Kids Corner: The Ryan Family

Isaac Ryan
10 years old

When do you do chores? Whenever I am needed. I milk on Saturday and scrape the barn if my grandpa is gone.

What is your favorite and least favorite chore? My favorite is scraping the new barn. My least favorite is feeding bottles to the calves, because the flies land on you when you’re standing there, and you get lots of calf spit on you.

What project do you enjoy helping your parents with on the farm? Helping my dad load up the manure spreader.

Tell us a fun memory you have of living on the farm. I named a bull calf Isaac Jr. I liked watching it grow up and then be sold.

What is your favorite animal on your farm? The calves. I like the Holstein ones. I like the calves because they are not too big and they are soft and clean.

What do you want to be when you grow up? An ag construction worker. I want to do this because you can build stuff on the farm.

If you had a farm, describe what it would look like. It would be in the country on a gravel road. It would be a dairy farm with about 150 cows. It would have barns and a better shop with a nice floor.

What is your favorite game to play on the farm? Hide and seek.

What is your favorite meal that your mom or dad makes? Hamburgers, because they come from the cows on the farm. I like a loaded burger with all the toppings.

What is your favorite thing to do off the farm with your family? Go to baseball games and play baseball. I am on a town baseball team. I also like to go to my grandparents’ house and swim at the pool.

Mabel Ryan
9 years old

When do you do chores? I do the calf chores at night, feeding bottles and water, and I scrape up the old feed by the bins.

What is your favorite and least favorite chore? My favorite is to feed bottles. Probably my least favorite chore is watering the calves.

What project do you enjoy helping your parents with on the farm? Gardening, because everyone gets to do it. It’s really nice down there and sunny, and if we get a break, we can play in the tall weeds.

Tell us a fun memory you have of living on the farm. The time we were looking out our window and a cow stuck her head out the door of the barn.

What is your favorite animal on your farm? The cats. I try to catch them when they are drinking milk out of the calf feeders.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A veterinarian.

If you had a farm, describe what it would look like. It would have chickens and Holstein cows, and it would also have ducks. There would be a big pasture for the Holsteins, a chicken coop for the chickens and a pond for the ducks.

What is your favorite game to play on the farm? Playing in the tall weeds when we play hide and seek.

What is your favorite meal that your mom or dad makes? Pizza pockets, because you can take them on the go really easily.

What is your favorite thing to do off the farm with your family? Going to the pool at my grandparents’ house, because it is so fun to swim in the pool. There are so many floaties, and we usually have pizza afterwards.

Millie Ryan
6 years old

When do you do chores? Sometimes at night, if Dad needs me to help feed the bottles.

What is your favorite and least favorite chore? My favorite is working in the garden. We just started to plant it. My least favorite is helping feed the bottles.

What project do you enjoy helping your parents with on the farm? Taking Luke outside so my mom can work on something else.

Tell us a fun memory you have of living on the farm. When we can go play outside and eat an ice cream treat or have a freezie.

What is your favorite animal on your farm? Two brownish-red calves: One is named Hershey, and one is named Ruby. I like that they are red.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A dairy farmer.

If you had a farm, describe what it would look like. I would have three bins, one or two siloes and two barns for mama cows. I would have dairy cows and one dog.

What is your favorite game to play on the farm? Floor is lava or hide and seek.

What is your favorite meal that your mom or dad makes? Spaghetti.

What is your favorite thing to do off the farm with your family? Probably going to camp with all my cousins. We sleep in tents and have a fire together. 

Gabe Ryan
5 years old

When do you do chores? I help my dad by riding along in the skid loader; I like to ride with him as he scoops poop. I also like helping my dad cut hay.

What is your favorite and least favorite chore? My favorite is helping dad with cutting hay. My least favorite is riding along in the planter because it is too slow and there is no air conditioner.

What project do you enjoy helping your parents with on the farm? I like helping Dad on the tractors.

Tell us a fun memory you have of living on the farm. Naming every calf on the farm John the Baptist.

What is your favorite animal on your farm? A cow named Miss Katee. I see her a lot and know which one she is.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor.

If you had a farm, describe what it would look like. It would have red barns and silos and red tractors. There would be red cows and a red mule.

What is your favorite game to play on the farm? Police Sparky, which has the same rules as cops and robbers.

What is your favorite meal that your mom or dad makes? Chicken nuggets.

What is your favorite thing to do off the farm with your family? Going to Isaac’s baseball games.

Luke Ryan
3 years old

When do you do chores? I help Dad mix feed.

What is your favorite and least favorite chore? Scraping the barns with Dad in the skid loader is my favorite. My least favorite is anything if I am tired.

What project do you enjoy helping your parents with on the farm? I like helping Dad with construction jobs or fixing things with tools. I help Dad by giving him tools.

Tell us a fun memory you have of living on the farm. Learning how to climb the hay bales by myself.

What is your favorite animal on your farm? I like the mama cows. I like them because I get to help feed them.

What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be a farmer.

If you had a farm, describe what it would look like. There would be stickers on the barns and skid loaders. I would have sheep on my farm and lots of mama cows and dad cows.

What is your favorite game to play on the farm? Hide and seek.

What is your favorite meal that your mom or dad makes? Hot dogs and sandwiches.

What is your favorite thing to do off the farm with your family? I like to go to my grandparents’ house and play with their green tractors.