So Many Farm Animals At Healing Homestead: January

The Farm Animals

January is always a good time for introductions so say hello to the many farm animals at Healing Homestead! We have East Friesian Dairy Sheep, Pineywoods Cattle, just about everything with feathers, and some feeder pigs. And of course what would a farm be with out a dog or three and some barn cats.

The Farm Dogs

Vera is our oldest puppy at at 11.5 years old. She’s a rescued, gun shy, German Shorthaired Pointer. She loves to run. Copper is the middle puppy and less than a year old. His nick name is Shark Teeth because he knows how to use those puppy teeth. I found him on the side of the road. Tiny is our newest puppy and about the same age as Copper. He’s a rescued Hound dog and boy oh boy can he bellow. They have all been trained to not eat the chickens or the cats.

The Barn Cats

I totally wasn’t a cat person until we got two of the most friendly, grey kittens that think they are puppies. Mouser and Stormy are sisters and Mouser loves to snuggle with people while Stormy prefers the puppies’ attention. Mouser will go hiking with us and the dogs. She even helps me plant and weed in the hoop house.

The Sheep

I leaned to milk on a few meat sheep, one of which I still have, Lucy. Lucy had twin lambs (a boy and a girl). I decided I really liked milking so I now have East Friesian Dairy Sheep. I’ll admit, Chantel is my favorite sheep. She’s also my best mom and best milker. She had twin ram lambs. I may even consider selling one. Tootsie is one of Chantel’s daughters. This year she had a very large baby girl. It looks as if Tootsie is going to be a very productive milker like Chantel! So far we have five healthy lambs and we are waiting on several more ewes to have their babies.

The Cows

I am so thrilled that I took a chance on the Pineywoods Cattle. This breed is docile, can survive on poor pastures, and they are so pretty. I always said no horns until I worked with my Pineywoods. I still have to be extra careful around their horns but they are not an aggressive breed. I have three female cows named Daisy, Heather, and Magnolia. I’m also training two steer, Basil and Tobacco to be oxen.

The Feathered Flock

The Freeze

It was cold, like freeze all of the pipes in the house cold and the two farm water hydrants. We survived and I even got a lot of great photos. It’s almost as if the sky is more blue when the air is crisp. Fortunately, we did not have any baby lambs during the cold snap. All of the pregnant ewes stayed in the barn, just in case.

The Melt

Sometimes, I think that mud is a Tennessee season. The five inches of snow melted then it was followed by five inches of rain. The farm ponds all filled up and even over flowed after last years drought. And the muddy clay was so deep, it tried to steal my boots like quicksand. The farm animals didn’t mind. In fact the ducks and geese loved to play in the raindrops.

The Meat

We finally cleared out enough room in the freezer so we could process a steer. It dry aged for a month before Jason and Mama Sue processed it. We had a little extra room in the freezer so we also butchered a sheep. I sure do enjoy hamburgers and lamb burgers.