out and proceeded to start cleaning up her new baby. This wasn’t her first time having a calf and she did a great job taking care of it. I learned that the cow’s name was Grapevine so I named the calf Gilbert Grape.
After I got the cow and her calf all settled back in with more beddings and hay for her to eat, I decided to finally call it a night and go home. A job on a farm never stops and the hours are irregular, you never know when you’re going to get to go home. Sometimes a late-night means getting to be a part of a cool experience like helping bring a new calf into the world so it’s worth it.
Sunday, I moved my meat chicks out of the porch and into their new coop where they will live until they are full grown. Victor helped me move them even though he is not the biggest fan of chickens because they peck at you occasionally.
Sunday, we also let the baby goats and their mom go outside for the first time since they were born. It was awesome to see them running around in the sunshine and getting to meet the other goats for the first time. Drake was very curious and going all over the pen while Josh stayed close to Hope and didn’t wander very far. The other goats, Lena and Minnie were very curious about who the new babies were and sniffed them all over while Hope watched carefully.
I milked cows all weekend and assisted my boss with a few cow breeding’s and checking on cows in the barn. Spring is one of our busiest seasons so there is little time me to rest and relaxation so I mainly do my schoolwork at night after chores are all done and occasionally while still on the farm. I have attended a couple of class meetings while I am in the barn which is always interesting.
I hope everyone is having a great spring, go outside in your yard and enjoy the weather. Plant a garden or do some yardwork. This is a perfect opportunity to take up gardening and to work on your green thumb!