Filling the Ark

"And they went into the ark, to Noah, two and two of all flesh, in which is the breath of life." - Genesis 7:15

We don't yet have two of everything, but some days it feels like more. Our farm has exploded with animal life in the last few weeks. We picked up a pair of Nigerian dwarf goats from a local closed herd goat farmer, a turkey and over a dozen guinea hens from a farm in Tennessee, 2 barn cats from another local farm, 2 Anatolian Shepherd/Great Pyrenees mix livestock guardian dogs from a West Virginian farm, a pair of English Angora bunnies with papers from a family right here in Manchester, and 6 new girls for our flock (3 Ayam Cemani/Rhode Island Reds and 3 Easter eggers).

We woke up one day early this week to the realization that we have become farmers. Nothing else could explain the fact that we now understand the mating rituals and cycles of our shepherding dogs, we have become goat manicurists and bunny hairstylists, and while the rest of the world gripes about the price of eggs, we are cooking them by the dozen to feed to our growing pups. If there wasn't such a steep learning curve, I'm sure this would all seem humorous to us.

The humor will come I'm sure, but for now, we are mostly learning animal husbandry and creating an important bond with each of our animals, some easier than others. The goats are still trying to headbutt me each time I pick them up, and there's more cat hair on the spare clothes in the barn than there is bunny hair in the future yarn jar.

None of this would have been possible alone. Two by two turns out to be a lot more important than I ever considered. We have relied on each other more than ever to take care of all 45 animals on the farm. The animals too rely on each other. When we spread ourselves thin, they care for one another. Jerry Bob, our only turkey in the barn, found friendship in a little black Bantam hen that chose to escape the hen stall to live with our solo turkey. Together, they have formed a bond and Jerry Bob has recovered from his initial depression. Our rebellious Bantam chickens have been adopted by our gang of guinea hens and are no longer bullied by the bigger hens. Our two new sister puppies are the epitome of "joint at the hip."

The Bible reminds us of the importance of pairing–the pairing of people, the pairing of animals, and the pairing of people with animals. Every relationship requires at least two and every relationship produces fruit if it is of God. We survived what felt like an initiation/hazing period this winter because of the relationships we've built and those we've witnessed. We couldn't have made it through the Arctic Blast in January and the great flood (that seems to happen every 50 years) in February, without the prayers and donations from friends, family and strangers.

We've seen so many people lose so much more through these disasters and we have begun to connect with those in our community who need assistance. Thank you for making it possible to create a better world within the shell of the old.