Hay Barn

We finished the hay barn last week. I didn't really work on it. All the men worked on it.

The hay barn is wonderful! It fits hay bales exactly so there isn't much extra room on the sides. The wood was all used at standard sizes so there wasn't much cutting involved. It has overlapping sides so there will be airflow, but not much snow or rain can settle on the hay itself. Air around the hay means we won't have as much spoiled hay.

The grandkids love to play on the farm.
It seems there is always something to climb on or explore.
This is the hay barn with the walls up, but no roof on.

Of course, someone has to climb on the stack of building wood!

And if you're going to play on the stack of wood for the hay shed, you might as well pretend it's a trampoline!

Despite the bad air from all the forest fires a few weeks ago,
everyone spent time building, putting the roof trusses on, and finally the metal roof.

We got a load of 71 bales of hay on Monday.
See how nicely the hay fits side to side?
Each level of hay has 14 bales.

The front gates are each 8' wide, which lets us load or move hay with the tractor if we want to.

We have gates so the animals can't get in and make a mess of the hay.

We'll be getting 250 bales of hay this year which should last us until next June.

How do we figure out how much hay we need? Math!

In the winter when there is no pasture for the animals, they eat about 1 bale of hay a day. 8 months x 31 days = 248 bales. We'll start feeding 1 bale a day about mid-October so 250 bales should last us until mid-June when the first crop of new hay will be ready to buy.

In the summer the animals eat about 1 bale every 2-3 days because they have pasture grass to eat. We usually buy the new hay in June and feed them a little bit of hay as a treat.

Corn is another treat they love!
Our neighbor had some old food storage corn that he brought over for
all the animals to enjoy!

We're so blessed to have friends and neighbors that think of us before they send their old food to the dump. The chickens love the wheat, the goats and cow love the corn and, dried fruits and vegetables.

I am surrounded by people who believe that they can do something nice for someone else every day!

I hope you have a great week and find something nice to do every day!

Echo's New Calf 2018

Welcome back to school!

Almost every Friday during the school year you'll get to see what's happening at Welcome Home Farm in Highland. You can ask questions by writing them on pieces of paper and putting them in a spot that your teacher will show you.

I love it when you ask questions because then I know what things you want to learn about. I will post a picture of your question so your friends can see the question, too!

On August 13th something wonderful happened on our farm.

Our cow, Echo, had a baby!

This is Echo.
She's 5 years old.

Echo had a calf on Monday, August 13.
It's a girl!

This is Echo's 3rd calf. She had a boy calf in 2017, and a boy calf in 2016. We are so excited that she had a girl because girl calves, called heifers, turn into milk cows just like their mother.

Miss E was born in the pasture, in the sunshine.
I needed to move her to someplace out of the sun
so she didn't get too hot. (photo credit S.P.)

Echo licks Miss E to finish cleaning her off.
(photo credit S.P.)

We have some wonderful neighbors love to help on the farm.
MG gets to pet Miss E before any of the other neighbors
because she came to help twice a week all summer long!(photo credit S.P.)

MG also got to be the first one to feed Miss E
a bottle. (photo credit S.P.)

New born calves get tired quickly.
Miss E gets to take a nap on some clean shavings in a stall.

We feed Miss E a bottle during the day, and she spends the night with Echo.  That will make sure that Miss E is so friendly that she will make a wonderful milk cow!



Miss E also gets to eat from Echo.

Miss E gets lots of visitors, too. We let neighbors come pet her and play with her as often as we can. We had some visitors stop by this morning to see Echo and play with Miss E for a few minutes. We want Miss E to be very comfortable around new people that she doesn't know. How do you get comfortable around people you don't know?

One thing our family tries to do every day is to do something nice for someone else. I hope during the school year you will do something nice for someone else every day!

I hope you have a wonderful week!

Echo and Misty

Echo has been a little lonely lately. I wish she would have her calf soon. It's due on July 14, but since we had such trouble getting her to breed last year, my dates may be off.

She found a new friend in Misty, our retired milk goat. They really like each other!



It's been warm here, very warm. The animals are drinking a lot of water. I fill up the barrels twice a day.

The new chicks are growing. I'll post some pictures of them in the next few days.

I hope you're having a great summer!

You're Welcome!

I received a lot of thank you notes earlier this week from many of the First Graders that enjoyed Farm Friday this year.

You're so very welcome! I love sharing Welcome Home Farm with you. I'm glad you learned so much, and that you liked the videos and the photos.

Here are a few updated photos from the new chicks this year.

The chicks are about a month old.
Some people think they are still cute.

I think they look a little funny because they have some feathers
and some fluff.

They love to jump around on top of their waterer.

And they love to jump out of their new brooder box!
I have to put a lid on top of the big tub they are in now
so they will stay safely inside.

It will be at least another month before we can let them run around the yard. They are at Quin and Xander's house now. Quin and Xander like to hold them and pet them. That makes the chicks more friendly for visitors. I really appreciate it when Quin and Xander play with the chicks and take care of them.

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Here are a few of the many, many thank you notes I received.
You must have wonderful teachers because they taught you how to say, "Thank you!"

I'll be posting throughout the summer so you can see the new calf in July, how the chicks are growing, and how our little garden is growing.

I hope you all have a wonderful summer!

New Chicks 2018

We got new chicks a few weeks ago.

Did you know you can order chicks and they come in the mail? Isn't that fun?

I ordered my chicks from Murray McMurray hatchery.

Two of my neighbors and I ordered chicks together and they came in the mail. I had to pick them up at the post office early in the morning. Chicks are really loud and the postal workers don't want to carry them in their trucks.

The chicks were born on May 7th. I picked them up from the post office on May 9th. Chicks don't need to eat and drink for a few days after they are born so it doesn't bother them to be shipped.


This is what the chicks looked like when I took them out of the box.




I sorted out the chicks that belonged to the neighbors, and I put ours in a big, plastic tub.

That blue goo you see is a special chick food that gives them some needed nutrients after they are shipped. It's called "Grow Gel" They eat all of it in about 24 hours. Then I give them chick starter.

Chick starter is a special food for baby chicks. I also put something called "Quick Chick" into their water. It's full of good vitamins that help the chicks stay healthy.


This is what the chicks look like today! They are growing feathers on their wings and they can jump and flutter around. I put a screen over the top of their box so they don't jump out and get lost in the room.

Do you see the yellow box inside the red tub? It's a special heater for the chicks. I don't like to use a heat lamp. A few years ago the heat lamp fell down inside the container and almost started a fire! This special heater never starts a fire, and it doesn't shine on the chicks so they are quiet at night.

These chicks won't start laying eggs for about 7 months.

What month will they start laying eggs? What do you think you'll be doing in 7 months?

We're looking forward to summer on the farm. We planted a little garden this year with pumpkins, squash, cabbages, beans, tomatoes, and watermelons. I'll post some photos of the garden next week and show you how the plants and chicks are growing.

Have a great week! Keep doing something nice for someone else every day! I know I've really liked being able to do that this year.

Chuck and Side Kick

We got a new animal this week. His name is Side Kick.

Chuck needed a friend because cows, goats, and sheep do better when they are in a herd. A herd is a group of animals that live together. You have probably 'heard' of a 'herd' of deer, or buffalo, or horses.



This is a herd of buffalo on Antelope Island in Utah.

Side Kick, our new animal, is a lamb. He's 5 months old.

Chuck and Side Kick like to hang out together.
They keep each other company.
Side Kick is never far away from Chuck.
They are both about the same age.

Side Kick was scared of us at first.
He stayed close to Chuck, but ran away from us.

Yesterday Side Kick decided to have a treat from my hand.
He decided that since Chuck would come over for a treat,
I must be safe.

It's fun to have a lamb again!

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It's fun to have baby goats, too!
I let them run around and play in the barn when I'm working.

They love to lick out the rest of the grain in the feed buckets.
They are 20 days old today.

I love watching them run and play!

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Echo is out on the back pasture during the day.
There is more grass for her to eat in the back.
She loves to come visit me when I'm feeding the chickens.

It's been a fun week with a new sheep and baby goats running around. It's been nice to have good weather to work outside, too.

Do you have questions? I really like it when you ask questions. I like to know what you're interested in on the farm.

I hope you enjoy the weather this week. I hope you do something kind for someone else every day, too!

New Kids 2018

We had an exciting Spring Break!

River kidded with two goat kids on April 7th. One is a buckling named Brayden. The second kid is a doeling named Kayla.

We named them Brayden and Kayla after the neighbor children who love the goats. We love them, too! Kayla had a special day on Saturday because she got baptized. We came home from the meeting and found River having a baby! What a fun day for us!

This is what Brayden looked like right after he was born.


Babies are always wet and sticky after they are born. It doesn't take very long before their mom cleans them off, and they try to stand up.

River is cleaning Kayla off.
The photo is looks red because we have a heat lamp on to keep the kids warm
until they are dried off.

Kayla is near the wall, Brayden is in the shavings.

We're not sure why Brayden doesn't like to eat from his mom like Kayla does. I don't mind, I just feed him a bottle.

xxxxxx

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We're also really happy that Chuck is getting more friendly. He'll eat a treat out of my hand. He used to run away from everyone. It's taken a lot of time in the stall with him so he will get used to me. I hope he's really friendly by the time summer comes and we have a lot of visitors. Children and families always love to pet a calf!