Update on Stitch

Stitch did well through the night.  This morning she went outside as usual. Until today, Ed has had to walk outside and encourage her to stand up and walk into the barn. She wasn't really interested in eating at all, so she didn't really care about coming into the barn. Here is the picture Ed texted me this afternoon. Stitch was the first one at the barn door waiting to come in!  Hopefully she's on the road to recovery! Our next project is to get the skinny little Jersey cow we just bought looking healthy & happy! You can see her standing behind Stitch. We don't do Skinny  Cows at this farm! 

Surgery

My husband & sons have decided to convert our farm into an organic dairy. That means we have had to buy some more cows to increase our herd.  One of the cows we bought became sick right away. We called the vet & he had us treat her for milk fever.   We've had cows with that before.  They have low calcium levels after giving birth.  We give them some IV calcium & they're better.  But this cow wasn't getting better & she stopped eating.  So we had the vet come back & check her.  He found that she had a twisted stomach.  That's fatal for a cow. So, Ed, Andrew, Kelly & I got to help with the surgery.  Right in our barn! It was fascinating to watch.  He sedated the cow so that she was drowsy, but still standing. Then he numbed her side, cut a slit & stuck his arm inside & fixed her stomach.  She just stood there like nothing was happening! She felt nothing at all! Then he stitched her up & gave her lots of penicillin.  She was already trying to eat before we left the barn! Saying prayers that she recovers! We've named her Stitch!

Petey's New Home

Early birthday present for me! My bunny Petey  has a new summer home! It's right by the chicken yard so he has company, & it's the first time he can really play safely in the grass.   The ramp is going to take some getting used to though. He has a nice nest in the top that's filled with straw in case it gets cold at night. That's a lot of getting used to for a 10 yr old bunny!

CHILLY CHICKIES!

This cold weather has been really hard on all of our farm animals.  The cows and chickens and ducks love to be outside and usually, thats the best place for them to be.  They need fresh air and plenty of exercise.  But when the weather is really cold, it isn't safe for the animals to be out for very long.  Lately the temperature has been near 0 degrees and that means the chickens and ducks can't go out at all.  We have 3 heat lamps in their chicken house.  We also put extra straw in to help keep them warm.  We put their food and water in there too. They really don't like being cooped up! Here is a little video of the chickens and ducks on a cold winter day!

THE FARM

MARTIN FAMILY FARM

Here are some pictures of our farm

OUR BARN AND MILK HOUSE

 WE SEE A LOT OF RAINBOWS!

THE CHICKENS & DUCKS LIVE HERE.  THE OLDER CALVES ARE IN THE BACKGROUND

WINTER IN THE BARNYARD

CHOPPING WOOD FOR WINTER

WORKING WITH THE TRACTORS ON THE HILL

MOM AND BABY!

 PRETTY FLOWERS!

                                                                                  LAZY BARN KITTIES LAYING IN THE HAY

                                        CORN FIELDS

FISHING IN OUR CREEK!

THE VIEW OUT OF OUR KITCHEN WINDOW

FARM LIFE 2015

FAMILY FARM - FAMILY BLOG!

I love helping kids explore our farm!  I thought the best next step would be to create a blog about our farm that was kid friendly! Our farm is a real, working small family dairy farm.  There are good times and bad times on a farm. Our animals all have their own personalities - even the chickens! We grow to love them all.  But, because we have so many animals, we sometimes have sad times too. Right now we have 16 cows, 4 heifers, 7 steers and 6 calves. A heifer is a female cow that has not had a calf yet.  A steer is a male that has been neutered (parents, you can explain that one!). We also have 3 pigs, a lot of chickens and ducks, five dogs, Petey the bunny, 2 birds and a whole bunch of cats! 2 cats live at our house and the rest are barn cats.  Our barn cats are VERY big and healthy.  Some farmers only give their barn cats milk so they are hungry and catch mice and rats.  We give our cats milk, but we also feed them every day.  I don't think they really care too much about catching mice! Here are some pictures of our current farm animals:

THIS IS AMOS. HE'S MY SPECIAL BUDDY. AMOS WAS BORN TOO EARLY.  HE DIDN'T EVEN WEIGH 19 LBS! HERE'S A LINK TO HIS FACEBOOK PAGE!;        AMOS OF HOLLY'S FARM

THESE ARE OUR VERY BIG  HEALTHY BARN CATS!

THIS IS AMOS WITH SOME OTHER COWS

DUCKIES!

HECTOR!