03/02/2026
They always say not to get attached to your livestock… and truthfully, I understand why. I always have. Livestock are meant to serve a purpose — to provide food, sustainability, and support for the homestead. That’s just the honest reality of farm life.
But if you know me, you already know how this goes.
Every living creature that steps hoof, paw, or claw onto this property gets the same love and respect I’d give any family pet. And with that kind of care… well… comes attachment.
Our Dexters are dual-purpose cattle — meat and dairy. We can breed them, raise them, sell calves, butcher them, etc. Our goats are the same — meat, milk, babies, and a whole lot of daily entertainment. And while I absolutely plan to keep our breeding program growing, the truth is… around here, they’re all still my pasture puppies and I don’t know that I’d ever personally be able to process one of the animals that wasn’t a straight up meat bird.
Even our chickens — the hundreds we’ve hatched and raised — each have their own little personalities. I’m telling y’all, they are every bit as unique and funny as any dog or cat. Watching their daily antics is half the joy of farm life.
But loving them like that does come with a price… and today that price hit our hearts pretty hard.
Today we said goodbye to our oldest boy — and quite possibly one of our all-time favorites — Benny.
Benny was our naked neck rooster who truly ruled the roost. We hatched him from our very first batch of eggs years ago, and from day one he was just… the coolest little dude.
Anytime I stepped out into the pasture, there he was — right by my side like he was personally assigned to security duty. I’m still not convinced he wouldn’t have tried to fight off a dinosaur for me. 😂
We sure are going to miss you, my dude.
You lived a long, good life here, and we’re mighty thankful for every minute of it. Now we’re saying a little prayer and crossing our fingers that some of your babies are about to hatch in this first round sitting in the incubator. 🤞🏼
Y’all keep us in your thoughts that Benny’s strong, spunky genetics live on and continue ruling the roost here at CG Mini Farm. We’ll know in another couple of weeks 👏🏼
Rest easy, my boy. 🐓❤️
