Takin my baby in for a check up!

Well, earlier in the summer I was running over to neighbors to get a few bales of straw for the Beef Buyers Party and on the way back the tractor started losing power.  Well I talked to dealer and they had me change all the fuel filters thinking it might be some bad fuel.  Well, $45 later the tractor still wouldn't run right and I burnt up about 4 hours of my time messing with it.  After some more consultation with the mechanic he told me to check line coming from tank....bingo, tissue paper in the line.  Well, got it through the summer with only two more problems but now I have a break in the action so I am dropping it off at the dealer for them to remove fuel tank and flush it and the fuel line.  Hopefully I can pick it up on the way home tomorrow and be back at it tomorrow night.  Cows are eating hay way too fast.

Pigs are starting to really enjoy the ground alfalfa!  Even the little ones. 

Herd check schedule for Christmas break.  A herd check is when I have the vet in and we check each animals health, treat them for worms, and vaccinate for any known diseases.  Lastly, any of the bred females will be checked for pregnancy and anyone who is still open will be available for meat or auction.  Lets hope they are all carrying little ones!!

Kenny

Got the feed ground today and the Piggies found a way out of the pasture!

Well, didn't have much going on today so I had a chance to split some more firewood to sell and make the new pig feed mix.  The first shot is what it looks like after we grind the alfalfa and add the the supplement mix to it.  If you zoom way in you can see a little bit of the supplements. 

A pigs stomach is not very big so every bite needs to count.  When she is feeding the little ones she needs to eat a lot of high energy feeds with lots of nutrients.  The pasture is dormant and the ground is starting to freeze.  To meet her nutrient need I am using alfalfa which has a much higher feed value than the grass hay. However it is very course and stemmy so we needed to grind it to make is small and easier to eat more at one time. We then simply added a very small amount of ground corn for extra energy, ground soybeans for a little extra protein, and some minerals to compensate for the frozen ground as normally pigs will get minerals from the ground while rooting for insects and roots. 

Normally in the summer when the pasture is growing well we shouldn't  have to do this but winter is a different story.  I am still feeding them the silage hay and grass hay which they enjoy as well.

 The neighbors grinder.  Worked pretty slick.  Took about 30 minutes from start to finish. 

 This is a quick pic of the little ones having a stroll in the drive way.  The found that they can sneak under the higher parts of the fence, through the gate, and through a small hole in the shed wall and go out in the lawn and garden.  First they stopped in my wife's garden and had some leftover tomatoes.  Then they turned the mulch in my flower beds around the garage looking for worms and insects.  Then lastly, just for fun they had some pig races in my newly seeded lawn area and rooted for some bugs there too!  After a few rounds of chasing them in I got my dog and my daughter out and they kept them in the pasture for me till I could check the fence.  Turns out it was out of an insulator and was shorting out.  I put back into insulator and it was hot again.  Before I got to the barn one of them tried to head out to my flower beds again and touched the fence.  They haven't left the pasture since!! 

I don't really mind when they go out under fence anywhere else.  However, our house sits quite close to the road and I think that getting bit by the fence once is a lot easier to get over than meeting a car or truck on the road.  Once they know what the fence is they will never test it again, they learn very quick!


Kenny

Got a plan for keeping Pig Pig healthy

I tried feeding the alfalfa hay to Pig Pig.  She did not like it as it was too course and stemmy.  So we decided to take the feed back over to mixer/grinder and grind the alfalfa bales with the grinder and mix it with her supplements.  This way she gets her supplements while getting some quality alfalfa hay that she can enjoy eating!

 I went out to check the piggies last night and Pig Pig was still out and about but the little ones were taking a nap.  Just like our kids they are just spread all over laying this way and that.  They didn't even move when I got in the pen to check them and add some hay for them to nest in.  They are getting close to 15-18 lbs already, amazing!

 Took a tractor ride to check fence and creek.  We got around 4.5"-5" of rain from Wednesday night till this morning.  This pic was yesterday morning.  This is the highest I have seen the water since mid may.  This is just slightly higher than normal.  The day my wife and I got married it rained about 12"-13" in a two hour span.  When the sun came up and we were getting ready to leave for the church the entire bottom was covered in 6'-8' of water.  If you look behind the wood pallets in pic below it went from the fence post behind pallets to other side of pasture!  That was a once in 100 years rainfall!

 Some fire wood I split up to sell.  This is cherry and came from the large cherry tree I removed from the lawn.  I have 9 more pallets sitting nearby that are two years seasoned.  Three pallets equals a cord.  Most of the firewood I have comes from cleaning up fence rows and the edges of fields.  I have an awesome splitter that hooks to the 3-point hitch on the tractor and plugs into the hydraulics of the tractor.  I can lay a piece of hickory sideways on it and cut it in half.  I love it.  It took me and one more person 2 hours to split and stack 6 of these pallets!

 These are a couple of quick pics of me haying the cows.  They are eating one of these 1700lb bales in three days now.  They are tube wrapped and I simply use the spear and pull it off the row.  I lift it over the feeder to remove the plastic.  As you can see below, once I cut plastic and net wrap the bales starts to come apart pretty quick.  As long as I open it over the feeder there is hardly any cleanup.  The baler my cousin uses to bale it up has knives in it to cut the hay.  Once you get in past the outside 3 inches the rest is cut into 4"-6" pieces.  The small pieces allow the cows to eat it easier and digest it better.  It also cuts down on waste as they are not grabbing large chunks of hay with each bite and pulling it out of the feeder. 

What is that sound outside?

I awoke this morning to a familiar sound that I haven't heard in a while.....RAIN!!!  we got over 2.5" last night and it is still raining!  Now I understand it is thanksgiving but we needed the rain so bad.  We have been in a moderate drought since late June.  It is supposed to continue raining most of the day which should bring us up to where we should be in precipitation to start December!!  Another great thing about this cold rainy day is that the animals all have a dry place to get out of the rain now.  Having fixed the shed roof and the barn wall everyone is just chilling inside till the rain dies down then they will head out to the pasture for the day.

Cows are all doing fine.  Jo Jo the bull is still enjoying his visit and is constantly schmoozing with the ladies!!  Hopefully next years A.I. goes better as I spent a lot of money on it this year and I think that only a 2 or 3 out of 7 settled with it.  FYI, it costs about $50/ service to do A.I. (Artificial Insemination).  I bred everyone at least twice.  What I am finding is that my estrus synchronization was off and thus caused them not to be in heat when they were supposed to be.  Anyway, I am going to try a different Sinc. system next year to hopefully get better results!

Piglets are growing so fast.  They are closing in on 20lbs already.  Momma is getting a little thin from feeding them so much.  We have been researching ways to supplement her diet to keep her healthy.

For the cows it is easy.  We keep a lick tub in the pasture that gives the cows any missing micro nutrients and minerals that are low in their diet.  The speed that they eat the tub varies from time to time depending on where the bale they ate came from.  If the fields nutrients are unbalanced the hay from it will be also. 

Likewise is also true for the pigs.  They have free access to the pasture and we supply them with all the silage and dry hay they want.  They eat it and enjoy it but sometimes the nutrients they get from it are not balanced correctly for a sow feeding piglets.  From the research we have been doing you can feed them alfalfa hay, which I do not grow here, or give them some supplement.  One option we found was during the winter months when the pasture is dormant and ground frozen is to give the mother a small amount of ground corn containing the minerals and nutrients she would normally get off the pasture.  This will keep her diet balanced and allow her to supply the amount of milk the babies need.

I would like to ask anyone reading this to leave me a message and let me know if you have any ideas.  Grass fed pork and beef is not new and information for the cows is readily available.  I am finding however that this is not the case for the pork!

Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Kenny

A stroll in the pasture!

Went for a walk out to pasture to see the pigs and cows.  Haven't had the time to go out during the daylight lately but got home before dark yesterday so I went out to see what everyone was doing and see how everyone was.

This is Sally, the Shorthorn mother, and her calf Frosty on the right.  While I was walking down to see what was up they were checking out the baby pigs.  Pig Pig came running to me to get a snack and left the little ones with the calves.  Everyone was intrigued!!

 This is Daisy and one of the piglets sneaking up on Pistol.  He didn't even get up.  He must have decided it wasn't worth it!

 Picture this, I am walking along the stream.  I am followed by Pig Pig and behind her is the little ones.  Behind her was these two still being curious. Then daisy in the back just checking everyone out.

 Well, this was supposed to be at the end but I guess I'll address it here.  This is a small end table we made for the project I am currently working on at work  it is a 3" think cherry slab 30" long by 24"-27" wide.  Very nice.  We made two of these, one will have a projector sitting on it for the outdoor movie theater and the other will be for use as an end table on the patio.  I previously posted the benches.  They are all from different parts of the same tree.  I can't wait to make more.  I have six table slabs and 4 bench slabs still in the barn.

 This was a quick pic of Stormy.  He is Jane's son.  He is 1/4 red Holstein, 1/4 Hereford, 1/2 Black Angus.  He is growing very fast.  He was born July 25th and is already pushing 350lbs.  I am thinking about keeping him for a cleanup bull. 

A cleanup bull is used after doing artificial insemination (AI) to breed any cattle that didn't settle.  AI is expensive but is a great way to quickly get good genetics into your herd.  It also allows you to have multiple breeds and crosses without having to have a bunch of different bulls.  I try to settle everyone with AI twice, after that I run a bull in the pasture to take care of business. 
At my annual herd check I will see who is bred and how far along they are in their pregnancy.  This will tell me whether they were bred by AI or the Bull.  Anyone who is not bred is subject to being sold.

 Kenny

Found the pic of the piggies in the shed!

Ok, so here is the pic from when the little ones were visiting the cow shed over the weekend.  Pig Pig is standing up and Pig is laying down.  The little ones would not leave her alone and the look on her face said it all....."I ain't allowed in the barn and now I gotta baby sit too!!!???

The cows were enjoying some face time also getting to know the little ones.  The smallest is about 8 lbs. and the largest is probably a 10-11.  I have been feeding the momma some silage hay to supplement her food she is getting from the pasture.  I also take treats to them when I can.  Tonight they all had the leftover celery stalks and leaves from supper.  Even the babies enjoy the snacks, it just takes a little longer for them to eat them!

As for the cows they are eating hay quite well right now.  Going through a round bales every 3-4 days.  At this rate they will eat a bale every two days during the bad part of winter.  Good news is I still have quite a bit left so we should be fine. 

I will try to get some pics of the cattle this weekend to post to compare with summer ones so you can see the difference in their coats as the seasons change!

Kenny

Pics, wood fired dinner, and all around nice day!

Had dinner cooked on the outdoor fire pit tonight and last night.  I recently had some hickory boards sawed up when I had the cherry slabs cut.  During this process a bunch of hickory slab wood was created which I brought home to use.  I made some shaving for my wife to use in her wok to smoke with and I put some on the coals to cook burgers last night and sirloin and flat iron steak tonight.  I started the fire with cherry wood to get a nice hot coal base and put the hickory on right before cooking to create the smoke to flavor the meat.  Oh my goodness it is sooooo good!!!  Will be doing this a lot more as I have a lot of hickory slab wood.  If we can afford to get a gas grill I may even try smoking a couple of roasts to see how they turn out!  Should be awesome!  This is a pic of the flat iron steak, a little rare for me but still very good.  I like mine pink in the middle but not red.

Checked piggies tonight before coming in.  They are growing so fast! They are right around 5-7 pounds and are doing great!

 This is a pic of Lisa Left Ear.  She is the one that got her ear stepped on as a baby.  Vet had to amputate to get it to heal and not get infected.  She is doing really well and is almost completely healed up!

This is another pic of the bench for the project I'm working on.  It turned out so nice.  Can't wait to make some more.  If you are interested in one let me know.

Kenny