A Bull Market

We're in a bull market here at Zephyr Hill Farm.  Ebby's calf was born today, a black, horned bull.  He may not be the red, homo-polled heifer I was hoping for--but he is healthy and lively and sweet, and we're very thankful for him.

Last night at the 3 am check I could tell Ebby's pins had gone, so I figured today would be the day.  Ebby's restless pacing of the pasture all morning confirmed it.  By 2:30 all she had done was get up and down in various places for the last half hour, so I went into the house to verify how long the various stages of labor should take.

I came back out at 2:53 to see bare hooves, quite a different sight from Ebby's calving last year.  Concerned that with the water bag broken the calf might aspirate amniotic fluid, I called the vet.  It was possible, he said, but advised me to let her push the calf out by herself if she could.  Ebby could--and did.  By 3:04 the head was out, and I could clear the calf's mouth of fluids.  By 3:05 the calf was on the ground.  Nine minutes later it was trying to stand, and by the time it was eleven minutes old, it was on its feet.

Although Ebby's poll hair predicted her calf would be a heifer, and my first glimpse of its sweet face made me think it was, it soon turned out that "she" was really a he.

Unlike many bull calves, this little guy was quick to find the udder and nurse--and even quicker to begin exploring.

He came over to meet Herb and me . . .

. . . checked out the grass, took a brief nap, and started exploring again.  He didn't just walk, though--he bucked his way along.

It was a lovely to sit in the green grass watching a healthy, lively calf interact with the warm, sunny world.  A gentle breeze blew over us--a perfect April day.

Looking at his face now, it's clear this little calf is all boy!  However, between his birthday being close to April Fool's Day and Ebby's trick with her "heifer poll hair," I decided to name him ZH Royal Pretender.  We're already calling him "Bucky" as it seems to suit this happy little buckaroo.

Rain and thunderstorms were predicted for tonight, so before it got dark we walked down to the bottom of the pasture to fetch Ebby and Bucky.  Herb packed 55 lbs. of calf up the steep hill with Ebby following anxiously along.  Bucky cooperated surprisingly well, without struggling to escape.  He and Ebby were safely ensconced in a stall about five minutes before the lightning and rain hit.  That means a good night's sleep for me, knowing our bull market will safely weather the storm.

Offering Horse-pitality

Long-time friends, colleagues from both the Bible Fellowship Church and Africa Inland Mission, spent Memorial Day weekend with us.  Paul and Julie Zimmerman left the pastorate for Africa about the same time we came home from Africa in 1987.  Their generosity practically furnished the house we bought, so it was a blessing to have them stay with us up in Aslan's Tent (using their old wardrobe!)

Paul and Julie enjoyed a first: gathering fresh eggs.  Herb enjoyed comparing notes with a fellow pastor-missionary-teacher for the first time in a long time.  We all enjoyed catching up with each other's paths over the past twenty-five years!

Julie got a kick out of the fact that our pony is named Julie, and she enjoyed feeding apples to Julie.

Julie-the-pony ate up the attention in more ways than one!

Julie-the-human learned quickly that Angel and Brandy had to get their share so the pecking order wouldn't be upset by playing favorites with Julie-the-pony.

Julie-the-pony seemed to get her nose out of joint waiting for her turn, though!

Julie enjoyed leading Julie back to the pasture each evening, so we made a tradition of it.

After a wonderful weekend of fellowship, we were sorry to see Paul and Julie leave this morning.  Nevertheless, I watched them drive off with a smile on my face thanks to Julie's parting, "Thank you for your horse-pitality!"

When I replied, "It's marely the least we could do," Paul decided it was time to hit the road!  He's rumored to be the master punster of the family, but I think Julie was first out of the gate this morning!

Travel safe, Paul and Julie, and come back soon for some more horse-pitality!

Four Wonderful Things

1) Pony rides!

 Charis went first.  (Thanks to Monique for the photos.)

"Look, Ma!  Only one (dirty) hand!"  Actually, it's just powdery paint from climbing the round pen.

Whoa, Julie, that's a little too fast!  Didi had to run to keep up which spooked Julie so she jumped, and Didi did his job--snatching Kol out of the saddle.

Brave cowboy Kol to get back on.  "Not so fast," he said--and the rider's the boss!

2)  New residents!

The newest residents of Zephyr Hill farm arrived after lunch.  From the way everyone in the barnyard acted, you'd have thought it was the circus come to town!

Nope, it was just sheep farmer and Covenant College sociology professor Matt Vos with (on the right) Rambo and (on the left) . . . wait for it . . . Obaama!

Rambo came, well, like a lamb!

Obaama, on the other hand, was a bit of a butt!  He didn't intend to cooperate, and that's what he showed Matt.

Matt is laughing here because of what I just said, "Matt, the way Obaama's giving you such a hard time, I'm guessing you're a Republican!"

3)  Ping's surprise!

The next wonderful thing is about Ping (and I'm a poet, but don't know it, but my feet show it--they're Longfellows'.)

Here's a picture, although you probably can't see the wonderful thing.  And no, the wonderful thing is not the serape-over-a-crib-springs awning I made for the lambs.  Check out that pile of hay.

Ping has laid a dozen eggs!  We normally just pour her food over the fence since the rain has kept her swimming pool filled, and today was the first time anyone has gone in her pasture in weeks, so it was a big surprise!

She did escape into the barnyard twice and fell victim to the Muscovies again, so the eggs could be fertile, but I'm sure they won't hatch since they're ice cold.  Ping doesn't seem to know that she's supposed to actually set on the eggs!  But we're proud of her accomplishment anyway.

4)  More meat in the freezer!

The freezer in the hay barn is chock full again thanks to a former, er, sibling of Rambo and Obaama.  Don't tell them because we don't want them to have nightmares, but we almost named them Curry and Souvlaki!  This lamb is partially grain-fed, but we'll transition Rambo and Obaama to a grass-fed diet because we love our grass-fed meat.

My youngest sister thinks we're horrible and refused to help me name the lambs if we're going to eat them.  At least she'll be happy that we didn't name them for food.  That just means that while I look out and enjoy the beautiful sight of sheep safely grazing, I'll have to make sure to picture Rambo and Obama like their sibling above so I don't lose sight of the reason they came to join us.

After all, this is a farm, and a farm is all about food!

The Poop-ular Chicken

"Ah chickens.  Good for so much on the farm.  They make poop, they rearrange poop, they sort poop, they find bugs and worms in other animals' poops and then they taste FANTASTIC when eaten."


Quoted from Donna OShaughnessy (of South Pork Ranch--I LOVE that name!--in Illinois) in a comment on Sugar Mountain Farm's blog.  Thank you, Donna, for allowing me to quote your profound and witty comment!


Here's a photo tribute to our chickens doing their poop thing.  (Sorry, I didn't include photos of them making poop.  You'll just have to take Donna's and my word!)

Barnyard poop rearranged by the chickens

Gypsy, after eating bugs from other animals' poop, lays an egg with a lovely orangey yolk

Kiwi "sings" her happy chicken song as she goes about her poop management

Grace looks for bugs and seeds in the horses' poop

Grace sorts poop.  Don't ask me how she categorizes it, but she knows just when to look down and find a "goody."

Hero watches Grace find a "goody" in the sorted, rearranged poop

Beauty and deliciousness, thanks to the Poop Management Squad 

Apprentice Poop Management Squad at work in the chicken tractor on pasture fertilized with poop from horses, cattle and pigs

A Busy, Wonderful Day

After we got Sara fixed up, halters on her and Siobhan, and acorns collected for the pigs, Herb went to work setting up our new smoker with me as his assistant.

Once it was ready, it had to be cured.  He rubbed vegetable oil all  over the inside, then plugged it in for 3 hours.

Here is the smoker getting cured, although nothing shows since you don't use wood to cure it.

The pigs heard the metal rattling on the back porch near their food bin, and they squealed excitedly, sure it was something good for them.  That was so tragically ironic, since it is FOR them, that it made us sad.

Finally the smoker was cured and cooled and ready to go.  We put foil packets of mesquite chips that had been soaked in water and a few larger pieces directly on the lava rocks.

Next, we poured a beer into the water pan and finished filling it with water.

On the top rack of the smoker we placed the brisket we had bought at Triple H Meats, the same place we will take the pigs on Nov. 7.

I kept the seasonings simple so we could taste what the smoker does to the meat:  Penzey's Sunny Spain seasoning and some salt on the meat and a beer in the water pan.

Finally, we closed the smoker, plugged it in and let it go for 2 hours.  Mouth-watering smells and wisps of smoke began wafting forth before long.  It was a long afternoon to wait . . .

So we decided to accomplish a few more things.  Herb hitched up the trailer and drove it into the pigs' pasture so we can start feeding them in it tomorrow.  They came over to investigate and greeted us.  I started scratching 4, and she sank down full length on the ground with a "smile" on her face.  Both of us starting rubbing and scratching her while she ate up the attention.  In a few minutes 8 joined us and  flopped over for her scratch just like 4.  We must have sat there for five minutes, giving the pigs a massage while they "smiled" in bliss.  They are NOT making this easy!

One last job before fixing dinner.  While Herb braced the trailer with concrete blocks, I got a light set up in the chicken coop.  It's time to start extending the girls' light to keep their egg production up over the short winter days.  As I screwed in the bulb, I looked down and said, "Stupid chicken!"

Then I looked closer at the egg lying on the floor.  Hmm, I thought I knew what color eggs all my chickens lay, and I've never seen one that color.  I wonder if it could be a duck egg?

My research says not--all duck eggs are white or creamy--but it does make me wonder who made these two little "nests" on the floor and why?  Ooh, I just love a mystery!

The unsolved mystery had to wait because it was time to fix dinner:  home-smoked brisket, garlic smashed potatoes, home-grown green beans with garlic, and home-grown salad with cucumbers and the last few ripe tomatoes.  Dessert was Crannachan, a Scottish dessert that is basically whipped cream flavored with whiskey and honey.  And for an after-dinner drink, we had a bit of the Glen Moray whiskey we bought in Scotland with Katie and Cameron.  Now that was the perfect end to a perfect day!