OUR CRITTER FRIENDS
g To Steve Chekal, who was such a huge part of making this dream come true for his daughters... To Jeff Birdwell, for putting up with us through the whole process of buying the farm...
To our friends, fans and family, who tolerated our 4,287 photos, emails and videos of the place... To the Canfields, the very best neighbors in the whole county, as far as we are concerned...
To Jill VanVlerah, an awesome past neighbor, who still likes to help me with my proofreading... And to Trini Wenninger, a new friend and a great editor!
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Created and Designed by: Sherri Chekal Photography by: Sherri Chekal and Jessica Chekal Copyright Š July 2012 by Sherri and Jessica Chekal All Rights Reserved.
Windhaven Farm
801 E. Main Street - Alvordton, Ohio 43501 Learn more about our little homestead at: www.TheMobileHomeWoman.com
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When we talked about our
little farm homestead dream, the girls and I made it a five year goal. Little did we know that only a few days after, the most perfect little farm would present itself to us and within three months, it would be our new home. Sometimes, I think God hears our inner most desires and wishes and when He’s got a few minutes between saving sick babies and enlightening world leaders, He gives a little wink and a nod. Then things happen so quickly, you know they are divine. How else could this perfect little three acres of rural heaven fall directly in our laps. Our little family of three - a recently single again mom and two wonderful teenage daughters.
Up to that point we had a rough ride. We lost our beautiful, big home in a lovely fancy neighborhood through foreclosure after divorce. We moved to a rental home at the edge of Detroit and upon fleeing there, bought a twenty year old moble home for $800 cash. We slowly fixed her up and got back on our feet. We were doing better, but there was no way we would qualify for a mortgage and we never imagined that we would be living on our little homestead within four months of making that five year plan. Yet the fates intervened and for a very little amount of $12,000, Windhaven was ours. Many cars cost more.
“There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.”
Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac
Now, we didn’t have that very little amount of money. In fact, we had only about three or four grand at most and that was from scrimping and saving like squirrels! We lived in our “Moby” as urban pioneers. Homesteaders... we did everything by ourselves, and we made do, and we learned just how tough we were.
did allow up to 5 hens in your yard. But the manager stood firm. No chickens. She loved that we were encouraging the other residents to plant pots of tomatoes and sunflowers along their homes because it generally improved the look of the elderly park. But farmyard fowl was the line in the sand.
We planted fruit trees and created raised beds. We grew lots of our own food. The last year we were there we harvested over 200 pounds of food from our little gardens around that mobile home. We even won second place in the best mobile home in the park contest and you can bet, that $200 went into our savings pot. We crafted and we learned how to can and to preserve food. We built what we could out of our own designs and a hammer and drill. We made that little worn out moby into a home.
So, we gazed at hatchery catalogues and learned about sheep handling and the different breeds through books and online, living vicariously through other homesteading families and their blogs. We found others akin to our dreams and we learned from them and visited their little acres of dreams. We bought fresh eggs from Frannie down the street and we shopped at the farmers’ markets and we dreamed of the day it might be our turn.
Yet, we longed for something more.
Little did we know that this property, that would eventully become Windhaven, would come on the market. I really figured there was no way it could ever be ours and I told my daughter Maggie about it and added, “well, we might as well not waste the gas, there’s no way we can afford that...” But thankfully, Maggie didn’t give up that easily. She said, “let’s go and look at least”. So we did.
Chickens, mostly. And maybe some sheep. Now, don’t think I didn’t plot and plan to get a few hens and hide them in our storage shed. I even asked, in a round about way, if there might be ANY chance that we could make a little discrete coop because after all, the city
Maggie and I made that long drive out to the country, leaving Jessy home for some reason that I don’t recall but at the time seemed important. She didn’t mind, she’s like that. When we pulled in the driveway of the forgotten little farm, all covered in snow and weeds and fallen branches, we were so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop. It was everything we had visualized in our planning session. Everything. Mature trees, outbuildings, pastures, a hedgerow, a little creek, no close neighbors, and just enough acreage that we could raise our animals and a big garden, yet not so much that we would be overwhelmed. It was perfect. We didn’t even worry much over the house, it was just a house after all. We wanted the possibilities of the land and felt a true homesteading adventure was about to begin. Even though it was chilly January, Maggie and I walked all over the place. We picked up little treasures, a broken plate, a few blue marbles and spent shot gun shells! We talked as if the place was already ours and I think, in our hearts, we knew this was home. We took pictures and did little calculations of fence lines and livestock for various buildings. When our toes were frozen, we left and chattered like magpies all the way home.
When we returned home and shared it all with Jessy, we got even more excited and we could hardly sleep. But then reality set in. The listing price was $18,000. We almost gave up without a fight. But something said to share this with their father, and we did. That very next day we showed him the photos and we talked it up, he just smiled and said, “let’s try for it”. He had a little nest egg that he was willing to shareand he wanted his girls to have something more stable and lasting. We knew it would be hard, but there was just something special in the whole plan, that we had to pursue. With the help of our dear friend Jeff, as our realtor and guide, we managed not only to get the
price down considerably, but managed to raise enough money to buy the place outright! It was so close, and we moved in broke, but that was fine with us! Our little farm was ours and we would still have the equity in the land should it be a huge mistake. But it was no mistake. It was a dream come true and a chance to prove our nettle just like those homesteaders of the old west. We had our land and a few broken down buildings and our wits about us and little else. We could make this place a home through hard work, luck and a lot of prayers! We took one step forward and three back at times, but we are still working on our five year plan, it’s just we are a whole lot closer to our final dreams!
We hope you will enjoy this photo montage of our cherished animal companions on our homestead journey. We love the trees and the pastures and the old buildings on the farm, but it is our animal buddies are the lifeblood of the place. From our newest little piglets to the chickens we adore, and our cat and dog companions, Windhaven is a living, breathing place that nourishes our souls and brings contentment to our hearts!
“The first supermarket supposedly appeared on the American landscape in 1946. That is not very long ago. Until then, where was all the food? Dear folks, the food was in homes, gardens, local fields, and forests. It was near kitchens, near tables, near bedsides. It was in the pantry, the cellar, the backyard.” Joel Salatin, Folks, This Ain’t Normal: A Farmer’s Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World
Many rental places do not allow dogs, so cats
often become the choice animal when your life is a little crazy. A funny thing happens. You might not start out as a cat person, but the more you know cats, the more you love and cherish these furry little souls. That was our case.
We adore our dogs. They are great companions, always eager to see you, happy to do WHATEVER we are doing no matter what. Cats? Haha.... whole ‘nother story. Cats are really just roommates, that you let into your life. They eat your food, mess up your house and occasionally enjoy your company! They have their own agendas and plans about how life needs to be. And that’s okay. Cats are awesome like that. Horses, dogs and many other creatures want and desire your attention and company. Cats enjoy it when they want it and ignore you at other times. But then, anyone that has owned a cat knows that. Our cats are no exception to that rule. And we love them just as much as any other creature on the farm. There’s Luna, our beautiful grey tiger with the emerald eyes. Luna is certainly the queen of the crew, our little hunter and the boss gal. And then there is Dixie, spooky and quiet. She is a polydactal calico that adores Jessy but tolerates the rest of us. And there’s good old Jack... a stray that we took in at the mobile home park and has made the transition to super farm cat in no time flat. They are as much of our family as we all are. And as we have come to discover, farms and cats go hand in hand. They do a very good job of keeping little vermin from our feed bins and troughs. Luna is the best hunter and Jack can do pretty well if pushed. Thankfully, they leave birds alone, and I wonder if it’s because we have so many chickens walking about. They watch the chickens with great interest, but most of the hens are much bigger than they are and no self respecting cat wants to tangle with a ticked off rooster. We had the enjoyment of taking in a stray last summer and of course, with her soon came a litter of kittens. However, we enjoyed the whole process and found homes for all but two brothers, Duke and Baron. They make up our second generation farm kitties! We love them all!
Around the farm, it’s impossible to work without a kitty supervisor to watch over you. We don’t mind at all!
“Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.�
Robert Heinlein
“Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose.�
Garrison Keillor
Topaz, our little kitty outreach program member, came to us ready to start a family! It was nice to witness the birth and growth of the little five pack of goofy kittens. Sadly, Topaz would not stop her rambling ways and was hit by a car and died when the kittens were about 10 weeks old. They were weaned, but it was still sad to lose their mother. Three were placed in great loving homes and the two boys, a orange tiger named Baron and our little black and white boy, Duke, are growing up on the farm, as our loved little brothers. They are adorable to watch as they play outside, and learn the ropes of farm kitty life from Uncle Jack.
“Two cats can live as cheaply as one, and their owner has twice as much fun.”
Lloyd Alexander
Baron is caught stalking a bug up on a limb! He is a great climber!
Jack in the straw, striking a sweet pose....
“If cats could talk, they wouldn’t.”
Nan Porter
Duke and Baron are very close little kitty brothers. They are always together and it’s just so fun to watch them play and frolic around the farm.
“Dogs’ lives are too short. Their only fault, really.”
Agnes Sligh Turnbull
A dog is a woman’s best friend, too. Dogs are a huge part of our lives and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
When we first settled down in a house, some 16 years ago, one of the first things I wanted to do was get a dog. Thankfully, my husband agreed. So, as a result, our children have pretty much always been around a dog. I think that is a good thing. Dogs teach children so much and not just the basic “pick up after them” and “brush them and walk them and all that”. They teach children responsibility and how to love unconditionally. But best of all, dogs are just awesome companions and we are so happy that they grace our lives. Gypsy was our first dog. She was a beautiful purebred Belgian Sheepdog and she was nearly a grand champion as a show dog. We enjoyed seeing our beautiful girl floating around the showring, winning her ribbons and just being a total sweetheart. But what we loved best is that in her elderly years she got her farm and her sheep that she loved. She got to be a good old farm dog and she adored it. As did Dingo, our second dog, who came to live at the farm along with us in his advanced years. The day that both passed away was just such a sorrowful day. We miss them so much.
Currently, we have Evee and Ratchet, a pair of young dogs who have some big pawprints to follow in. They are so goofy and high energy and they very much love each other. Evee is a Australian Shepherd and Ratchet is a beloved Norwegian Black Terrier. Okay, naw, there is no such thing as a Norwegian Black Terrier. But, if there was, he’d be a great one! (It’s a silly thing we play around with, the fake breed we made up!) I’m sure there will be other dogs that join us on our homesteading adventure and along with them, tons of memories! We hope that you will enjoy some of the lovely pictures that we have captured of our canine companions.
Dingo. a cross bred Blue Heeler and Border Collie, was a pound puppy that we brought home many years ago to be a pal for Gypsy. He was a little trouble maker in the beginning, but turned into just a sweet old guy. He was one of the most well behaved dogs we’ve ever known off leash, surely part of his heeler instinct. We miss him so much!
Maggie and Gypsy enjoying a little sunshine.
Evee loves her best friend, Floppy Puppy. Oh yes, and she loves Ratchet, too!
“The greatest love is a mother’s; then a dog’s; then a sweetheart’s.”
Polish Proverb
Evee, the silly pup, getting Gypsy in trouble by roughhousing in the big office.
Evee was a cute litte baby!
Dingo inspects the new chicken feeding equipment. He really liked watching the chickens and would try and gently herd them around.
Ratchet is Maggie’s dog and they are good buddies. She loves hanging out with her dog pal. He adores her as much as she loves him, we’re pretty sure.
Watching Evee and Ratchet play is like watching Big Time Dog Wrestling at a Circus! They are so funny and just adore each other.
“The most affectionate creature in the world is a wet dog.�
Ambrose Bierce
After Topaz passed away so suddenly, Evee stepped in as surrogate mother to the kittens. She plays with them, watches over them and even cleans them up like their mom would have. It’s a slightly weird relationship, but something that we love about Evee. It is as if she knew they would need a mom around, even as teenagers. The kitties are all very bonded to her and she to them.
It’s hard to describe our love of chickens with-
out sounding a little like crazy cat ladies. We love them that much. From our first flock of 10 chickens to our high point of 120 over the summer, we love all our poultry and delight in watching them grow and mature. They just captivate our hearts with their amazing little personalities! We love chickens...
For the longest time, I have been interested in chickens. I think it began when I started to read about and see some of the harsh conditions that egg and meat chickens live in. I thought there had to be a way to vote with our food dollars for a better life for these birds. So we sought out a lady that lived near us with chickens. Frannie, who along with her husband, Wes, raises chickens and other animals on their lovely five acre homestead that sits in the big urban city. We started buying several dozen eggs at a time and they were delicious. There is something about a free range egg. They are so remarkably different than the bland tasteless orbs that the supermarket sells. They are beautifully vibrant in the yolk, fresh and cook just like those pictures of classic fried eggs we grew up with, but never seem to recreate in the pan. And the taste! My goodness... I could easily have eggs for breakfast every day of the rest of my life because they are that good. So I knew that someday we wanted our own hens. And not just for the eggs. The eggs are a wonderful extra from having these funny, smart and curious little critters in your yard. Chicken TV, as we call it, is a common past time here at the farm. You see us watching it all the time. From the roosters and their antics to the productive little hens out for a stroll, to the little chicks learning about grass and bugs for the first time, chickens are fascinating and delightfully entertaining little souls. After a great deal of research and looking about, I knew that I wanted to raise French Blue Copper Marans. This lovely breed produces the darkest egg and the birds are beautiful. However, they are not that common, so I wasn’t sure where to start. I did know I wanted my first batch of hens to all be different, so that we could name them and learn about the different breeds and personalities.
So with $40 in hand and Jessy in tow, I attended my first livestock auction in the historic town of Hillsdale, Michigan. We had no idea what was ahead but I hoped to get a few hens to start our little flock off. Interestingly enough, you do not need a rooster for a hen to produce eggs. That is why a few hens in a backyard coop is a great way to do a little urban homesteading even in the middle of the city! Many cities now allow three to ten hens in your back yard! A livestock auction is a wonderful thing. There are beautiful animals all about, chickens, fowl, peacocks, doves and rabbits! We went from cage to cage looking and making our choices to try for when the auction started. I found a few cages that had beautiful mixed hens but then I could not believe it... I saw a trio of birds in a cage... beautiful French copper Marans - a rooster and two hens. Unbelievable! I knew I wanted that cage of birds but was not sure how far the bidding would go. To make matters worse, this trio was way down the line near the end of the chicken cages, so if I waited for them, I might not get any birds at all! So I bid and won two cages of the heritage hens and had $21 dollars left. When we got to the cage, the auctioneer did not know what breed they were and so he began to just call them chickens until a lady in the crowd announced quite sharply that they were BLUE COPPER MARANS... and valuable birds! Oh, my heart sank! Suddenly the bidding jumped from fifty cents a bird to three dollars! And this one gentleman who had purchased over 100 birds for his restaurant took notice and started to bid higher! Well, needless to say, I made up my mind I wanted them and I finally won them at $7 a bird! Double what all the other chickens had gone for that day! And they were worth every penny! I had my dream birds! Yes, we love our chickens!
“My father asserted that there was no better place to bring up a family than in a rural environment. . . . There’s something about getting up at 5 a.m., feeding the stock and chickens, and milking a couple of cows before breakfast that gives you a lifelong respect for the price of butter and eggs.� William Vaughan
Recieving our first order of chicks in the mail was so wonderful. It was like Christmas and Easter rolled into one holiday! The little fluffs are so adorable and it’s amazing that they travel so well in the mail! The post office calls you early in the morning and we rushed over to pick them up and bring them home. To teach the chicks to drink you have to take each baby and dunk their little beaks into the water dish. When they hatch, they absorb the yoke in through their tummies and it gives them about 48 hours of nourishment before they need to eat and drink on their own. This is why they can ship day old chicks without harming them.
Twenty five chicks make such a noise! Oh my goodness, once they got settled and happy in their new home, they made such a racket all day and night! Only when it’s nap time does the noise quiet down considerably. These sweet puffs of yellow fluff are broiler chicks, destined for the table, but will experience for a wonderful, humane and gentle life on our homestead.
They grow SO fast. The chick on the right is 10 days old and the chick on the left is three weeks! It amazed us how quickly they grow. But then, that is the trait they have been bred for, quick growth and ready for finishing in 8 to 12 weeks!
After three weeks, they were ready to go out to our little coop and live with the bigger pullets. Pullets are young female chickens not yet laying eggs. We hoped that the broilers, which we lovingly refer to as nuggets, would learn how to be real chickens from their older pullet sisters and they did. Our nuggets learned how to roost and how to scratch in the yard, how to take sunbaths and everything that chickens should be able to do.
We knew that they would be in our freezer in a couple months and we were aware that it might be a hard thing for us. We love chickens and enjoyed watching this first batch grow up and experience each stage of their very short lives. We treated them humanely and with kindness. We were proud of this. Our birds were tame and gentle, and we could handle them and work around them without panic or stress on the part of the birds. In fact, they learned to free range and would follow Maggie all over the yard! When it came time to take half of the batch to the processor, or Freezer Camp, as we called it, we simply walked through the flock and selected the larger of the nuggets, mostly roosters. We weighed each, setting aside the largest for Freezer Camp. Our processors are a wonderful family who set timely appointments for the birds so that they wouldn’t have to wait and be stressed. They came in at their time and within moments it was over. I can think of no more humane way to face their final reality.
And they were fantastic. The first meal we had of a large roasted bird that we had raised from a chick, free of drugs and cruel confinement, was delicious and tender. We were so thankful for the bird and it’s life, and we knew from that point on, we would be raising our own meat chickens.
It’s only a matter of time before one thinks about incubating your own eggs from your own flock. We did. From our first batch, eight beautiful Bucka Roo babies hatched. Bucka Roo is our beautiful French Copper Marans rooster that we won at auction. We hatched our eggs in a homemade Styrofoam cooler with a light bulb! It’s that easy. Two of our current roosters, Silver and Copper, are babies from that first clutch of ages. We have hatched several other batches as well, some with great success, and others without. There is a science to the whole situation and the more you learn the harder it seems to get! I think we need to go back to the old cooler again at times! But that moment when the little chick pushes free from its egg and starts to chirp is so wonderful. It’s something that you just have to experience once or twice if you love chickens!
“ You can’t hatch chickens from fried eggs...” Dutch Proverb
Our first clutch of eggs to hatch... we adored them all! Bucka Roo and his ladies gave us some beautiful little chicks. Bucka Roo loves to take his ladies on field trips around the farm... and it looks like he has someplace he needs to be now!
My $30 rooster... Pierre is a fancy French Marans rooster that was the only one to hatch from a clutch of eggs I purchased from a fancy breeder down in Louisiana! We think the weather got to the eggs during shipping as it was very hot. Pierre is a very spoiled and tame rooster boy and I hope he can pass a little of his genetics down through our lines! I just love this artsy shot of him gazing out the coop window...
We love the little banty fancy chickens. They are cute little collectible chickens in beautiful shades, colors and feathering.
Maggie is our resident chicken whisperer. She loves the birds and they love her. She always has several hens following her around the yard and she can catch them with her bare hands when no one else can. She holds them if they need doctoring, or just when they need a little love. She has several special birds that she has raised as well as many that she just likes. Maggie has a special way with animals and birds.
Lucky was a little BB Red English Game Banty rooster that did not get along nicely with his friends. They roughed him up one day and Maggie rescued him and brought him in the house to heal. From that point on, Maggie had a near constant little friend, Lucky even sat and watched tv with her and rode around on her shoulder. He grew up to be a lovely little rooster and with a few little hens, he went on to be a pet with a chicken fancier.
We got this lovely buff orpington hen in a group of auction chickens. From the start, she just didn’t fit in. The others were skittish and spooky, but Buffy was calm and loved people. One day she climbed right up in Maggie’s lap and that was the beginning of a lovely relationship. Buffy is one of Maggie’s favorite gals in the free range flock and they always find a little time to visit each day. Someone took some time to tame this little hen, and we are glad that she let us know she was a pet and not just a egg layer for Maggie’s egg business!
Doesn’t everyone have a chicken in their Christmas tree? We do!
Floppy Chicken was given to us free with a bunch of hens we bought one day. She was the only white egg layer in our flocks and just a funny hen with her floppy comb. She was a feisty little bird and just a character around the barn yard. Unfortunately, she was killed by a raccoon and that was a very sad day. We all loved Floppy Chicken! Thankfully, our friend Trini and her family adopted one of Floppy’s pullet daughters. Recently, Dove, laid her first little white egg! We were so happy and I know Floppy would be proud of her little girl!
Bucka Roo is such a character. He is the king of the farmyard and likes to follow folks around. He’s super gentle, curious and tame, but can stand up to a dog to protect his ladies. He’s a very special rooster!
A record day... almost four dozen eggs from our hens!
Miss Carolyn is our first hen to go broody and hatch out chicks! We were so excited and we love watching her raise her little peeps, Thing One and Thing Two! She is so protective and they are growing up fast and loved here on the farm!
Chickens can fly! Here is Floppy Chicken showing off her bird of prey imitation!
“When arguing with a chicken, a grain of corn is always wrong...�
African Proverb
At night, the chickens roost in the rafters of the big barn.
Raven is one of Bucka Roos cross bred Maranacunas, as we like to call them. Half Marans and half Ameracuna.
Argent and his brother Flipper are the roosters of the poultry barn flock. We find that pairing up roosters, especially brothers raised together seems to keep the peace and allows us to keep a few more roosters than most. We love our roosters!
“If I didn’t start painting, I would have raised chickens.”
Grandma Moses
This little coop is where we keep our Marans for breeding as well as our pullets as they mature. It’s the most protected of our coops and thus offers a safe environment for the young birds to mature.
This year we decided to try and raise turkeys. We tried the year before but it was not the best experience. Turkeys are hard to raise, they are prone to accidentally dying as young poults. They are not the sharpest pencil in the box when it comes to poultry. We’ve got a dozen beautiful little poults at this time. They seem to be doing well. We started with fifteen but have lost three over the first six weeks. We hope that we can make it to fall with a nice crop of birds for friends and family.
This is Turkey Girl. She is our first successfully raised turkey! She actually made it to adulthood and she laid several dozen eggs this spring! She taught us all about raising turkeys as we worked hard to keep her alive, safe and happy! She was raised in the little coop with the young pullets and the Marans, so I think she thought she was just a large gangly chicken. But she made it and we were so happy!
We traded Turkey Girl for a passel of Black Star pullets from our firiend and bird whisperer. Braden has a beautiful heritage tom turkey that he hopes Turkey Girl will take a shine to and next spring will lay some turkey eggs! He and Maggie are both poultry masters and I have to say, Braden is the best chicken wrangler I’ve ever seen! That boy can catch chickens! He’s going to grow up and be quite the livestock kid for sure!
Ever since I started reading a blog about a plucky young lady, her
sheep and her writing, the idea of raising sheep has been on my mind. I love them for their wool, of course, but what really appealed to me was their gentle souls and the way they just seemed so calm and content. Little did know that I would so totally fall in love with sheep!
There are Ford people and Chevy people, Mac and Windows, Michigan and Ohio fans and there are goat people and there are sheep people. I am a Ford, Mac, Michigan and sheep person. Just in case you wondered. Goats are silly and lots of fun to be around. But sheep do something more for me. Sheep have silly and crazy moments that they are ready to knock you down and steal off into the great unknown like a band of headless chickens. But, they also seek you out when they are scared. Or hungry. Or both.
It’s kind of ironic... I really wanted to raise Scottish black face sheep, and I may still do that some day, but it’s the smaller Shetlands that really caught my eye. Their wool is amazing. They are smaller, manageable and hardy little guys. They lamb easily, which is a plus. And if you ever looked at a sheep care guide you know that there are 101 ways to get a lamb stuck in a sheep! Oh my gosh, the pages of diagrams alone will scare the living daylights out of you! But, the babies are stinking adorable, hardly a foot high and just the cutest little things you have ever seen! Right now we have five lovely ewes, two cute wethers and a handsome ram to be the master of the flock. Breeding time for Shetlands is in the fall, so hopefully by the spring of 2013, we can anticipate our first flock of lambs. I can not wait! It will be such a wonderful thing to see our little lambs frolicking over the green spring grasses, springing about and making us laugh. Sheep are very silly as youngsters. Then, they eventually mature. Unlike goats.
Our first harvest of wool brought us almost 20 pounds of the beautiful fiber and we are working on making it available for spinners in the area. We are also going to work a good deal of it on our own, adding our Angora rabbit wool into the mix to make a delightful brand of Windhaven yarn. It is hard to imagine that just a year ago, we were living in a little mobile home, dreaming of the day that we might be doing this. Now, it’s here. Talk about a blessing!
“People, like sheep, tend to follow a leader occasionally in the right direction.”
Alexander Chase
Holly and Noel, two lovely dark chocolate ewes, were my Christmas presents from my daughters. The ewe on the right is Noel. We call her Momma because she walked into this flock made up of mostly yearlings and little ones and took over. She’s about 3 years old and Holly is her last lamb.
We are hoping that in the spring of 2013, we will have our own first crop of lambs born here at the farm and we just can’t wait! Shetland lambs are SO adorable, they are about the size of a small poodle! They will be barely a foot off the ground. These little lambs are just sweet and affectionate. A perfect small farm breed with beautiful wool!
Angus enjoys a little attention from his flock mom... Wethers, or neutered males, are the most friendly of all sheep. They make excellent pets and lawn mowers!
Please sir... we want some more.
“The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.�
Our little Shetland flock, all wild and wooly, out in the back pasture. Fergus, our littlest sheep, enjoys a little fresh green grass. Shetland sheep are not big, rather like a medium sized dog, really. They are about mid-thigh when mature or about 24 inches tall. They are not that much bigger than Bucka Roo!
Stendhal
Gideon came to us from Rachel and her delightful family in middle Michigan, and unfortunately, as a two year old ram, he had little in the way of good job prospects. By two years, he had already bred many of the local area’s Shetland ewes and they wanted to introduce new bloodlines. Many breeders consider a two year old ram to be over the hill and ready for slaughter. Rachel didn’t want that to happen to this handsome fellow and we got this grand champion ram from a fancy bloodline that I admired, and never thought I could afford. Everyone was happy. Rachel found a home for her bottle baby, and we found the herdsire of our future lambs! Lacking a decent pickup, we did as we always do with livestock... we packed Gideon into the back of the station wagon and drove home in the rain. We love the picture of Gideon and Maggie watching out into the misty rain, wondering about their journey ahead.
Gideon is a sweet boy and is halter trained, which is wonderful. He has to be watched because hand raised rams are not afraid of people and can be a little dangerous in the open when they are with their ewes. But careful management of him is making it a great situation. He has his own paddock that he shares with a bunch of chickens, whom he adores. He gets time out with his flockmates to graze and eventually, he will have a chance to pass on his genes again. Already he has dozens of beautiful lambs on the ground, and we can’t wait to see our own group soon!
“I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.”
Alexander the Great
When our flock first met Gideon, it was a funny thing to watch. They were super curious of this newcomer. Right away Momma Noel decided she would put him in his place. Within moments of this photo, she walked right up to him and head butt him hard, expecting to set him right as to WHO was the leader of this flock. He took it like a gentleman, but then turned around and gave her a good hard ram and nearly knocked her off her hooves! Immediately, she gave up and fell in behind him, ready to be second in command.
Of course, Holly, her daughter tagged right behind, not wanting to make a stink about anything else. The rest of the flock was divided. They sought out Momma for leadership but now, this new sheriff was in town and Momma was totally mesmerized by his prowess. Pretty quickly, Gideon had everyone in sync and happy that there was finally a ram to lead the pack. Everyone is fine now. He’s even got a nice new coat of wool he’s grown over the few months since he arrived.
Our first shearing was quite a surprise to us. We scheduled the day for the shearers to come out, and as per their instructions, had locked the sheep up in a smaller area, so there would be less stress and they would be easier to catch. Angus was the first of the sheep to be sheared and the kids of the shearer dashed in and caught the unsuspecting little fellow in no time. He’s quite tame and didn’t have a clue what was going on. He never had been sheared before! He was a yearling and this was something new. Due to his smaller size, they decided to just hold him and shear quickly, and my gosh, did panic and mayhem ensue! Angus baaed for his flockmates and they baaed for him, all the while milling about and making a huge ruckus. It didn’t take too long, about five or ten minutes at the most and soon Angus was done and released outside. He looked SO different! Almost like a goat! He came over to the outside gate to let everyone know he was still alive and the next ewe was selected and sheared. It took less than 45 minutes to do all 7 of our sheep. Well worth the cost to have someone professionally shear them because even though we were game to try, we didn’t have the professional shears that made the job much easier. And for something that is done just once a year, it’s so much easier to have professional do it. It’s also less stressful for the flock. It was so funny to see the nearly naked sheep basking in the sunshine, free of their heavy wool coats. Once they were reunited with everyone, they shook and scratched and rubbed on everything and everyone they could find! I’m sure it felt great to be able to reach the itchy spots that had been hidden for months!
There is something so peaceful and content in watching sheep graze. I can sit for hours and just watch them move through the green, silently picking the tidbits they want and moving on.
Bunnies are just the coolest little animals
around. We are raising Angora rabbits, primarily French Angoras. We love their size and lovely soft wool, as well as their sweet temperaments. Even our feistiest girl, Gwendolyn, is hardly a match for the majority of the rabbit world. They are nice, calm and delightful rabbits.
When we got our first sheep, we were given the offer of a pair of Angora rabbits to compliment the wool offering. Angora wool is lovely to blend with Shetland sheep wool, giving a nice halo and softness to the blend. It’s a great match and not surprisingly, many Shetland sheep folk have a little stable of Angora rabbits as well! They are easy keepers for the most part, although they do require frequent brushing to keep their hair nice. We think the grooming and fluffy wool scares off some people. We think it’s a decent trade off for the lovely fiber these animals produce. Our first wool we worked with was Angora rabbit! And my first several yard of lumpy artsy yarn was made from our very own Angora herd! Since we had the room and were learning which variation of the breed we really liked, we have adopted a few bunnies along the way that might not be in our final breeding plans. But we love them all the same! Little Grizelda and her pa Odin came to us from a very poor home. They were filthy and ungroomed and skinny as little rails. We nursed them back to health and enjoy their lovely little English Angora ways. (They are pictured to the right on this page.) Odin, the cream colored bunny on the bottom, eventually passed away, here at the farm, from old age, a content old fellow that was sweet to the bone. His daughter Grizelda is a sweetheart as well, and she just had her first litter here, producing three cute as pie little babies that we know will have wonderful homes soon!
We love letting folks learn about the bunnies and their lovely fiber. We also enjoy meeting and placing our little bunny babies with new owners, teaching them how to care for their babies and grow them up fine. Fiber arts have made a comeback and if one can not have your own sheep, a nice fiber pet Angora rabbit is the next best thing! Currently, we have a lovely pedigreed French boy named Cornelius, as well as a French girl named Gwendolyn. We have a mixed German Angora male named Oswald, as well as an English bunny doe named Grizelda. We have Grizelda’s three babies as of this writing, as they are only four weeks old and Angoras stay with their mothers until at least eight weeks of age. Jessy has named her rabbitry, Pooka Bunnies, after the Celtic jokester rabbits, of which Harvey, the white rabbit in the movies is styled after. She loved reading about the myths and legends of the Pooka, and thought it would be a fun way to start her own little stable of sweet, fibery bunnies! Her first litter was successfully bred, grown and placed in loving homes. Her second litter is weeks away from their new homes and hopefully, in the fall of 2012, we will have the pitter-patter of more little soft bunny toes from our new girl.
Regular grooming is a must with Angoras. They will mat up easily without brushing at least once a week, or more if you can. But the nice part is that most Angoras seem to enjoy the process, since they have been doing it since they were little nippers. Gwendolyn is perhaps our most fussy groomer, but she still tolerates it well. And the nice thing is that all the lovely fiber you groom off the bunnies can be saved and used with hand carders to create lovely yarns. Jessy and Sherri are learning how to work the fiber from the sheep and the rabbits. Someday we’d like to get a nice spinning wheel. For now we are using a nice drop spindle that we got along with our fantastic hand cards. Everything takes time and money to acquire and we are happy to learn as we move along the natural course of fiber addiction!
Our first litter of kits was born on St. Patrick’s day of 2012. Gwendolyn and Cornelius’s brood did well, five little babies that we came to adore and watch over as they grew. Unfortunately, one little runt did not make it and we were sad, losing any animal is hard but a little 4 week baby was especially hard, after Jessy spent a lot of time trying to give her an extra boost and lots of attention. It was another of those hard farming lessons to learn... not all babies make it to adulthood.
A little gray kit does his “hands up” gangster imitation!
The first litter after just a few days... getting their soft wonderful wool in, and looking less like little naked peanuts!
Cornelius loves to stick his nose up through a little place in the top of his hutch. He’s a super lovely boy and the father of our current line of babies!
One of the best things about raising rabbits is the little babies! They are so adorable and just silly in their baby rabbit antics. Like the lambs of spring, our occasional litters bring out the oohs and ahhhs from our guests to the homestead and we just love socializing and playing with the little critters. They can be so funny to watch as they hop around and explore, playing with their siblings and just being kids!
“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.� John Steinbeck
“A sly rabbit will have three openings to it’s den.”
It’s hard to pass up a cute little bunny at the livestock auction, and well, Jessy fell in love at first sight with a sweet little ginger bunny, one chilly spring day. We had to win her and sure enough, we were the highest bidder at a whole $5.00. How can you place a dollar value on a little bunny pet? So Velvet came home, tucked in Jessy’s coat, all warm and protcted from the spring chill. She’s the only spoiled bunny around, and she lives in the big office where Jessy does most of her work. Velvet gets her daily romp around the house, and is quite the little pistol. She likes to chew on electrical cords, and plays tag with you when it’s time to put her back in her hutch. But we love her all the same! She’s about half the size of the Angoras, but she doesn’t mind their size and she plays with them on the days that the Angoras get to come in the big house and run about like crazy bunnies!
Chinese Proverb
One of Gwendolyn’s first babies is a beautiful doe that looks just like her momma.
This is Fye, a rescue bunny, we took in. Fye was found by some friends just wandering the side of the freeway near our home. Clearly he had been a pet, as he was tattooed and tame. He stayed with us for a few months until we found an adoring family with two little girls who are surely spoiling this little silly bunny!
Goats were challenging for us.
We love goats but being that they are really good escape artists, our fencing was not quite secure for them. Maybe someday that will change. Our dear friends from up north brought us a pair of male goats, Timmy and Bryce and we adored their antics and friendly demeanor from the start. They were full of life and every day was a circus of activity. That is until they started to figure us out. And escape. A lot. I knew we had met our match in livestock Houdinis when a neighbor stopped to tell us they were standing on the car. In the driveway. And when they let my sheep out through a weak fence they wrecked, it was a sign that we were not good goat moms. Thankfully, we found them jobs with a traveling petting zoo, with our friends’ good wishes. Last we heard, the boys are doing great and are loved by many people in the area! We like a good ending to a goat story!
“Happiness isn’t happiness unless there’s a violin-playing goat.” Julia Roberts
I never tire of telling folks
how I won a pony at the age of 47. Yep. I am apparently more eloquent a writer than 12 year old girls. Imagine that. And the smile I see in the eyes of all womenfolk is one of delight and a bit of jealousy, because deep down, I believe, all little girls wanted a pony at some point in their lives... Cody lived with a family for six years but unfortunately, their children didn’t take to him and he needed a new home. He was an Amish cart pony and not trained to ride, so he just sort of languished for the time. Finally, the famiy decided to have a contest to see if they could find the perfect family for him to live with. The rest is history. I could offer him a forever home, not dependant on the whims of children and a pink slip when they grew out of his small size. He is a much beloved and adored creature on this farm. He even has a fan club... yes, he is spoiled. One of these days, I hope to get him a fancy driving harness, with silver studs and a snappy little pony cart. Shetland ponies are the strongest per pound of the equine world and can easily pull over double their weight in a cart. He’s super calm and easy to walk along side on a busy road... (Don’t ask how I know this... I just do!) And he’s pretty comfortable with a saddle blanket on his back and seems to know basic commands. I think it would be delightful to hitch up my little pony and go visiting at the nieghbors’ down the road, or have him help deliver hay bales to the big barn. Maybe he could even lug some wood or rocks, help out a bit, pull his weight. I’m sure he would enjoy it since he’s such an eager little guy and never seems to be bothered by much. He’s got it made in the shade and he knows it.
A wild little winter pony in his shaggy coat, tail to the wind and braving the winds. He got so shaggy and wild looking over the winter!
Cody got flooded out this early spring and had to camp in the garage for a few days until the waters went down. He was less than pleased with the situation, however, he was very happy when Maggie rescued him during the storm!
Cody is like a big dog that follows us all over the yard, making sure we do things to his approval. He is always kind and gentle, even with the other critters here on the ranch. He won’t admit it, but he likes Jack a lot. He tolerates the sheep, only because they bunk with him at night in the big pony barn. At first, he wasn’t so thrilled, but now, you can go in there and find him dozing in the corner and sheep laying in the straw around him.
“All ponies deserve, at least once in their lives, to be loved by a little girl, even an older little girl�
Unknown
“Small children are convinced that ponies deserve to see the inside of the house.�
Maya Patel
Not many ponies are so spoiled that their owners go and buy THEM a pony. But that’s what we did. We thought Cody would like a pal and when we saw this little Shetland gelding on Craig’s List that looked so cute and sweet, just like our little man, we jumped at the chance to bring him home. However, we soon learned that Domingo, our new pony was wild and ill mannered. He liked Cody well enough, but he was a handful for us, due to his lack of training. He was rough with all the other animals, and he tried to chase down a child, I knew that it was the end of his time here. He had to have a new home.
Cody seemed to understand and took it well when Domingo went to his new home, with a horse trainer who loved ponies. We screened all the potential homes and felt the trainer would be best. Domingo needed a good trainer to help him be a better pony. We humans owed him that. Perhaps someday, we will find the perfect little equine partner for our Cody Pony... and I’m sure we will be able to give that special pony a place in our hearts and in our barn, just like our little Cody man...
People ask us how we can raise pigs for the
table. But then I think, how can someone eat pigs that come from a factory farm situation and never enjoy the chance to be a pig? The more we learn about the treatment of factory animals, the more we desire to be removed from that assembly line of cheap meat. And that means either eating no more meat, or raising our own, humanely, and providing wholesome feed and great life experiences. Our pigs get to be pigs.
“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.�
Winston Churchill Our first hog was raised by our neighbors, just down the road. We had never cared for a pig before, and since they were raising a few for friends and family, we thought it would be an excellent way to learn and experience just what went into raising a piglet to a hog for the table. Sir Loin of Pork, our cute little Durrock heritage pig, started out as a cute little brown scrappy piglet and he grew quickly on good food and living a lovely little life surrounded by his siblings. When he grew to be a big hog, we were surprised that we were not upset at his demise, yet were acutely aware of his coming appointment at the local butchershop. We respected his contribution to our table. And we were set against him having any trauma or rough handling. His death was quick, at his home, having enjoyed a little snack before. It was quick, humane and without stress.
It goes without saying, that the meat from Sir Loin was so delicious, tender and just so different than any pork I had ever had. It was the taste of a life lived as a pig. Our hog didn’t do drugs or live in cramped confinement. He was a big pig, happy and healthy. Once we had gone through the process and learned how to care properly for our own hogs, we knew we wanted to do this again. We got our first four piglets in the spring of 2012, to raise for ourselves and 6 other families. We are proud to be able to introduce others to a better way of raising pork. Our piggies are doing great and growing steadily. They squeal in delight when we bring them buckets of garden and table scraps with the occasional stale donut or chips! They love cereas and apples. And they get plenty of time to play in their mud puddle and dance about and play piggie games with each other. In the fall, they will complete the circle and we will then have another group of little piglets in our big barn. It’s one of the rhythms of life that we hope to continue for years to come. And of course... we would be remiss not to mention that we love our guinea pigs as well... Edward the Pig was one of our fondest little fellows here at the farm. We miss him so!
Our piglets came to us very young. They were rejects from a large hog operation and had only been weaned that day. Hungry, scared and unsure, they wouldn’t drink milk from to a bucket, so we prepared some baby bottles and played mama pigs to our little babies!
For about a week, we bottle fed them three times a day, and they flourished and grew. It was nice to have this time with them, however messy a feed they would make! When they were done, they would cuddle on your lap and consider a nap.
Our young visitors loved feeding the piglets! It was a little tough at times feeding the piglets, three times a day, but it was so nice to give them this extra time to mature. And I think it makes them more comfortable around us now. They are our little pals.
The first spring we were here, we had an unwelcome visitor in our screen porch. A mama robin built a lovely nest in what she must have thought was an abandoned porch. We tried everything to persuade her otherwise, but she was persistent. She laid these three little eggs, yet abandoned the nest due to our close proximity. I’m sure she went on to create another new family, since she was so persistent.
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
We delight in seeing all the lovely nature that is around
us. Beautiful birds, insects, little reptiles and bigger animals like deer and coyotes. They come and go as they please and we enjoy their visits. Except for the raccoons... Our only disappointing nature encounter had to be the great raccoon and opossum attack on our flocks of Spring 2012. Three weeks of raids left 20 of our lovely birds dead. We finally succeeded in making the coops more secure and we trapped both a large opossum and a raccoon, which stopped the carnage. Still, we love to see the wildlife that our little acreage brings. We’ve seen a mama duck and 13 babies, numerous cool frogs and toads, beautiful barn swallows and butterflies with gorgeous colored wings. One moonlit night, a big buck deer startled Maggie back at the big barn and she watched him crash off into our hedge after he nearly gave her a heart attack! Some nights, we can hear the coyotes howling and it’s an eerie sound. We feed the many birds at our feeders and love to see the orioles and cute little goldfinches that love our grub. We even like the snakes... though they love to spook us by coming out of their hiding places!
Lao Tzu
We have snakes here, mostly garden snakes or a common black snake. We enjoy them, yet they do spook us on occasion. They like to spend time in the garden and any left piece of cardboard or an old tarp left in any spot long enough will generally attract a snake. It’s funny to watch the hens encounter the snakes! Miss Elizabeth spied a snake and spent a good half hour watching, following and contemplating grabbing it. She never did, never got her nerve up, but boy, she thought about it a good long time. Jack, the cat, is a good snake hunter, but since he lacks claws, he always brings them home, dangling from his mouth, quite alive and very much annoyed. He shows us his “snakey” and then we liberate the poor snake so it can go off on it’s own way.
We marvel at the weird bugs that our little farm homestead has to offer. Oh sure, we have the common ones... flies and bees and mosquitoes... but this unusual wasp-like creature appeared on our front porch railing and stayed for quite a while. The long stinger on the bug was as long as it’s whole body! We’re not sure, but we think it may be a female Icheumon wasp! We have so many beautiful butterflies in our yards. It’s just delightful to see them flutter by in the summer sunshine, enjoying the flowers. Evee has found a toad, one of the many here at the homestead, and is invstigating the little bumpy fellow.
“To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common.” ~William Henry Channing
Thank you for helping us to continue the work on our farm.
I can not explain in words, how much it means to us to share this journey and have the support of our friends and family as we travel on. It means so much to us. Proceeds of this photo book will help us meet special needs of Windhaven. This means fencing, small building and repair projects. Windhaven has become a favorite of our friends, family and fans through visits and providing shares of products such as eggs and meat. At Windhaven one can connect with farm critters and just enjoy a small homestead. It is our sincere wish to encourage others out there to take the leap, get in the dirt and try sustainable living out. You don’t have to do all or nothing... a raised bed or two and a little urban coop is a delightful way to reconnect with our agrarian past. You can do all or some or a little more... contentment lays right around the corner. You can do it!
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