The way out here

Babes abundant

By HUNTER HILL
Posted 9/15/21

After a week of watching too much of the national news, I had the strongest need to use my own media soapbox to talk to you, my readers, about something far more edifying.

Babies.

I …

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The way out here

Babes abundant

Posted

After a week of watching too much of the national news, I had the strongest need to use my own media soapbox to talk to you, my readers, about something far more edifying.

Babies.

I don’t know about you, but there’s nothing like seeing new, innocent good in the world to cut through the things that bog us down. God has been good to me, as he always is, in providing ample opportunities for not only me but also my family to be around these reminders of hope on a regular basis.

For those of you wondering, we still haven’t bought a farm, but we are very blessed to have my wife’s family’s farm to go to and work on in the meantime. They have both dairy cows and dairy goats, who comprise much of the livestock in the main barn. Over the weekend, there were not one or two but rather multiple babies born into the herds.

Better than getting to see them myself was getting to watch my son pet them and learn how to behave calmly around new baby calves and goat kids.

My wife and I were just finishing up freezing some extra corn we had when her sister called to her dad that one of the first-time heifers had not come in that evening from the field. Called to the task, he went down into the field from side to side to locate the missing heifer.

Moments later, we watched as he drove it up to the barn, with a small calf in the back and its mother in close pursuit. He lifted the calf out and walked into the middle aisle of the barn as the mom found her place in the stanchions. The calf was tethered in front of her and he stood back admiring his new red Dutch belted heifer calf.

Later that evening I found myself helping out, cleaning the goat pens. This was one part continually chasing the ducks out as they tried to get in through the open door, and the other part actually cleaning.

In the corner of the first pen I happened to be working on, there was a seasoned Alpine doe standing guard over her two young kids. I didn’t really pay attention at first because the kids looked so strong and healthy that I assumed they were at least a few days old. As I cleaned closer to where they stood, I noticed afterbirth amongst the straw on the floor.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that these kids had just been born. I stopped to notify my mother-in-law, who was milking, and text my wife to bring the baby down to meet the new animals. While the doe was less than thrilled to have the scrutiny upon her new kids, she obliged us with a brief visit before we replaced their bedding and left them be for the night.

In the following days, coming and going from the farm, we frequently saw fawns that were learning how to invade our corn patch from their irreverent mothers. But seemingly more respectful were the wild turkeys that wandered on the outskirts of our current crop location. While I’ve not seen them amongst our vegetables yet, I’m sure they’re not as aloof as they might otherwise appear. I’ve recently enjoyed seeing the hens’ new fledglings as well. They may not be days out of the eggshell, but to see them in their immature stages as they develop and grow is entertaining and also satisfying, knowing that one day these birds may feed us.

The way out here we always look to the future. I think of this too as I’m drawn back to the chaos of the national news. What looks like bare ground today, may turn into a fruitful orchard in years to come. In the meantime, I find encouragement in the new life that blesses my family and me.

babies, farming, calves, kids, fawns

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