Hometown: Diggins, Mo.
Family: Husband Joe, and two daughters Lacey (5) and Ava (3)
In Town: Kelsey Davis is an assistant for an insurance agent, Zeb Zinn, at Young Insurance in Marshfield, Mo. She has been working there since February. This is the first time she has worked in insurance. Kelsey has worked at community colleges: OTC and at Crowder College in Neosho, Mo.
“I stayed home with my girls for about five years. This is me, breaking back into the work force. Pretty much all I’ve done is administrative assistant type work,” she explained.
In the Country: On their small farm in Diggins, Mo., Kelsey and Joe have six Nigerian Dwarf goats, more than 30 rabbits, more than 40 chickens and a horse.
They didn’t have room at their last home for all the animals. So all their animals are mostly new, except for Kelsey’s horse. She has had it since she was 12 years old.
“We’re getting back into the farm life,” Kelsey said.
Kelsey really likes the chickens, which surprised her. “I didn’t think I would like them that much. I didn’t have chickens growing up. Since we’ve been married we’ve pretty much had chickens. I like going out and collecting the eggs every day and checking on them and seeing them wander around and chase bugs.
“The girls help gather the eggs and feed. My husband and I share those duties. We build fence together. Our old barn needs fixed up, so we’ve been working on that. We’ve started a little garden this year. That’s something we’ve never done. It’s a learning experience.”
Future plans: Her husband, Joe, has really enjoyed the rabbits. “We’ve started butchering rabbits and also selling them to people who want to start their own rabbit herd.”
They are trying to be more self-sustainable. “I sell eggs. We raised a pig this spring and had it butchered. That was our first big animal that we raised and butchered for ourselves. We’re on that growing-what-we-eat journey.”
Eventually, they would like to get some cows and do rotational grazing. They would also like to get more land.
For now, Kelsey and Joe are enjoying their farm and love raising their girls there. “We’re blessed to have what we have and to be able to do what we do. We’re thankful to God for giving us that opportunity.”
