Our Animals

     OK, so I've had this post planned for awhile, but it's just taken awhile to get to it!  I thought I would introduce you to our animals that we have here on our farm.  First of all, let me tell you, that even though I was/am a bona fide farmgirl, we didn't have much in the way of farm animals.  We had chickens and dogs and cats, but that was it!!  My dad referred to us as "dirt farmers."  He didn't care for animals.  He actually grew up on the biggest chicken farm in Kansas, but hated it.  My grandpa started buying more farmground (he had the original quarter- 160 acres, but that was it) to spread the chicken manure on.  So, when my dad and uncle decided to take over the farm, out went the chickens, and in came some big green equipment!  They've been pretty successful at this whole dirt farming thing, since over time they've expanded their original 300 acres or so to a hair over 5000.  Yeah, I'm pretty proud of my dad :-)
     My dear husband, though, grew up with dirt and animals- specifically cows.  He also had a horse and his mom had chickens and when he was a little guy, his dad had 800 sows.  He fed bottle calves and milked their family Guernsey, Jewel.  Jeff loves animals!  He's also pretty good at the dirt farming part, though, and happens to be a mechanical genius, so he's the Donley Farms repairman.  I'm pretty proud of my husband, too :-)
     So, during my ten years of married life, I've discovered that I LOVE animals!  I've bottle fed orphan calves, raised baby chicks, and fed baby goats.  My kids love animals, too.  So, I took some pictures and thought I'd introduce you to the current animal members of the Donley Farm!

     These are some of my chickens.  A couple months ago, my brother and I butchered some that looked like this (but they were roosters, not hens!)  Once you've had home-grown, free ranged chicken, you will never go back to grocery store fare again! (Or if you watch the movie "Food, Inc." .....)  We butchered chickens a couple times when I was growing up, but I don't remember much of it.  My brother and I love everything about chickens and both of us raise our own and help each other with the butchering.  It's really fun and a GREAT science lesson for the kiddos!  Elisa's dissected a heart and a gizzard and Reece likes to play with the guts :-)

     These are the rest of my layers.  These are my favorites- Red Star.  They're a smaller chicken, they free range awesomely, and they lay jumbo dark brown eggs.  I had one of those last year that we named Rietta, so this summer I ordered 25 more.  I also threw in a couple other varieties for fun.  It is so relaxing to sit outside and watch the chickens and how they interact with each other and their environment.  Yes, we do end up with chicken poop on the porches, but we try to spray them off fairly often!  Our eggs have a dark orange yoke and have a taste like no other.  I didn't know what "real" eggs tasted like, until I had free range.

     These are two of our five goats.  Meet Roscoe and Erin.  They are Alpines, which is a dairy goat breed.  I have plans to milk Erin and her sister, Carlene, once they get old enough to breed and have babies of their own.  Our adventures with goats began 5 years ago with a free bottle billy goat from the sale barn.  Elisa named him Scap and he lives in our lagoon at our old house on the farm.  Scap has a companion named Poppy, who is a Boar, which is a meat goat.  We got Scap to help keep the weeds down in the lagoon, but it soon became apparent that he needed help, so we got Poppy.  I wish I had a picture of Scap handy; he's a beautiful goat.  He's the father of Erin and Carlene and he had beautiful horns, that are long and curve back.  Since  he was a bottle baby, he thinks he's like a dog or something and loves to be petted.  He especially loves to have his billy goat beard combed and scratched!  A couple years ago, we got a free goat, named Marble, who was also an Alpine.  She was the mother of Erin and Carlene.  Erin and Carlene are twins who were born last March.  Marble and the babies moved with us to the new place.  After weaning the kids, Marble mysteriously died.  We got Roscoe this summer with the plans to use him for breeding.  Jeff thought it would be fine to cross breed Erin and Carlene with their father, but that just didn't sit well with me.....  Anyway, so we love our little goats and it gives the girls another chore to do :-)

     These guys are the calves of our latest cows that live at our house.  We're expanding the cowherd and since our new house has a nice bermuda pasture, they came to live here!  Sometime really soon, though, their mamas will be taking a short trip to the big pasture to visit with the bulls that live there.

     And this little girl is our latest addition- Belle the Blue Heeler.  We acquired her a week before Christmas down in Bald Knob, Arkansas while on a short trip to pick up a bale wrapper.  The idea is for her to be a working cow dog.  So far, she comes when called (or at least to me!) and can sit.  We're having fun with her, but her heeling instinct is very strong and her idea of playing is to nip at the kids' heels!  Which makes them scream and run- which makes her chase them!  

     So, there you have it!  An overview of the animals that grace the Donley farm!  

     Oh, and by the way, those chickens you saw?  Yeah, they are laying profusely, even with the cold weather, so come and buy some eggs from me :-)