After swatting the oats, the combine comes through and takes the oats off the stem which is now straw! The oats are fed to livestock or sold to a feed mill and the straw is used as bedding for the livestock! A lot of the time our own livestock enjoys picking through the straw and nibble on any oats that were left on the stem as well as any other plants that were baled.
Because our local feed mill is full to the brim with oats, we are feeding some of the oats while selling the rest privately. It makes for great livestock feed and can even be used to grow food plots for wildlife or as a grass replacement in newly constructed areas such as houses. You can also eat them after fanning the oats, which is removing the outer shell.
#smallscalefarm #homestead #farmstead #Minnesota #oatharvest #harvesttime #combineharvester #johndeere #oats
Swatting oats is when the swatter, a piece of equipment, cuts the oats so they are laying down for the combine. Our field was thick so it took some time to swat all the oats!
#smallscalefarm #homestead #farmstead #Minnesota #oats #harvesttime #oatharvest #swatter #farmequipment
We couldn't resist making a video for 167, nicknamed Curly! He's is such a stunning bull and we are so lucky to have the chance to breed our girls to him. Big shout out again to Rood Family Bull Rental for being an awesome business with such stunning bulls! It was hard to pick but with their help and knowledge of their bulls, we found the right fit. Cannot wait for next year's calving season so see his stunning offspring in our herd!
If you are a precious customer, go with the Rood Family page a like or follow! And if you're in Minnesota or neighboring states, check out their line up! They're always willing to talk and help find a bull for your needs.
#smallscalefarm #Minnesota #farmstead #homestead #herefordcattle #roodfamilybullrental #herefordcows #beefcattle #bull #beefherd
Our first year showing goats and my daughter chose her dairy goat,a Mini Lamancha named Saturday! Her dad offered to walk with both girls so I could get pictures and videos. They were so cute together!
#smallscalefarm #farmstead #homestead #Minnesota #goats #lamanchagoat #dairygoat #goatshow #4HGrowsHere #4HFair #ricecountyMN #countyfairseason
Watching S'mores kittens play and tease the goat kids is just too cute! Panda here thought she was so tough! Too bad Latte didn't really care. Maybe next time, little kitten.
#Minnesota #smallscalefarming #homestead #farmstead #barncat #kittenlife #goatkids #kikogoats #latte #panda #toocute #sovicious
Look at what Lola gave us! Last calf of the season!
Being a kid after a rain storm is the best thing ❤️ Especially when you have a cow watching you splash in a big puddle!
At least someone or someones are enjoying the flooding! Trust the ducks and geese to enjoy all the water!
#smallscalefarm #funnyanimals #Minnesota #homestead #farmstead #farming #flooding #keepsraining #funtimes #ducks #geese
Apparently shorts are delicious 🤣
#smallscalefarm #farmstead #homestead #goats #livestock #goatkids #lineup #DundasMN #Minnesota #funnyanimals #funnyanimalvideos #funtimes #hilarious #virals #kikogoats #goatsareawesome #funnypost
This is just too cute! One of our hens decided to sit on the kittens whose mom moved them into one of our birthing pens. This hen has no eggs there, has never laid eggs there, and has decided the kittens are now her chicks. No one but mama cat can go near them!
S'mores, the mom, will be getting spayed once the kittens are weaned and ready to hang out with our other barn cats. Once they are old enough, all the kittens will be getting fixed! We love our barn cats and all they do to keep pets numbers low so we want to make sure they are happy, healthy, and safe. One way is to curb the urge to wander and get them fixed.
Once we believed the old wives tale that fixed cats aren't good hunters. Well the TNR cats from our local police department quickly proved that wrong! They were the best hunters, not very people friendly though, but did a great job on the farmstead. Now we get all the cats we can catch, some are feral and dumped so it's hard to catch them, so they can be fixed. The friendly ones are still just as cuddly as a kitten!
#smallscalefarm #toocutenottoshare #Minnesota #barncatsrule #farmcats #kitten #chickens #sillychicken #farmstead #homestead #farmlife #responsibleowner #tupascloverleaffarmstead
We got asked for a video of the chicks, ducklings, and goslings so here you all go!
We have more waiting to hatch in both our incubators. Our first one is on its second round with almost two dozen duck eggs! How exciting! Hopefully there will be new babies in the brooder box in 28 days!
Big Red, one of our roosters, was a little offended that he had to reach down into the bag for his treats. For shame!
#chickens #rooster #homestead #farmstead #smallscalefarm #Minnesota #farmlifebestlife #farmlife
With us all being sick and Caleb being the only real healthy person, enjoy watching him feed Mootilda our micro mini cow some lettuce and attempt to shop the sheep away.
She really really enjoyed the treat!
#tupascloverleaffarmstead #smallscalefarm #farmstead #homestead #sheep #minicow #snacktime #Minnesota #microminicow #March2024
Finally got a video of Cappuccino riding Peony! She stayed on for a good minute before Peony spun around and she flopped off. I do believe Cappuccino and her sister Latte are going to be a handful!
#smallscalefarm #Minnesota #farmstead #homestead #smallscalefarming #kikogoats #babydollsheep #cowgirl #rideemcowboy #sillygoats #babygoats #farmlife #funtimes
Enjoy the sound of Dewy nibbling while we share two things we have learned about Dewy since moving her from the flock and into our second mommy pen...
She loves eating her feed in her bucket of water! Even hay chaffee which we found out she loves!
Secondly, she will sit on Pancake's triplets like they are her own overgrown hairy babies. Does this mean Dewy will be a good mom? We sure hope so! For now though, she gets to co-parents with Pancake who is pretty baffled by the whole thing 🤣!
Dewy can still socialize with the rest of the duck flock through the wire door but is very protective of her new space. She will actively hiss and huff if any of the other ducks try to figure out how she got in there. Even Daffy! Guess she doesn't want him to join her so he'll be moved with the main flock into the dry lot.
#ducks #pekinduck #dewy #farmlifeisthebestlife #farmstead #homestead #smallscalefarm #Minnesota #mealtime
After the goofballs fell off, they tried to get back on!
Of course when that didn't work they came over to me (Sam) for attention. I love how each baby has their own way demanding attention be it eating my pants, staring at me, or kicking at my leg haha!
Mootilda is the worst with her poking me with her nose for attention and when that doesn't work, head butting my legs!
I still can't thank Jennifer of Thistle Creek Farms enough for finding my baby!
Last night was hard, not knowing where Missy was, if she'd come back, if she was safe, and all the fear and anxiety driven thoughts running through my head. Missy has such a special place in everyone's heart here at the farmstead. She's been in our family since she was born, heck Shaboya her mother was pregnant when I was with my daughter! She grew up with my daughter and is my daughter's very first dog. Without her here the house felt empty. You could tell the other dogs were confused and on edge. Shaboya kept looking out the windows and pacing the dog run fence while outside. Dixie was nervous, having accidents in the house which she's never done before. Early this morning Nate drove around the area Missy went missing several times looking for her. He even took one of the squeaky toys to try to draw her out.
Jennifer decided to drive around after ensuring the maple tapping system was up and running. She stopped at a neighbor in the area, debating on going up so early in the morning to ask them if they saw Missy, when her two children shrieked that they saw Missy. Quickly she turned the truck around and there Missy was, running out of the Hurley Public Hunting Grounds! Jennifer got out of the truck and spoke gently to Missy, who was very nervous. However once Missy realized it was one of her favorite people along with two of her favorite kids, she whined the whole way to Jennifer and to her truck.
Once inside she didn't want to leave Jennifer. She had to rest on one of her hands the whole drive home and even fell asleep. Once she got home and I opened the door, you could tell she was so happy to be home!
My daughter is so happy Missy is home and hasn't let her out of her sight for very long. She insisted on cuddling with Missy when Missy decided she needed some sleep. Now the two are cuddled up on the couch watching Bluey.
It feels so good to have Missy home, for the farmstead pack
Don't mind us, just obsessing over how cute it is to see the next generation of farmers caring for her lamb.
Razzle here gets two supplemental bottles a day because his dam Clementine doesn't care much for him. Unfortunately she also pooped on his head so we are waiting for it to warm up more to clean it all off. He doesn't stop that from demanding all our attention though! Every time someone goes in the 'maternity ward' he is bumping his head on their leg wanting love or a bottle.
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
Spoil yourself with some chocolate and self love today, you've earned it!
The boys and girls in the barn are more than happy to be anyone's Valentine if someone needs one.
