Beckon Hill Farms
Beckon Hill Farms
Introductions
Introductions
Embedded Files
Meet The Cows
Meet The Cows
Henry the Bull
Great guardian of his harem of cows and heifers.
Likes: Fresh-picked apples, heirloom variety summer squash and being first in line.
Dislikes: Seeing pigs get apples, seeing chickens get squash, and anyone being ahead of him at treat time.
Juliette
Sassiest of the cows, she's a great mom to Fergus.
Likes: Neck scratches, shoulder rubs, and ALL the apples.
Dislikes: Her sister Jetta getting ANY attention from the humans.
Jetta
Our absolute sweetest cow, she's a great mom to Fiona.
Likes: Going her own way, anything from the garden, and ear scratches.
Dislikes: Never winning a horn-locking contest with her sister Juliette.
June (AKA My Little Pony)
A mini-me of Juliette but from a separate blood line.
Likes: Imitating the Clydesdales she was initially raised with by cantering across the pasture.
Dislikes: Not being acknowledged as the queen of the pasture. She can be bossy and hates being told she is a cow when, in her heart, she is a majestic Clydesdale.
Moody Mae
Our youngest cow, a mini-me of Jetta but from a separate blood line.
Likes: Sticking like glue to her bestie Jetta.
Dislikes: Growing up and not having Jetta's full attention now that Jetta gave birth to her calf this winter.
Fiona
Our newest heifer calf, born to Jetta on February 1, 2024
Likes: Having a playmate born on the same day as she was.
Dislikes: Being the youngest (so far). She was born about 4 hours after Fergus.
Fergus
Our first steer born February 1, 2024, to Juliette.
Fergus is the calf on the right (Fiona is on the left).
Likes: Proud to be Henry's first boy with us. Loves to zip around the pasture.
Dislikes: Would have preferred to be a bull rather than a steer.
Meet The Pigs
Meet The Pigs
Clyde the Boar
Our gentle giant, he is a grass-eating machine but he will interrupt his grazing to bite into a ripe apple anytime.
Likes: Mud baths, green grass, and being king of the mountain.
Dislikes: Anyone who dares to approach the fence without paying an appropriate tribute in apples.
Bonnie the Sow
Bonnie (with an assist from Clyde) produced two wonderful, healthy litters of piglets in 2022 and again in 2023.
Likes: The extra rations she gets after birthing a litter, and laying in the sunshine on a cold winter day.
Dislikes: Sharing with ANYONE, even her own piglets.
Blanche the Sow
Blanche (with an assist from Clyde) produced two wonderful, healthy litters of piglets in 2023.
Likes: Her alone time and being made to feel special.
Dislikes: Her hair, she just can't do a darn thing with it.
Jesse James the Boar
Our newest addition to the farm, he will allow us to provide breeding pairs in late 2024 and beyond.
Likes: Being the alpha piglet with our litter of pigs that are his age.
Dislikes: Knowing he'll soon be separated from his female peers and only get to play with the other boars that are SO much bigger than him.
Meet The Farmers
Meet The Farmers
Hi! We are Mike and Heather Rauenhorst, owners of Beckon Hill Farms. We are military veterans who met and married in Alaska, moved to Harbor Springs in 2020, and started this farm in 2021. We love Northern Michigan in all four seasons, and are happy to be part of this wonderful community. In addition to our work on the farm, Mike drives part time for Harbor Springs Public Schools, Heather writes, and we both help nonprofits and education institutions with grant writing and program evaluation through our other business, Raven House Enterprises.
Before we moved here, Mike served 28 years in the Marine Corps Reserve, South Dakota Air National Guard and Alaska Air National Guard before retiring as an active duty Colonel. He earned a Master's degree through the Air Force Institute of Technology, and followed his military career by serving as a teacher at North Pole High School for another 10 years. After Heather graduated from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, she began her career as a 5th grade teacher. Although the majority of Heather's career was in the field of education, she also spent six years as a part time contracting agent in the Alaska Air National Guard while earning her MBA. Before leaving Alaska, she was the executive director of communications and engagement at the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District.
We are the parents of six amazing children. Our four oldest graduated high school in Alaska and are currently scattered across the West Coast as a Navy F-18E fighter pilot, a registered nurse, an honors chemistry pre-med major about to enter medical school this fall, and a mental health technician. Our two youngest kids moved from Alaska to Michigan with us and are now the "hired hands" of our farm.
Mike, the oldest of seven children, was raised on a grain farm in southern Minnesota. Mike didn't realize how much he had missed farming until we moved to Michigan but, as a former grain farmer, Mike did not want any animals. Heather wanted animals. As you can see, we now have animals!
“The modern world worships the idea of the self, the individual, but it is a gilded cage: there is another kind of freedom in becoming absorbed in a little life on the land. In a noisy age, I think perhaps trying to live quietly might be a virtue.” ― James Rebanks, Pastoral Song
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