Musings From The Farm Comfortable living in your own skin

Chickens!   I was fortunate to have parents that were not country folk but managed to move to a small farm to raise their 5 and then 6 children.  We mostly had horses, but other animals came and went, cows, pigs, ducks, the orphaned baby whatever and chickens.

We inherited chickens from somewhere and even though they didn’t lay a lot of eggs. I really liked them. There was something very calming about going out to talk to the chickens. They would come to me and talk in low little voices. Almost like cooing.

We have had chickens before, almost everywhere Dean and I have lived but for some reason we have been without for quite some time. We had them when the kids were younger, our son Hal  and his friend loved to go see if there were eggs and come in and want them scrambled to eat.

When Hal  was about 8 he showed his chicken in 4- H, one that was almost bigger than he was.  When we moved we found homes for them all and have not gotten them again until now. Somehow, now everyone has  decided that we should have them again. So we ordered chicks from a hatchery, they send them to us through the mail. It may seem strange but is a good option to order direct from the hatchery.  I’m glad we got a little push from our kids to get them, and so are our kids, and of course the grand kids.

My husband, amazes me on so many levels. He is the smartest man I know. His father was a very smart guy and a thinker, but he wasn’t at all handy with tools. The story goes that he only owned a hammer and a screw driver and never used them.

My husband, Dean is a thinker too. I remember when our son was about 7 or 8 and Dean took him to work for the day. Hal watched intently as his dad work at his desk. Then he asked him this question in disbelief ” So they pay you just to think?”  Of course Dean responded “yes they pay me to think” . We all got a good laugh out of that one.

Somehow along the way though, Dean taught himself how to be handy; and this was all before the internet age! My theory is he inherited his mom’s genes. She grew up on a remote dairy farm in the Catskill Mountains that was pretty much sufficient.  Dean also had lots of friends who grew up on farms and I’m sure he was always there to lend them a hand. Dean likes to say to me, ” tell me what you want and I’ll make it happen” and he does, better than the plans I had in mind. Because he is a thinker and a doer!  I can’t think of anything he can’t do.  Feeling blessed to have him as my husband. Love that man!

We are often asked if we have goats. The answer is yes we do, three. Although we haven’t milked our own goats for some time.

Many years ago, I gave a friend (who had a dairy farm) two goats. She fell in love with goats and eventually had her own herd and we were buying goat milk from her instead of milking our own. It is an arrangement that has worked out well for both of us.  So why do we still have goats?  They are our pets. If you think you would like to keep goats there are a few things you should know.

Goats are very social animals and should always be kept with at least one other goat friend.  Contrary to their reputation they are really very picky eaters. Although they do like to eat anything you have planted, like raspberries, blueberries and roses!  They don’t eat tin cans or anything like that. My goats won’t eat their treats if the pony (Caddy) has touched it. They won’t eat all the hay I feed them either, they pick out what they like and leave the rest for Caddy to clean up. They are funny creatures and I love to watch them playing out in the field. They are pretty adept at standing on their hind legs to reach leaves on trees and playing with each other and butting heads.

Goats are also very good escape artists so good fences are a must. They are terribly curious creatures and are prone to getting into trouble because of it. They will bond to their caretakers and will want you to come visit them, hopefully with treats, every time you go outside. I hear them calling to me every time I go out and if they see me heading in without coming to see them they complain very loudly to let me know. Our goat Allie is my favorite. When we are grooming Caddy she will come and get in the way so I will groom her too. She always makes me smile.