Dear friends and farmers,

A few months ago, I wrote to you about some of the interesting things I've learned about chickens in my work here at the farm. It's been a while since then, and I thought I'd share a few more of the interesting facts I've collected.

Dear friends and farmers,

I invite you to join us at the 86th Annual Lake County Fair this week.  The fair is located at 1060 E. Peterson Road in Grayslake, Illinois and will take place Wednesday, July 23 - Sunday, July 27, 2014.  The fair features a variety of entertainment options.  One of these options includes the 4H general projects and livestock projects.  4H children from all over the area get to show off all of their hard work.General projects will be on display in the 4H barn so that visitors can see how the kids did after going through the judging process.  The livestock portion is spread out during the week.  Our very own GLENVIEW CLOVERS 4H will be displaying their own work as well in both the general project area as well as the livestock areas.

Hundreds of animals will be at the fair this year - goats, chickens, beef cattle, pigs, turkeys, dairy cattle, sheep, rabbits, horses, and a few surprises!  The GLENVIEW CLOVERS will have chickens, sheep, dairy cows and pigs at the fair. Touring the livestock barns is a great opportunity to see the animals close-up and meet their loving caretakers that have worked all year to prepare for the fair.  4-H kids and open class exhibitors fill the livestock barns are the true heart of the agricultural history of the fair.

The livestock barns are open daily.  Be sure to check out the fair's daily schedule for a complete listing of competitions, demonstrations, and activities.  2014 Highlights:

Livestock Judging, Costume Contest, Master Showman Competition, Crazy Cow Relay Races, Small Pet Demonstrations, Livestock Auction.....and More!

Come spend a day at the fair ad see how hard the GLENVIEW CLOVERS 4H CLUB has worked.

See you all there!
Nancy

Dear friends and farmers,

My name is Marina Madsen and I have been in the Glenview Clovers 4H club for six years. The club is held at Historic Wagner Farm for kids ages 8-18 to learn about life on the farm and also to become active members of their community.  We do many community service events and we have a meeting each month.

Cats at the Farm
Written by Patrick Fox for the Wagner Tales Spring 2014 Issue

All of the animals at Wagner Farm, or any farm for that matter, serve a purpose. The cows are kept for their milk; the chickens for eggs; our Belgian draft horses Bob and Sue for pulling plows, wagons, or sleds. You may have wondered, however, why we have cats living on farms.

Dear friends and neighbors,

The first chicken I ever got came free with the purchase of five pounds of chicken meat at a market in Caracas, Venezuela when I was five years old. My poor mom got suckered into buying ten pounds of chicken so my brother and I could each have a free baby chick. She got the last laugh though. A year or so later when we moved, my mom gave our chickens to the church janitor for his Sunday dinner. I’ve loved chickens ever since.

Dear friends and neighbors, 

I always loved driving by Historic Wagner Farm and seeing the cows in the field. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, there aren’t a lot of opportunities to learn about the farming that used to be prevalent in our area, or interact with large animals outside of a zoo. I hope to become a veterinarian one day, so it’s important that I gain exposure to all different types of animals. As a volunteer for the Farm, I have had the unique opportunity to learn about caring for livestock while remaining in an urban environment.

Dear visitors and friends,

When I first started leading programs at Historic Wagner Farm, talking about our flock of chickens during our Moving About the Farm program gave me the most trouble. Filling that 15 minutes on chickens was excruciating for me. So... I picked my daughter’s brain for information since she had worked at the Farm for a couple of years. She was a great help, but I felt I needed more “stuff” to talk about.

Dear Visitors and Friends,

Spring is just around the corner, and soon Wagner Historic Farm will swirling with guests, volunteers, and livestock roaming the grounds once again. The vacant stalls behind the barn, where you’ll most likely find me, will be occupied by 4-H pigs and sheep. I’ve written a lot about sheep over the years, but not so much pigs, so I’d like to take this moment to give you a brief history of swine in the settling of America.

Dear Glenview:

To a farmer, cold is cold, no matter what the mercury reads or how “apocalyptic” the weatherman says the day is going to be. The animals don’t know what a snow day is, nor do they care.

Halter Training on the Farm

If you've stopped by the farm lately, you may have noticed an adorable-looking reindeer amidst all of the winter greenery. She's no reindeer, though - it's Cayla, our young calf on the farm. While Cayla enjoys posing for pictures, she's doing more than just posing. She's going through calf training! A group of local volunteers and Historic Wagner Farm's Director, Todd Price, have been working with Cayla every week to make sure she learns all of the things she needs to know to enjoy life on the farm.

Welcoming New Animals to the Farm

Good morning, friends and farmers! Have you noticed anything new at Historic Wagner Farm lately? I'll give you a hint... we have three new animals with us that like to roll in the mud and sometimes make friends with spiders. Can you guess what they are?

Pigs! Three little pigs are visiting us from Volkening Heritage Farm in Schaumberg. These little gals are called Berkshire pigs. They're about one month old and already they weigh almost 50 pounds each. They just arrived on the farm yesterday, so we haven't had a chance to pick names for them yet.

Pigs played a very important role on a dairy farm in the 1920s. After a farmer milked his cows, he would let the milk settle and it would separate. The cream of the milk would rise to the top of his bucket, while the skim milk would fall to the bottom. Today we can find both of these items at the store, but in the 1920s no one liked skim milk and the farmer needed a way to get rid of it.

Pigs aren't very picky eaters, in fact they like to eat almost anything. So, the pigs ate up all of the skim milk for the farmer, and he took the leftover cream to sell. What kind of milk do you drink at your house today?