The Experience Continues

I grew up on a small farm in West Central Minnesota, about 35 miles from where we live now. We have Hereford Beef cows, Duroc hogs, Holstein milk cows. My mom raised leghorn fryers. By age six I had barnyard banties. For several years in High school I kept African geese. I collected their eggs and a neighbor ran a hatch your eggs business I sold young goslings, started goslings and butcher geese in the fall.

After three years of college, I started my own dairy herd. I have milked Holsteins, Jerseys, Guernseys, Brown Swiss ansd lastly Milking Shorthorns. Arthritis in both knees at age 32 put a stop to that. I worked at the West Central Experiment Station in dairy research.  At 37 I enrolled in Alexandria Tech Finance and Credit. I graduated and was a banker for 8 years.  We managed to live in the country so I had Alpine dairy goats, Muscovy ducks, Sheep- Finn cross, Dorsets, Finn/Cheviot, Romanov, Montadale and Texel, Oh yes chickens and bantams of all varieties.

Then after my Mayo surgery and its lasting complications We moved back to the Alexandria area.
Five acres of hills, oak trees We built a home, garage and a BARN. It was like I was in "extra innings"  with no time to spare----Pigeons...Fantails, Indian Fantails, Rollers, Capuchines, Owls, German Owls, Modenas, Show Rollers.......old English Game bantams--7 color varieties........at one time I had 200 mature birds..........Whoa time to slow down!
I raised Reg Boer goats for 6 years, colors and spots. I sold them as a herd to a new breeder on Dec 16, 2009. No livestock...for a day The next day I bought a flock of mixed sheep.......over the next months I bought Maybeline and 3 BFL/Shetland ewes and off we were. I miss the mules, I should have kept them. I have Shetland ewes, and have a group of Cheviot/Shetland stock coming the end of May.......I have two black spotted mule ewe lambs on hold....and the experience continues.  A friend of mine once said "its like we have only so much time and we have to pack it all in!" 


Jerry