Travis Chism and his wife Christy are living the American dream. Well, that is if that dream carries with it the care and raising of Butterball turkeys and a herd of cattle.
Recently "the dream" presented them with quite a surprise. Travis said he went out one morning to check on his cows and one had had a calf. The next day the Chisms were gone for a while and when they returned, he found another calf wandering around. The same momma cow had had another calf and rejected it. Then the following day, Travis went out and found a third calf with her. She calved on three different days – April 4, 5 and 6 – and she accepted the first and last, but pushed away No. 2. But Travis knew what to do.
He said, "We call my mom the 'calf whisperer.' If there's something wrong with a calf, she can make it live. She's real good with them."
So Travis and Christy have two of the three calves on their farm, and his mom is still taking care of the other one. Triplet calves are extremely rare, one in 100,000. Travis said that there was no history of multiple births in his cattle before.
Raising cattle isn't all the Chisms do on their 62 acres. They also have three turkey barns in which they raise Butterball turkeys.
Travis didn't exactly grow up around turkey farms. He said, "I'm just kind of learning on my own. I worked for a guy back when I was in high school who had a turkey farm, for a summer. That's kind of how I learned about turkeys."
The Chisms, who are both in their mid-twenties, have worked hard and planned for a place of their own since they were sweethearts in high school.
Christy said, "The goal was to have a cattle farm one day, and we knew that working with just a cattle farm, it can't really work. So turkeys are something that can help us do the cows and give him his dream of farming. He's always wanted to do this since high school. I was more of a business-oriented type person."
The Chisms appreciate the help they receive from both sides of their families. Plus his nephew, 16-year-old Tyler Garrison, a student at Flippin High School, is a great help. Travis and Christy know they can call on them whenever it's time to herd turkeys or cattle.
There's another member of the family who isn't a big help yet, but will be in a few more years. Travis and Christy's six-month-old son, Paul Wayne, is destined to be a turkey farmer, too. "I've already got him a pair of rubber boots picked out," Travis said.
