Waiting....(not) so patiently.

Still waiting on three mama goats. Zaney (in photo) should deliver soon...  Savvy and Dazzle have a few weeks yet.   

And then there are the "babydoll" Southdown sheep.  

April was our first Southdown sheep in 2013, and we kept her 2014 daughter "May" and her 2015 daughter "Sunny".  Last spring, my favorite ewe lamb was May's daughter Merry, so we kept her as well.  All are related on the mother's side but not on the ram's side.

April and Sunny (first photo) were bred to Luther (3rd), May and Merry (second photo) were bred to Boy Blue (4th pic).  

April appeared to be bred on the very first day with Luther.  

We're not sure that Boy Blue really knew what he was doing back in October, so....after 3 weeks, I moved May and Merry into the flock with Luther just in case.  

As you can see, the females are looking quite large and round, and the males are looking debonnaire and handsome.  

No lambs yet.

And since Big Bea the Guinea Hog did not have piglets a few weeks back, her one-night "I INSIST that you allow me to join you in your pen" with Chips was not as successful as she may have liked.  He was a little young for her, after all...  She should be having Lawnmower piggies in about a week, as planned.

And I am NOT successful in remaining patient through the waiting.  Even with the barn-cam, I am just a bit distracted with watching for any sign of imminent deliveries.  Sigh.

Laura

Kidding time!

Mama Mocha had her babies!  Twin bucklings, born this afternoon.  

This was her calendar due-date, so it was almost text-book perfect.

A great way to retire, after the few years she has been here.

Little Buckling "A", born first, larger by probably half a pound...  Needed a dose of selenium and then perked up right away.  He is sporting the Chihuahua sweater in blue and green.  Looking rather dashing.

Little Buckling "B", born second, more delicate but definitely caught up with the spunkiness.  Also needed Bo-Se (selenium supplement).  "B" is sporting a hand-knit sweater in soft yarns of yellow and green and blue, made by my friend Merry.  Looking a bit debonnaire and suave in a shy new-born sort of way...  

And so begins the kidding/lambing/piglet season here at Dykstra's Farm.  

Stay tuned! 

Laura

Bragging rights

So...

Jeremy comes upstairs to say there's a mouse in his basement bedroom.

And can they shoot it  (he has a friend here for the night)

Um....no...!

But then it went into a box and was too good to pass up.  And the gun was a pellet gun.

I hear cheering and whooping, and my son brings a half-grown mouse upstairs on a crumpled pink math test.  

One shot, directly behind the ear.  Mouse is dead.  Had to be instantaneous.  There's really not even any blood to be sick about.  

I brought it out to the barn.  (Telling my son that the barn cats should eat it, when what I really want to say is....No WAY are you just dumping it in the kitchen trash can!)  :)

Despite having said "no", the shot was admirable.  I made sure to say so.  

No holes were made in the drywall or ceiling.  No-one lost an eye...  The teens will have a story to tell.

The word will spread at school on Monday.  

Fellow students will imagine a farmhouse basement crawling with all sorts of vermin.  

Disgust will reign supreme in some circles while Jeremy's friends will imagine the growing piles of rodent bodies as they exterminate the rats and mice and other rodent-like intruders with an arsenal of BB guns and whatever else is "allowed". 

Mothers will hear the tale as it grows to extraordinary proportions and imagine all sorts of guns and weapons at the ready.  

I'll start to get concerned phone calls...  Well, that's taking it a little far, I admit.

That mouse was just past baby-size.  Which means there are more.  Parents and siblings and a whole clan are probably down there in the old walls and crawlspace.  Time to set some traps where the dogs can't lick them clean.

The calico barn cat is happy with the fresh catch.  The boys are downstairs congratulating themselves and feeling like conquering warriors.  

(For the record, NO coyote-worthy guns are even within knowledge of teen boys, either the one who lives here or the ones who visit.)

It's just another uneventful night on the farm....  The boys are still chuckling.

 

Laura

Daring to hope...

Well...this isn't about the goats, because they are bright-eyed and looking at me curiously, no babies yet.  

This is about little Rembrandt, the English Shepherd.  

A little background:  

Since we got Taffy, I've been talking with her breeders about having a male English Shepherd here on the farm.  

The original idea was an older male, one who was used to being the outside farm dog, one who needed a retirement home.  Maybe one that is a great match for breeding to Taffy, and his last litter could be with Taffy, but an older male who needed a home after his breeding years were done, and would retire here.

Then the sire of Taffy's 2016 litter was mentioned.  I was smitten.  He sounded perfect.  The breeders and I talked about him for almost a year.  Nope, it was decided that Rocky (the husky) was too much of a threat.  But they still wanted pups between Smoke and Taffy...  Smoke was placed at the farm just 2 properties south of here, and it is with great joy that I see him there, and also an indescribable bittersweet feeling.  I allowed myself to love that dog long before he went to live at my neighbor's place.

Then we talked about a different male.  We had met this one.  Jeremy and "Billy" (short for William Wallace) had loved each other at first sight, and I can still remember Jeremy sitting on the gravel driveway with a 6 month old Billy so happy to meet this boy.  All details were talked through.  Everything seemed in order.  This was November 2016, so not too long ago...

But this one was not meant to come here, either.  He will stay with the breeder, who adores him and decided to keep him.  I had been careful not to love him until it seemed like a sure thing, and then my emotions took over and he was part of the family.  And then he wasn't.

Now...the newest possibility, Rembrandt.  A friend of Taffy's breeders is working with him, so that as an older pup, he is ready for farm life and a family to love.  He was socialized at the breeders' place, but one of them has been very sick, and they want to give him some more one-on-one time with a farmer before he is moved here.  He is no longer in Oklahoma, but in Kansas.  I guess that's about halfway.  

Talking to one of the breeders on Facebook today, she *thinks* that she might make the trip north through our area in mid-March.  Can I dare to hope....?

Here is his photo from his first day in the friend/trainer's house.  

Remy was raised outside, for the most part.  He very quickly caught on to inside living and was a very responsible and respectful young pup, from what she tells me.  He loves bacon.  I have photos of him scratching his ears, and descriptions of what a "punkinhead" he is and how he carefully loved on a 5 year old boy that was visiting.  It will be difficult to bring him here and not open the door and invite him inside.  

Dare I hope that he'll be here in less than 2 weeks?  

My heart is already involved, for the third time.  Anyone who knows me will not be surprised...  :)

 

Laura

New favorite channel...

Fainting goats, Mocha and Zaney, due in less than one week.  

Both look to have twins ready to be born, if not triplets. 

Just when I think they are going into full labor, they decide to pick delicately through their hay and munch for a while longer...

 

Severe weather forecast tonight.  

Not so happy to be close together and then needing to be right on top of each other (they are sisters, one younger by a year)

And so we wait...

Jeff says the barn cam is my "New Favorite Channel"

I admit, I am a bit obsessed with keeping an eye on these two.

 

Laura

Dog Outsmarts Farmer

Dog outsmarts Farmer. :)

There is a stray male cat hanging around here lately, and the female barn cats think it is their duty to be friendly and to go so far as to *entertain* him. Unbelievable. Kittens in about 8 weeks, for sure.

Taffy knows that he doesn't belong.

This morning, Taffy's favorite calico cat was visible about half-way up the old crabapple tree, and Taffy was circling with her hackles up. This was strange because that cat always dashes over to Taffy to twine between her legs and to tickle Taffy's chin with her tail.

Farm dog Taff stopped barking when I told her "Enough", but I should have known there was more to what I could see from the back step.

When Taffy started barking again, I went out to call her in. She ignored me. Before morning coffee (and even afterward!), this is not allowed.

As I came closer with my "no-nonsense" stride, Taffy made it clear that there was more than met my eyes.

The intruder was perched in the crook of the trunk, about 3 feet up, where I couldn't see him. Taffy had been growling and circling because this cat Does Not Belong!

Irritation on my part changed immediately to cheering our little dog on. I wish I'd been filming the commotion that happened next.

Stray male cat scrambled up the tree when Taffy was given permission to "Get him". Calico cat yowled and leaped not-so-gracefully from her higher perch.

Stray also leaped from the tree, but Taffy was ready for him. He crashed into the field fence in his panic, turned around to hiss and spit at Taffy, and for a split second I was worried for her, with those cat claws slicing through the air.

Never fear, Taffy was smarter. Both cats escaped through the fencing when they gathered their wits in a split-second, and I let Taffy into the pasture to run the stray out of town.

She....was....elated. :)

Good Girl, Taffy. What a great way to start the morning.

 

Laura

Chapters of this life

So....

Feeling a bit teary-eyed.  A lot has happened in the past few months.

I turned 50 on Sunday.

I owned a cow before I reached the half-century mark.  Who would have guessed!

We have been here on this little farm since 2011, owned it since a year earlier.  From a "chicken explosion" of WAY too many poultry, to now having pigs and goats and sheep and turkeys and dogs and cats and rabbits and geese...and ducks.....and a steer...

Who would have guessed.  

And then there are the suburban pets who have passed away since we moved here...Shadow the black lab mix.  Midnight and Sly, the black house-cats.  Tears well up at unexpected times, for all three of these special pets.

The dogs we have gotten since the move:  Rocky the husky.  Taffy the perfect blonde whirlwind of a farm dog.

The litter of 9 English Shepherd puppies born last summer.  We loved each and every one, which made it so much more important to find just the right home for each sweet pup.

And other animals:

We are phasing out the rabbits.  I will likely keep just one male and maybe two females.  The loss of so many just-weaned rabbit kits from unexplained sickness was too unbearable this past year.  The barn is not the best place for them, with the damp and the dust and the other animals.  The education of customers is sometimes more staggering than explaining sheep or goat or pig care to new owners.  So the rabbits will be phased out except for a select few.

The pigs are doing great.  I have paperwork in front of me, accepting the offer from Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago to take several of our American Guinea Hogs on "loan" this year.  If you are at the free zoo in Chicago, stroll on down to the Farm-In-The-Zoo section, and look for our little black hogs.  Mamas and babies will be featured.  We'll keep an eye on how things go with that.  Can I truly be "settled" with the idea of pregnant mamas giving birth somewhere other than here?  We shall see.  The sale of a boar and two females to the guy in Indiana fell through.  One boar is still for sale.  Two other boars are less than one year old.  I don't need that many males, for sure...  There are 4 litters of pigs expected this spring, so we may not do fall breeding.  But yet...the chefs in Chicago are taking notice of this small breed of heritage hog, and where will our hogs but... be in the Chicago public's eye?  Hmmm...will be interesting to see how things progress.  

Sheep....there are 5 pregnant mamas out there this year, and two rams.  The older ewes could have twins this year.  One ram needs to be sold.  I have a deposit on another ram who has yet to be born, to bring new genetics into my flock of mother-daughter-granddaughter ewes...  I may sell one ewe with her lamb(s), just to keep numbers in check a bit.  And no babies can be kept from my own flock this spring unless we are raising them for meat.  The sheep flock needs to be in a bit of a transition this spring, depending on the babies that are born.

Goats...Four pregnant ones.  Two (at least!) out of those 4 look to be carrying multiples.  Two bucks.  Three yearlings.  Babies due in March, but....Mocha had her triplets over a week early last spring, so there could be February babies.  Hoping the warm temperatures here in Illinois hold through baby month!  We have an area that is not quite fenced yet...all the posts are in place but the actual sheep/goat fence needs to be attached to those.  That is where the goats will work their magic this spring and summer.  That area is thick with garlic mustard and all sorts of weeds.  They will munch it down, keep it mowed, and allow me to sow better pasture seeds for the following years of grazing.

The steer.  He is out there, by himself.  But not really.  He is making friends with the sheep and goats who rush to munch the bales of fresh hay with him every morning.  The relatively small ram thinks he needs to butt heads with the steer, and the steer has learned that the bellow of a loud "MOOOOO" will clear the others from the feed area in no time.  There is some comedy happening out there.  

I am calling him "Boy".  He is warming up to me, and will leap over hay or other obstacles when he sees the tell-tale red plastic coffee can full of his grain.  Still not wanting to let me touch him, but the brush works magic, just like it did when I needed to tame his mama 4 years ago.

So Bessie is gone, "Boy" is still here, and the flock of pregnant sheep, herd of pregnant goats, and population of hogs combined are eating just as much hay as when Bessie was munching the supply.  It's interesting to see how much more hay we go through right before the babies arrive in the spring.

Speaking of spring babies...the coyotes know what time of year it is here, and are making their presence known, as well.  Taffy barks almost every night now, inside the house, because the coyotes are singing in the fields around us.  We looked into Livestock Guardian Dogs, and may still get one in the future.  But...a different dog is available and fits the small homestead farm that we have going on here.

This is where the explanation of the cute pup in the photo comes in.  

He is an English Shepherd, like Taffy.  He is of a breeding that will be an excellent match for our own sweet girl when the timing is right.  I have no misconceptions about this pup being able to take on coyotes, but...he is coming from a setting where he is an outside dog on a farm.  He will live outside, in safety, but also as a deterrent to predators.  He has been chosen for our setting by Taffy's breeders, as a good future mate but also as a good "outside" farm manager type, like farm collies were a century ago.  He will not be expected to do the job of a Livestock Guardian, but instead will be the doggy "presence" that so many old-time farms had.  We will make sure he is safe.  But he will also be able to patrol at night when he wants to.

We have chosen the name of a Dutch artist for him:  Rembrandt.  We keep coming back to the nick-name "Remy" (yes, like the rat's name in the movie Ratatouille)  He has a great English Shepherd in his pedigree:  Remington Steele, who is also known as "Remy".  So this is a nod to his great-great grandsire without using the exact name. 

Still not sure when he will arrive.  Hoping it is not in the middle of baby season, when my attention will be rightfully centered on goats, sheep, and pigs giving birth in the barn.

He is 7 or 8 months old, reserved by Taffy's breeders to go to the right home where he can be used as the farm dog he was bred to be. 

The photos show him as a pup.  

I am bit anxious to see him and kiss the top of his head and introduce him gradually to the critters that he will spend his time with.  

A question that will be answered in time....will we be able to leave him outside on the back step, looking in?  But we've made so many other adjustments since leaving the suburban yard.  This one will be a good adjustment, too.

(And just a request:  Please do not wring your hands....  Please do not call to ask me if another dog is a good idea...)  :)  

We have talked this through over the past month...and months...and even before that.  I have planned all of our fencing and hog pens and gate placement and the interior set-up of the barn with an outside farm dog in mind....  It is a family decision for the farm, and we are ready for little Remy to join us!

And one more random bit of info:  hoping this news is NEWS by the end of this afternoon.  That suburban house which we moved from 5+ years ago....  It was rented for many of those years.  Has been on the market since the beginning of October 2016.  The final closing paperwork should be completed this afternoon.  We owned that house for over 20 years, lived in it for at least 16, raised our family there until the idea of a farm started to be too strong to ignore.  This afternoon it will become the home of a new family, and we pray that they are as blessed living there as our family was.  

New chapters starting no matter how you look at it.  

Turning 50....Who knew?  It doesn't feel any different!

One last fond "farewell" to the only cow I have owned and told stories about for the past 4 years here...

Gearing up for welcoming all the new life this spring (and looking forward to sharing that excitement with you!).

The sale of our suburban home and the knowledge that the Palatine chapter of our family's life is truly over.

An eager and early "Welcome" to Remy, who will join us as soon as travel plans are arranged.

And an invite to come and visit us...  I *may* be exhausted from preparing for and then obsessing over births in the next couple of months, but...if you'd like to see how things are coming along here at the farm, please let me know and come on out to see how things have changed!!!  

 

Laura