Hello everyone. I just noticed the date this morning and realized it has been way too long since posting some updates. There has been a lot going on so this may be a little longer than others but there is some good stuff in here.
I will start with our first shipment of freezer meat for the year. We have been out of bacon here in the house for over three months, NOT COOL!!! We finally have bacon again. We sent a sow that has not had any babies in over 20 months and three feeder pigs. The feeder pigs were a little older than I usually like to send and ended up being a little fatter than we like. However, they are still very delicious! The picture below is of the regular sized bacon and the bacon from the sow. She literally was the size of a smaller steer that we would send to the butcher.
We also sent a steer in to the butcher as well and I was stunned by the hanging weight. We have been struggling for years to get the steers to consistently weigh in around 600-650 lbs hanging weight. After replacing the supplement tubs with buttermilk almost two years ago we have seen a dramatic change in the health of the herd and the rate of gain in the animals. We have seen our steer weights at a consistent 730-760 hanging weight range for over a year now. This is huge as the only change has been the change from supplement tubs to buttermilk to provide their micro-nutrients and minerals. Since the milk also has had the fat removed it is great for the pigs and cows as well because it is high in protein. We are going to adjust the grain supplement that we feed the pigs to basically just some ground corn. Corn is high in energy and very low in protein which the milk is providing them. I think right now the pigs are still getting too much protein and we need to balance it out a little bit.
Another issue we are having this year is the warm and very wet winter. Due to all the moisture I have been forced to keep everyone penned up on the feedlot to keep them out of the mud. Since they cannot roam around as much as they usually do in the winter they are a little low on the normal exercise they would be getting. While this may not be exactly what any of us want it is necessary for their health and safety as well as to control runoff and pollution. I fenced the cows off of the far pastures in November but left them on the main pasture lot below the pad for an extra week. Literally in the last three days of being out there they turned two acres from 70% grass to 100% mud.
Once the weather breaks and it dries enough to get out there with either the four wheeler and a post driver or the tractor, I will be changing up the fencing for this lot. My goal is to create just a pathway through this area for them to access all the different pastures and triple the size of the buffer strip. It is quite obvious that the original planned strip was not sufficient for what we have going on so adjustments are needed. The good thing is this is an opportunity to learn more and create an event higher forage producing lot on the farm for intensive nutrient capturing as well as a highly productive grazing area!
A great side benefit to the warm weather is being able to go on nature walks without freezing our butts off! So, instead of going to the gym last weekend my wife and I decided to take our son and Zeus out for a nature hike. Our daughter was at a friends house so she didn't go with us. Our woods and my dads woods border each other so we ventured through both. The wooded areas of dads we walked through was mostly cleared about 100 years ago with the exception of some beautiful oaks and a couple of maples. The maples have since died off but the oaks are still holding strong. This one is declining but still has some years in it. It is approx. 13 feet in circumference at breast height and based on a similar tree that was logged from my woods I am estimating that it is about 150-175 years old, or older.
Another thing we like to do each year is check the property pins and markers. We are lucky to have one of the original stone markers for when Ohio was first surveyed off. These are large stones that were buried in the ground to mark property lines and corners. Thy were placed on the section corners and half section intersections. Our farm was originally part of a larger 160 acre chunk that was split in half when my great grandfather purchased what is now my dads farm next door. This stone marks where that split occurred and is still here today and is part of the deed description.
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| Zeus checking out the fire pit and the fire we had on this beautifully warm start to February |
Both of our kids are on the YMCA swim team and their divisional meet was last Saturday. They both did very well this year and are getting much faster with great form. We are going to challenge them to work hard on the off season this year so they can compete at the top of their groups next season. For this year they were middle of the pack but drastically improved over last year!
I also got to enjoy the father daughter dance again this year with Lisa. I am not sure if I am ready for her to be growing this fast. I know some day I will be looking back and wishing I had more of these times together so I try to never miss one when the opportunity presents itself!
We were caught off guard a few weeks ago when I walked outside to feed and found a newborn calf in the lot, my kids named him shadow that night. He was born from 50's first daughter and was 7-8 weeks premature. He was still underdeveloped and was not able to eat from his momma and she was not ready to feed him either. We tried bottle feeding him but he was not able to suck on the nipple so we ended up having to tube feed him instead. My wife worked with him for a week to pull him through but he just wasn't able to make it. This was the first time we have had a premature calf and I hope we don't have any more.
The morning after Shadow was born I started getting pics from my wife of piglets!!! The second blue but gilt started giving birth around 8 am and by 10 am she was done. She didn't need any assistance at all and all TWELVE piglets were born alive and healthy. She also has successfully made it the first two weeks with all of them remaining healthy and alive and growing very quickly. She is an exceptional mother and we made a great choice in keeping her.
All the little piglets were huddled in the hot box on one of the cold nights we had recently.
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| Piglet in the hotbox under the heat lamp. |
In order to train him to be a great farm dog we have started taking Zeus with us to the barn when we do chores. He is learning quickly that he can come as long as he stays with us at all times. He noticed me looking in the box and was surprised when he looked in himself to find there were little "creatures" in there!
There is a big difference between Zeus and Daisy though. Daisy was very very gentle with the animals and would get in the pen and lick them and nudge them and act like a mother. Zeus is very much a young boy and does not have any mothering instincts. He wants to get in and play, and by play I mean rough house! He doesn't want to hurt the piglets and cats but he hasn't learned that in order to not hurt them he has to be gentle. I think it will take a little while longer before he aquires that skill!
This was the first time we took him to the barn during chores and we left him off the leash. He was in sensory overload most of the time and just continually ran around sniffing and checking things out. He is learning quickly what to do and what not to do and I anticipate he will be well seasoned before summer gets here.
Another thing I didn't anticipate was the speed at which he would become so much a part of the family. This is a frequent way of waking up in the morning and I am not sure who authorized this but it wasn't me! Daisy always slept at the foot of the bed, Zeus, like our children, starts out where he is supposed to be, but overnight manages to find his way to the pillows and eventually becomes the pillow. I can't count the number of times I have rolled over in the morning when the alarm goes off to wake my wife only to be looking nose to now with Zeus instead of my wife!!
I want to wrap this post up with an enormous thank you to my wife! As some of you know the program she was working in for many years ended a year ago and she has been at home since. She has taken on the challenge of learning a new career that she never even knew existed until she met me. She has learned a lot very quickly and is becoming very good at birthing pigs, checking cows, helping feed, and everything else that goes on here at the farm.
We have now started the next step, which is actually the most important coming into spring, learning to drive the tractor!!!
I was finally able to get her in the drivers seat a week ago and let her drive in the field and then back home. She did well for her first time. She just needs to practice a bunch and she will be fine. The goal will be for her to get good enough to be able to go rake hay or tedd hay while I am work so it is ready to bale when I get home. Eventually I am hoping she learns how to bale as well!!! Between her and my brothers girlfriend I am excited to see them learn all of this and take on the challenge.
My wife has been an enormous help with the animals and has also been able to help the kids with swimming and other activities that before we were not able to do consistently. She also has been very good at getting more meat sold as well which is going to be key to getting the farm to where it needs to be! Together as a team we are unstoppable!!
BTW, I will gladly spend more time in the buddy seat with her any time she wants!!!
The birds have come back early and there is light at the end of the tunnel that spring will break soon and we will have a phenomenal year!
Have a wonderful day everyone.
Kenny
