08/24/2016
Both of our children have been involved with our ranch since they were born. They have both turned into good ranch hands and each own 15 ewes that produce nice lambs for them. Their ewes and lambs are in with our commercial flock so aside from different ear tags to identify them, they are not raised separately. The kids are excited when their lambs are born and take note of singles vs twins or trips. Their sheep are not pets. They are not feed special food or cared for any differently.
This year our daughter participated in her first year of 4-H. She has adored hogs from a young age. At fairs she would insist on petting each pig in every pen and we had to physically carry her from the hog building. We have raised pigs for meat on our ranch and she had them tame as any dog.
She was very dedicated to the care of "Flash" and "Red" her two show gilts. She spent countless hours feeding and walking and ... Loving them deeply. Her main pig Flash was a real charmer, we all grew to love her.
We put thousands of lambs on the trucks over the years. Always a tinge of sadness, but mostly pride in the fact that we raised good, healthy meat that many would enjoy. In good years, happy with the check for all of the hours of work it takes to produce good lamb. In the bad years, some bitter feelings about not being paid better for that work.
Our children are part to the conversations about irrigation water, and hay and lamb prices. I think they understand the cycle as they do the life and death cycle that is life on a ranch.
None of that seemed to apply as our daughter said goodbye to her trusted pigs Flash and Red. No ranch life hours really applied to that day. This was different. This was personal and it hurt.
We are proud of our daughters commitment to and love for her pigs and thankful for all the people who give countless, mostly volunteer hours, to helping kids through 4-H. It was an amazing experience for the whole family and yes, despite the pain of goodbye, Kate is already planning for next years hogs.
