The best feeling in the world.

I just want to put up a quick post tonight.  I have been up quite a while for snow but this is important so I want to share it.  I came home from a 13 hour shift at work and checked all the pigs.  All the babies were fine and doing great so I went out and got the feed out for everyone and went back in the barn to feed.  As soon as I came back in the barn from feeding the boar I looked in the pens and saw the biggest piglet from Lady's litter sprawled out like he was dead......I panicked.   I jumped in the pen and scooped him up.  He was alive but barely.  He was obviously laid on by one of the sows while they were feeding babies and was about to pass away.

So, my training and research kicked in and I checked for a heart beat.....he still had one.  He was trying to breath but couldn't.  So I wrapped my hands tight around his mouth to make a cone and blew into my hands re-inflating his lungs.  I had to do this several times till he started breathing on his own again.  Once he started breathing I laid him under the heat lamps and left him alone for a while.  I have read that a small funnel works much much better.  I will be getting one next time I am at the store!

My wife just went out and checked on him and he is up and running around like nothing happened!!!!  That is an awesome feeling knowing that his life was not wasted and he will grow to lead a purposeful life!

Have a great night everyone.....off to bed for a quick nap before heading back to work for snow!

Kenny

Baby pigs, making snow, and removing snow!!!

I was fortunate enough this round to have backup for birthing of the piglets.  Stevens girlfriend Lea was home for the holidays and helped me and Steven out a lot by bottle feeding the smallest piglet for a couple days as well as being there while she was giving birth and we were both working.  My wife also helped out a lot this time as well.   

Lady had her litter right on her due date and had 11 very healthy piglets.  Unfortunately one got laid on a couple days later by Berky during the -12 degree cold we had last week.  She didn't do it on purpose as she simply laid down with Lady to give Daisy pig some room as she was close to having hers and didn't want any company and the little one was hiding in the straw instead of being in the hot box with the rest.

Berkshire x Tamworth cross piglets eating.  

Daisy Pig had her litter on Thursday morning.  She had an unbelievable 17 total.  However, she started after I went to work and before my wife got up and she apparently had some issues and there were only 10 live ones at the end.  The smallest also passed away last night leaving just 9.  However, she is feeding those 9 the milk for 17 so they are gonna grow very fast.   Also, if you notice, Daisy is watching Daisy Pig who is peaking into the hot box to spy on her little ones.  Daisy is such a huge help with the baby piglets that I do not know what we would do without her.  Within seconds of a piglet popping out she is cleaning it off and getting it up and moving around.  She has actually saved many of them by licking them and getting them breathing and moving around where as they might not have started breathing without the extra stimulation!

Daisy and Daisy Pig later in the day after birthing was finished.

Here is a picture of all the babies piled up together during the cold weather right after birth.  With all the heat lamps it was a toasty 85-90 degrees in there napping area and a chilly 5 degrees outside of the hot box.  If you look closely at the picture you can pick out the piglets that Daisy Pig had.  They are either belted or have a solid golden brown color.  She is a Duroc Hampshire cross and Red balls is full blooded Tamworth.

The belted and brown piglets are out of Daisy Pig

So, as I have said before I do snow removal for the company I work for.  Last winter I went from pushing snow to managing it.  I was looking forward to the challenge.  There are days where I miss being able to just come to work and plow.  Well, I now have a backup manager who I am training to do what I do so we can get a break during the long events.  We were down several people last night so my counter part continued to manage and I got to run one of the new Kage skid steer plows that we have.  This thing is awesome!!!  It converts from a straight blade to a pusher box in seconds just by curling into a couple of hooks with the brackets you see in the pic on the top of the blade.  So, you get the benefit of a pusher box and a plow all in the same unit.  I was able to do the same property that took me 4 hours with a truck in 2.75 hours with this unit on a one speed skid steer!  It was so relaxing to just zone out and push!!!

Plowing snow with a Kage Plow

Now, as I have also mentioned before I work for a very diverse group of very unique customers.  I have one who loves, absolutely loves to ski and hunt.  He also happens to be a neighbor of mine for many many years.  So when he asked if we could help him make snow on his private ski slope during the winter I was happy to help out.  Now, the colder it gets the easier it is to make snow and the more snow you can make with the same amount of water.  I wanted to show the results of just one night of running the snow cannons on the hill during below zero weather.  It piles up very fast.   The piles would have been even more enormous if we hadn't had sustained 20-30 mph winds for the first two days of snow making.  This was one of the medium piles, we had a 10 more similar to size with this as well as one that was about 25' tall!

Steven and Daisy checking out one of the snow piles we made.

Last week at this time it was about 45-50 degrees.  Then, without 48 hours it went down to -12 here at the barn.  Now we are back up to 50 again today and they are calling for another blast of arctic cold later this week......when is summer coming back????!!!!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.  I am headed out to clean the barn and get something accomplished today!  Talk to everyone soon!

Happy New Year

I wanted to say happy new year to everyone today!!  I am getting ready to go finish up a little bit of work for the neighbor and then take a nap before the big snow storm hits tonight.  

Our herd check went awesome on Monday.  It was so much easier and we were able to go through all 31 head of cows and calves in 2 hours from start to finish.  Last year it took 2.75hrs to check 27.   I was also very excited to find that we have a 100% conception rate this year!!!!!  That is right, we will be having 14 new calves here on the farm as well as one in Montana this year.  My daughter's calf, Princess, will be having her first calf this year as well! 

As I was finishing up the last round of chores for 2013 I was thinking about what all we have accomplished throughout the last year as well as our losses this year.  We lost my grandfather this summer whom I have spent a lot of time with from the day I was born.  I have many fond memories of him and will always have them.  Just like when I have lost other family members in the past, something will happen that is great or we accomplish something that we have been working toward and my first thought is "wow, I can't wait to tell Grandpa".  Then reality sets in and I go through the summers events all over again in my head.  Sometimes I wish I could find a way to erase some of those memories but fear that if I ever did I would lose all the good ones that came with them.  So, instead I try to think of all the good times we had with those we love and how not to waste precious time with others in the future.  I try to make the most of every waking moment so I never have to look back and say "man I wish I hadn't wasted that time".  

This brings me to our accomplishments this year here on the farm.  We finally reached a milestone that I was looking forward to crossing at this time last year and have been planning toward since starting the beef portion of our farming business many years ago.  Our beef production is going to an entirely new level this year.  I have always wanted to have my own herd of cattle and I have finally achieved this.  We purchased two more Momma cows this year and with the heifers added that were born here on the farm we now have 14 breeding age cows and 3 more heifers were born this year bringing us to a total of 17 females.  I will be splitting the herd this summer for breeding purposes so I can breed all the younger stock to my full blooded Black Angus Bull Erica's Legacy, or as you all know him Legacy!  After summer is over I will put them all back together for the winter season for ease of feeding over the winter.  We had many bulls born this year which we steered during the herd check yesterday.  This will allow us to offer more beef for sale starting in 2015. 

 We also finally got my new cow shed / corral built short of having a roof.  It is so wonderful to be able to clean the barn without having to deal with mud!  Now if I can just get the roof done it will be perfect!.  

Our pork production portion of the farm is running smoothly now as well.  Now that I have solid numbers to work with to make decisions from I have reduced our sows down to the three best and sold the rest.  This allows me to produce my own piglets here on the farm and know where they came from and have the breeding I want as well as not have to worry about disease being brought here from elsewhere!  I also was able to concrete all the pig shed pens as well as a pad outside the shed to limit the mud and give them access to the waterer without having to go in the mud!

I am looking forward to growing our business to the next level starting today.  We have set some strong goals for the farm and I am pushing to reach them.  We want the farm to start paying for itself completely and pay me back for all the hard work and money we have put in it to get it going!  We are close....so very close.

I have so many things I would like to discuss tonight but I must keep moving if I am to sleep at all before the snow gets here.  Here is my final picture from 2013.  This made me think about how winter brings an ending and a new beginning.  It forces us to stop, think, asses, and change.  This is one good thing winter does.  You don't have a choice!  If you look into the pasture you see the results of last year as well as the potential next year holds!  Learn and move on.  When I look into my pasture I see all my mistakes and my successes right before me.  I wish everyone would look into their pasture and do the same.  Everyone has one they just need to know where to look and it may not always contain cows.  Mine has animals, equipment, two kids, a wife, and a family.

So, I wish everyone a wonderful new year and may you look into your pasture and be as happy as I am right now!

Happy New Year everyone!

Kenny