Baby piglets, buttermilk, and lots of rain!

The oats came out in head almost two weeks ago.  So, I saw a one day break in the rain and decided to mow and bale them for silage.  Within minutes of being done mowing it started raining, and it rained for two days.  I finally got a break on the third day and barely got them done before it rained again.  

About three months ago I started feeding buttermilk to the pigs and the cows.  It is a natural leftover from butter making locally and makes a healthy supplement for the animals to eat instead of grains.  The cows like to have some just like the pigs and the extra vitamins and amino acids and such that are in the milk help them digest the hay they are eating much better.  The same is true for the pigs.  I am only feeding enough grain to the pigs to make sure their minerals are balanced and they are growing quicker now than they were before.  The first sample of pig meat from a buttermilk fed pig was at our customer party.  The results were great.  The meat was tender, juicy, and had great flavor.  

Now, as a result of having storage for buttermilk I have to rinse out the totes and tanks and such before I get a fresh batch.  I have heard of people doing land applications of extra milk and wash water from milking parlors but I wanted to see the results myself.  Right after I planted the oats I had some leftover milk that I needed to empty out to get a fresh load.  I went up on the hill in the field and ran it out up there to see what it would do.  I had my son in the picture for a frame of reference.  The entire field had two coating of cow manure on it prior to planting.   The area that didn't have buttermilk was barely to his waste, The strip where I dumped the wash water and  buttermilk was up to his shoulders and was 4 times thicker.  

I also tried some applications in a hay field to see the results there as well.  I will try to post pictures before we cut the hay.  I can already tell from looking across the road to the hillside exactly where I spread the milk.  It is much greener and growing twice as fast as the hay around it.  I do notice that for about a week after you apply it the hay just kinda sits and doesn't do much.  But after a rain and some sun it takes off and really grows after that.  

Monday morning when I left for work I checked the pigs and cows and still no babies.  20 minutes later, the neighbor checked the barn and the first two piglets were already born!  My wife stayed home to deliver pigs and it ended up taking most of the day.  This was Baconator, we got her when we got Doublestuffed last summer after Redballs died. She is a pure blooded berkshire pig and was actually bred for showing. She had 11 total, 2 were still born. 

 By Thursday morning we were down to only four left.  Two got laid on the second night cause it got cold and the got under momma and she rolled over on top of them.  The other three was from something else.  We are not totally certain what it was but the vet believes it was a bacterial virus brought on by the super wet weather we have been having the last three weeks.  At first we thought it was just a birth defect, however, when one of the pigs from the litters born in May got the same thing we realized something else was wrong.  

The good news is that the remaining four are very healthy and Momma is coming to milk better now so they are starting to grow quickly.  The two in the picture below both are still with us.  My wife pointed out that they look almost like twins!  I am also happy that she is finally starting to act like a mother and is being much more careful around the babies now than she was right after they were born.  Hopefully her next litter will be 12 or more and they will all make it!

We only have one more litter we are waiting on right now.  Berky does look like she is bred but is still not ready to birth yet.  I am hoping she holds off for a few more weeks.  It is kinda nice having some separation in the litters.  Also, with the buttermilk I want to have the litters spread out so we can ship at different times instead of having everyone ready at once.

Well, I hope the constant rain comes to a close soon and we get some sunshine to make everything grow.  We need rain, just not every day!  It makes it hard to get anything done!

Have a great day everyone,

Kenny

We were featured in an article for The Farm and Dairy!!!!!

I received a call from a large newspaper for the farming communities here in Ohio a few weeks back asking about the EPRI nutrient conservation program we participated in last year.  The name of the publication is Farm and Dairy and I grew up reading it from time to time as a child.  I was told that they were doing a story on the EPRI project and they wanted to know some more about what I did and what I thought about the program.  

You can read a shortened version of the article on their website at this link Conservation Projects Farm and Dairy.

The article in the actual publication is much larger.  They also used one of the pics off of my blog for the story!  I never dreamed as a kid that I would be part of something that would make the papers.  This is an exciting opportunity to show that good can come from properly implementing programs that link small farms in the rural community to larger corporations and industries.  It allows everyone involved to benefit while helping the environment at the same time. I really hope this program grows and becomes available to more people.  Every day the population of the world grows while the land we have to produce food to feed the growing population is shrinking.  By working together we can produce more food with a smaller footprint without harming the environment.

Please read the article and learn more about it.  It helped us out a lot and has the potential to help more people if the program can be implemented on a larger scale. 

Have a great day everyone!

Customer Party 2015

The forecast right up to the morning of the party called for thunderstorms and lots of wind.  However, I checked the forecast shortly after putting the hog in the roaster and found the forecast to be 100% sunshine and  light breezes!

I was so busy meeting new people and showing the farm that I only took one picture myself and it was the first one here.  All the rest have come from guests to the party.  I want to say thank you to everyone who came and everyone who helped prepare and setup for the party.  I could never get it all done myself and I greatly appreciate all that was done to help.

The Hog Roaster!

The hog was a pretty good sized one this year.  Plenty of food for everyone.  As usual Anthony did a spectacular job of roasting the hog again this year and this one was perfect!  We still have about 20 lbs. of pork in the freezer for later and everyone who came to the party got a "to go" package to take some home with them for later.

Scott and Anthony pulling the pork meat to eat!

I was also very excited to have a new item for everyone to try this year.  A friend of mine that I went to high school with makes soap from scratch by hand using rendered pork and beef fat.  We started supplying her with fat from our animals and she made us a bunch of samples for the party for everyone to have.  We have started using this at home and it is so much better than what you get at the store.  We started using in the winter and I usually have issues with dry skin during the winter regardless of the soap I use.  Once we switched to the natural soap I have not had the dry skin issues anymore.  She makes many types and they are all very good!

If you want any more information on the soap just contact me.  You can also message me on the Conser Run Farm facebook page and I will get you in touch with Michelle.  We would also love feedback from our customers on the soap as well.

Hand made soap made from Conser Run Farm animal fat by Michelle Steele

My Daughter was super excited to get Baby Girl out for everyone to see and pet.  For those of you who follow the blog you should know baby girl very well.  We almost lost her last summer shortly after she was born and she fought her way back from barely breathing to a healthy young calf.  Since we have been her mother the entire time she is super tame and very easy going.  My daughter taught her to lead with the help of our neighbor Aaron.  Baby Girl got to run all over the yard and meet everyone at the party.  The kids were really excited to get to pet her as well.

Lisa showing off Baby Girl to the kids.

The biggest attraction this year though, hands down, were the three day old baby piglets!  They are always very cute when they are young and there was always someone down at the barn checking them out.  I was out in the pasture yesterday feeding and saw them all running out in the lot.  They are double the size they were last weekend already!

Berkshire x Tamworth piglets

After everyone was fully stuffed it was time for the hayride.  Two very lucky young boys got to sit in the buddy seat with their dad in the tractor.  BOTH were super excited and, from feedback after the party, still have not quit talking about it!  The first hay ride was packed and "standing room only" as you can see in the background.

Karl and his son in the "Buddy Seat"

 To give you an idea of how much bigger the cab is on the new tractor you can see Karl's son gazing out of the large windshield at the road ahead.

When we got back it was time for the CAKE!

You can barely see it in the above photo but I did get a tent this year in case of rain.  We rented them from True Value in Minerva and they brought the tables and chairs and tents and set everything up.  They then came and picked it all up the next day.  That alone saved me a huge amount of time and hassle.

It was great having everyone this year and I am already looking forward to next years event.  I hope those of you who couldn't make it this year can make it next year.  We would love to have you!

Have a great day everyone!

Kenny

BABY PIGGIES!!!!!

After a year we finally have baby piggies again.  They are quite cute.  We had 16 in the first litter.  One was stillborn, two runts that only lasted a day and three that got laid on last night due to the cold weather.  So tonight we moved everybody into the barn and turned on the heat lamps.  

The picture above is of the first litter born.  We also had a second litter born tonight.  There were only 8 total in this one and two were still born.  The second litter was smaller but all the piglets were much bigger.  Hopefully everyone learns quick to sleep under the heat lamps and stay away from the big momma's during the night.  

We are rushing to get ready for the party Sunday.  I hope everyone can make it.  Gonna be a fun day and looking forward to seeing everyone and showing everyone all the stuff we added to take better care of the animals and the environment!

If you are coming to the party please let us know so we have enough food ready.  To find us just search "Conser Run Farm" in google maps and it will bring you to our driveway!

Goodnight everyone,

Kenny

Alex's heifer had her first calf last night! Fifty's legacy continues to grow!

Saturday my son and I got to make a trip to the local dealership where I bought my Kubota, Unkefer Equipment Inc.  We needed a couple of hoses made up and he wanted to go along.  While we were waiting for the hoses the owner, who is also the salesman who sold me the tractor, struck up a conversation with Alex.  Just like me, Alex loves to talk and after a few minutes of chatting, Greg (owner) asked him if he would like a new hat.  Just like me, he couldn't say no!

He picked this one because it is Red like the Buckeyes and is the same brand as our old Farmall 706.  He was quite happy!

Another thing that happened Saturday was my Corralburst Crabapple that I have on the corner of the house hit full bloom.  I love this tree and I am slowly training it into a flat disc.  The canopy is currently only 2.5 feet thick from top to bottom but spans almost 12 feet now.   I don't know how big I can get it but I will push it as far as I can!

We have been waiting patiently all week for Alex's heifer, Peanut, to have her calf.  I have been checking her every day for a week.  I did't check last night due to the storms and also getting home extremely late from work.  

Angus Sire  and   Charolais x Angus Dam

Apparently that is what she was waiting for, me not to be around!  I went out tonight to switch pastures and found a beautiful Heifer Calf!!!

Another Legacy Calf

I am super super excited about this one for a few reasons.  First of all, the streak of first calf heifers having heifers for their first calf is unbroken.  Every daughter of Fifty's has had a heifer calf for their first calf.  Further more, every Grand Daughter of Fifty has had a heifer calf for their first calf.  

The second reason I am excited is because it is black.  This is without a doubt one of Legacy's calves.  She is very well built and is quite strong.  I cannot wait to see how she matures. 

My last reason to be excited is this now means that both Lisa and Alex have two females of their own.   They are already well on their way to having a really nice herd by the time they hit college.  Hopefully they learn from this experience as they grow up and can take this knowledge and start out ahead in life and continue to be successful well after I am no longer here to help them.

Pictured above are my two kids, Lisa and Alex and their friend and neighbor Dalton.  They play together a lot and we took him with us to tag the new calf and check the cows tonight.  Hopefully when he gets older he will want to help on the farm.  We can always use the extra help!  They all wanted a picture with the new calf in the background, they were super excited just like me!

Hay season is approaching very fast.  We will be starting in a week or two.  Going to be a hectic first cut but should smooth out after that.   We also have our customer party coming up in a week and a half.  I am looking forward to seeing everyone and hope everyone makes it this year. 

Kenny

Morel mushrooms and another baby calf.

We delivered meat over the weekend and our journey to do so took us to Pataskala Ohio.  On our way back from one of my great friends and loyal customers we stopped by the house of another dear friend of mine.  Every year I make the journey down to Guernsey county to see him and we spend a day mushroom hunting.  Due to everything going on this year I decided I would stop even if only for a couple of hours because I wasn't sure if I would get to go back down again.  

We spent about two hours checking one of our favorite spots.  It is a perennial spot for him and short of one time in 20 years usually doesn't disappoint. 

My buddy Richard showed us a new (not one we usually look for) mushroom.  It is Dryad's Saddle and smells like cucumber when you cut it.   We are going to try it later this week.  Now that I know what it is I am excited because we have a lot of these around here every year. 

Dryad's Saddle mushroom

We were happy to find a small cash of mushrooms.  Not bad for picking for just two hours.  About 67 this time around, not the 500 we had last year but even one is better than none!!

Morel Mushrooms.  Guernsey county 2015.

I was super happy to find another new calf on Saturday evening.  This is Precious, 50's first daughter.  She had a great looking bull this year.  Very nice.  Her first calf was Pearl, her other three have all been bulls.  

I was also happy to get a Picture of Pearl today....with her new baby calf.  It is a big bull this year!  I currently have five more left to calve.  Alex's heifer is due any day now, two in July, one in August, and one in September.  I am excited to see what they turn out to be.

Hay season starts in two weeks!!!   Can't wait to make some hay.  Going to be a fun, and very busy year!

Lastly, for anyone who is coming, our customer party is coming up on the 24th.  We are roasting another whole hog again this year and my wife is fixing up some other sides and some beef as well!  Can't wait to see everyone.  

Kenny

Another calf has joined the herd and a little straw hauling!

One of my Maine Anjou's had her calf over the weekend.  It is another little girl.  That makes seven surviving females and two surviving males this year so far.  Actual count including the three we lost and the one in Montanan that I bred here would be eight females and five males.  I am still believing that maybe I should be in the heifer business instead of the beef business!!  

This little girl is a beautiful calf as well.  Very wide frame and strong as can be.  I have always been excited about thunders calves but I have had a lot more legacy calves this year and he is taking it to another level.  I can't wait to see what the calve look like that come from Legacy crossed with Thunders progeny!  

The neighbor and I took a trip to western Ohio yesterday to pick up some straw for a new customer of mine.  Made for an enjoyable day that was filled with good sites, good company, a trip to Rural King Ohio, and lots of beautiful warm sunshine!

I was hoping to get 300 bales on the trailer.  However, these were longer bales than what I am used to hauling so we topped out at 8 layers high and 262 bales.   It took every strap I had to tie it all down.  Next time I will get my 300 on there, just need to be a little more creative!

Lastly, I am trying out some new software for the farm.  It is called CATTLEMAX and is an online service for tracking cattle information.  Looking forward to making all my cattle records 'mobile' so I can access and update on the go where ever I am!  I will try to remember to post some info on it as I get into the program.  I just started yesterday so I have some inputting to do before I can really test it out.

 Still six more calves due here and one more in Montana.  I need a few more bulls to round out the year for the freezer beef sales!!   Hoping Precious will have hers tomorrow, she is looking pretty close today.  The rest will be spread out over the summer and finish in the fall.  

Have a great night everyone! 

Kenny