Today in the Barnyard

Jaden lying with his triplet brother, Al, 3/4 Nubian X 1/4 Boer bucklings

Bray, Boer doeling



It's always "fun" to happen upon this scene
and wonder if they are dead or sleeping.
Tony and Jenny, 3/4 Boer X 1/4 Kiko twins.

Jenny,  not dead, just sleeping VERY soundly.

 

Jenny's awake!



Ziva, 3/4 Boer X 1/4 Kiko doeling

Snow...or Sleet....or Rain. 
I can't tell them all apart! Purebred Nubian Buckling

Snow and Sleet, or Rain and Storm, Or Sleet and Rain...
Oh! Just ask Claire, she knows!

Storm? Rain?  One of those.  Purebred Nubian buckling.



My beautiful Sniper. 
Isn't this the most beautiful mutt you've ever seen?



ClaireAnna (purebred human girl, age almost 12)
Joey (purebred Maremma puppy, age 8 months)



Pumpkin (T minus 4.5 days and counting....) 

Spice (Same deal, one last wallow before.....)

ClaireAnna keeping Pumpkin from chewing on the water hose. 
See the stick in her right hand? 
She had to use it. Pumpkin is VERY rambunctious!

 

Elvis and Johnny Cash.  Such cuties!

Penny's First Walk

This evening we went for a walk on the farm.  Four people.  Three dogs.  One cat.  And....one pig.  Yes, Penny took her first family walk with us and she loved it! We really couldn't tell she wasn't a dog!

 



This one is a dog.

 

 

 

If you click on the youtube link, you'll see the video in a larger size.

Meet Pumpkin And Spice



 

At Harmon PFarms, we normally raise a meat hog for the girls to show at the county fair in September, and then have it butchered for the freezer. When Kate was younger, we'd raise two. Since she's out of 4H now, we often have only one, but have gotten two on occation when the breeder has a cheaper runt to sell. This October, when our fall farm parties were pending, (two annual parties we host for our homeschool group and our church) I suggested to Ted that it was too bad the kids who visited wouldn't get to see a pig. As I knew he would, he told me to go out and buy one! So, we found an ad on craigslist and headed to Ozark, AR, to pick up a pig for the petting zoo. When we got there, the farmer explained to us that he had one smaller pig that had some neurological damage from being stepped on by her mother at birth and that he would sell us that one for a reduced price. Well, of course, she came home with us too! So, we ended up with two adorable piglets that were a big hit at the fall parties and are now growing nicely for our freezer.  This is the first time we have had hogs during the winter.  Meet Pumpkin and Spice. (See Pumpkin's "problem" in the video below.)

 

 



This is the mother.  She was huge!!



On the way to our new home.



We spent our first few weeks in a cozy pen inside the barn.

 

 

We are very proud of the fact that all of the animals we raise for meat here at the farm are treated with respect and kindness. They recieve shelter, food and water and lots of attention. We do name our butcher animals. We interact with them daily and try to make sure they are happy. When it is time for them to go, we feel statisfied that they have lived a healthy and enjoyable life and we are grateful to have had them in ours.

2011 Pope County Fair Market Hog Show

Wednesday, September 14th, 7:00 P.M.
Herswione Granger:
ClaireAnna’s hog didn’t do as well as we expected, placing 9th out of 23 hogs.  She did make the market sale, but chose to sell her goat instead.  She won Junior Showmanship out of at least 10 or 12 kids!
 

The Hog Whisperer

Pay no mind to the chubby, unkempt woman. 
Watch the pig.  

Hog Shaving Day

First you take a muddy pig and get her into a small pen. It’s tricky, but if you’re clever, you can get her in. Be the pig.

Hose her off completely. She will love this!

Let her dry in the sun.

Once she’s dry, you have to get in the pen with her. Bring your cordless clippers.

Let her go where ever she wants because there is nothing you can do about it anyway.

As she moves around and roots in the grass, go ahead and shave her entire body…without cutting her. You wouldn’t want to make her angry…… She weighs more then you.

Be patient. It takes a long time and she moves around a lot.

Don’t forget her butt. It’s her shining glory and it has to look GOOD!

Then put her back into her pigpen and let her get into her wallow. It will sooth her skin.

Oh, and don’t forget to feed her. She will be starving after her busy day!

One huge pig, ready for the fair!

2010 Market Hog

We picked up Claire's fair hog a couple of weeks ago. Kate tagged along and jokingly asked the man if he had a runt to give away. Well, as a matter of fact, he did! So here they are. ClaireAnna's fair hog is the bigger one. She is pretty! The little one is Nugget. A runt from the same litter. We're going to butcher her at about 75lbs and have her smoked in quarters. The show hog will reach about 280lb and be butchered after the fair, hopefully after she wins Grand Champion Market Hog and fetches Claire a pretty penny at the charity auction! Today, Ted gave them a bath and let them run around in the barnyard. Look at this adorable video of Claireanna putting them away for the night! Eventually, they both did go in the gate.

2009 County Fair Full Report

Rabbit Show

Tuesday, 5:00 PM

ClaireAnna showed all the Lionheads this year. She won 1st and 2nd Senior Buck, 1st and 2nd Senior Doe, Best of Breed with "Lily" and Best Opposite to Breed with "Hagrid" !

ClaireAnna and Lily

Poultry Show

Wednesday, 10:00 AM

Each of the girls showed several chickens and waterfowl. ClaireAnna won Reserve Champion Cockerel with her little Serema and 2nd place with a pair of Muscovy ducks. Kate won Reserve Champion Other Fowl with her African Goose.

ClaireAnna had two pairs in the same class so her friend, Sarah, showed her Silver Sebright pair while she showed her Milli Fleurs.

ClaireAnna with "Serious Black" Reserve Champion Cockerel.

Katelynn showing her Partridge Cochin Pullet.

Meat Goat Show

Wednesday, 2:00 PM

ClaireAnna showed two goats; a market goat doe and a breed class 0-6 month old doe. Her market goat, "Grace" won Grand Champion! This is the biggest win in the goat show and we were SO excited, especially because we had bred this doe and owned her dam and sire and there were some pretty big name show goat people in the competition! Grace went on to win the "bred and owned" class for any age goat up against some really nice older does. "Shiloh" won her age class and third breed doe over all.

That's ClaireAnna and Shiloh on the right.
GRAND CHAMPION MARKET GOAT!

This is ClaireAnna presenting her Grand Champion Market Goat to the local business men for "Auction" She got $310!

Market Hog Show

Wednesday, 7:00 PM

Kate really worked hard with her hog this year. She fed him right and let him run often for exercise. We felt going in that she had a good chance to place high. We had no idea he would win his class and Reserve Champion Hog! Yay! Great Job, Kate!

Bath Time! Winner of Class 6! Waiting for championship class.

Kate "sold" her hog at the market sale for $600!

Cattle Show

Thursday, 2:00 PM

Kate helped her friend show some of her cattle and then she showed her market steer. Kate's steer this year was too young. We knew he was going to be small, but her was all we had after Ted forgot to hold back a weanling from the spring before! Anyway, "Ben" came in last place, even though he was very well behaved. :) We'll fatten him up for the next 2 months and butcher him in November.

4-H Dance

Friday night after the Market Sale.

A DJ plays and EVERYBODY dances, kids age 2 to 20 and parents too! This year, ClaireAnna was having so much fun, I let her stay to the end, about 12:00 PM. Friday night, the older kids stay the night in the cattle barn. Kate stayed. Claire and I went home.

Dog Show

Saturday, 10:00 PM

See previous post for full report on the dog show and a picture of ClaireAnna winning Cloverbud High Point for the 4th year in a row!

4-H Olympics.

Saturday, 1:00 PM

All the kids are separated into age groups. The seniors and divided into 6 teams. Then the juniors are added. Then the peewees, so all the teams are even. Each team has to complete a course with obstacles and challenges. The team with the best time wins. This year, ClaireAnna was on the winning team.

Potluc

Sat. 7:00 PM after the Awards Ceremony.

This is the last event before pack up and go home. The meat is provided and we all bring sides or desserts. It's a wonderful time with wonderful friends.

Fair is over, time to go home and sleep for a week! See you next year!