Farm Fodder

Contrary to what you might think, this post is not about holidays.
My son, being a witty young llad, has named the 2 remaining tom turkeys “Thanksgiving” and ‘Christmas”.

My dilemma of course, is which one I should keep -
You see, I thought it was understood that we were going to keep them both and I would put them both in the freezer. However, my lovely wife offered one of them (or was talked into offering one) for sale to a new customer. They wanted a fresh chicken every week - but we had to explain to them that we take orders for chickens early in the season, buy them, raise them and then have people come over to get them - and I will butcher them for them when they come, if needed. So, I think she decided to sell one to this customer as a consolation for not having any chickens to sell them.

So the question remains, which one should I keep for myself? Thanksgiving or Christmas? Quite honestly, I do not want to part with either. But a decision must be made.

I guess I’ll have to “weigh” the decision carefully. That will tell all…

It is very beautiful outside - no rain, just sunshine. We are filling the bee feeders and getting them ready for what could be a very cold, long winter. Every day above 50 we fill the feeders to make sure that they will have enough stores to get them through until Spring.

The chickens are molting. Very sad. We usually sell between 10-16 dozen eggs a week and now we’re lucky to get 2 . . . and we’re not even getting farm fresh pastured poultry eggs ourselves!!! During the summer when we were getting 4 dozen a day, we ate a lot of angel food cakes, egg dishes and boiled eggs - it was marvelous. Hopefully it won’t be long before they have new feathers and start producing again. The hens and roosters in the brooders are doing fantastic. Not one has met with any mishaps. 4 more months to eggs.

The loving, gentle Houdini goat we have is now staying in his pen. Pat had to change the 6 wire electric fence to field fence with a hot wire on top. No other goat that we’ve ever had has gone thru it - until this one. He won’t stay in. Those ladies next door are far too appealing to worry about danger of shock. I’m not sure how many of the ladies are now bred. We meant to breed them to him - all except 2 of them - but in our timing. We attend every birth and assist if necessary. We need to know the exact date. So, we’ll be watching them all for signs in 21 days to see if they come into heat again. I sure hope so . . .

I am tagging all the goat milk, honey and beeswax products that we make to get them ready for a 3 day boutique that we attend every year at the Drawbridge Inn on Buttermilk Pike called Keepsake Christmas. This is it’s 24th year and it is an amazing show. No booths - just an entire hotel area full of different seasonal sections. Decorated with everything that is for sale. What awesome artwork and decorations are put up for display. And it doesn’t cost anything to get in! It’s my favorite show that we do. Although I love the educational aspect to sitting in my booth talking to people about the health benefits of our farm products made fresh for them with our herbs, honey, beeswax, goat’s milk and no chemicals, preservatives, etc. - it’s pleasant for people to shop without being bombarded with vendors at multiple tables/booths. They can wander at leisure and ask questions from the workers there - but don’t have to if they don’t want to. Very relaxing shopping.

We’ve sold all but two of our puppies and Jessie gets to rest for at least a year and a half - if not forever. We love our dogs and don’t want to breed just to breed. We love our Northwest Farm Terriers!

I must get to homeschooling, getting product ready for the show, making some bread and some cheese. It’s never ending - but what a blessed life I have! All the best food, entertainment (ever watch goats in the cool air - frisky and fun), and peaceful atmosphere. I never want to be a city girl again!

To Your Health,

Marilyn

We truly love our dogs. We have a pair of NorthWest Farm Terriers - a relatively new breed comprised of a specified blending of 5 different breeds. The Welsh Corgi, Irish Terrier, Airedale, Jack Russell Terrier and the Border Collie. This combination makes for the perfect farm dog - loyal, good protector, good herder, obedient, quick-witted, fast learner, task oriented, playful and full of love.

We were asked to breed our dogs in order to help perpetuate the breed. We have bred Jessie twice, and each time, we all go through “puppy withdrawal” as the last one leaves our home.

Yesterday was one of those days.

Marilyn had called me to say that someone was coming to look at the last puppy. When I arrived home, two teenagers were carrying out the puppy as the mother was completing “the transaction” - getting shot info, bags of puppy food for transitioning to other food, last minute information on the dog, etc.,.

I was pleasant as the ladies chatted, smiling on the outside - but inside, I was feeling the same thing my two sons, ages 9 & 11, were feeling - empty nest syndrome…

They took Nathan’s email address, promising to send him pictures.  It is always hardest on Nathan - he loves every creature born on the farm, and I think he loves the puppies the most. He plays with all of them, gives them all their “temporary names” and just plain snuggles with them. I know the loss he feels as each one goes to their new owner, and I share his pain. But deep inside, I know that he still loves his Buddy and his Jessie.

And I know that Buddy’s big hugs will heal his wounds…

Our NorthWest Farm Terriers can be seen here

For more information on the breed, please go to:

www.northwestfarmterrier.com/info.php

– Pat

FDA federal food inspectors are detaining imports from China for testing the milk -

Why do we continue to import foods from other nations when there are farmers in our communities that we can get to know, can trust, and will provide us with fresh, wholesome, healthy foods?

Is the lust for rare foods, and the need to have immediate access to foods so important that we would gamble our health, livelihood and very life for the “convenience” of what the supermarket can offer?

We should seriously consider befriending a farmer or two. Get to know them. Ask them how they grow their crops. Ask them how to make the foods keep longer, stay fresher.

You’ll be glad you did…

As a family concerned with the foods we eat and the things we put on our skin, we grow a lot of our own food and make our own soaps, lotions, etc.,.

We now have a website dedicated to our product line, which we firmly believe is a better alternative to what big corporations offer - and our customers think so, too.
But that’s not what this blog is about…

Did you know that the milk from genetically altered goats will soon be in grocery stores?

And what about genetically modified pigs & salmon?

Here is an excerpt from an article posted on the Consumer advocacy group “Center for Food Safety” (you can check out their website - it’s in my blogrole):

“Genetically engineered animals may be heading to your local supermarket faster than you think. Though creating animals in a lab sounds like science fiction, it’s happening right now: Genetically engineered super salmon, which grow twice as fast as normal farmed salmon, goats engineered with spider genes to produce silk in their milk, and pigs engineered with mouse and bacterial DNA to improve digestion.”

WOW!!!

So, do you want to drink milk from a cross between a spider and a goat? How about pork from pigs crossed with mouse and bacterial DNA?

And did you know that the  USDA finds it unnecessary to LABEL the foods indicating that they are genetically altered???

Come back every now and then and look for more agri-news about the space-age technologies used to “improve” our foods, that will , in the long run, wind up causing illnesses yet unknown!

–Pat

Sometimes I wear my nerves raw - usually from worrying about… “The Schedule”

See, I have this silly notion that, I can plan projects on our little farm - and actually meet the schedule for them.

If you’ve been following this blog at all, you should know that schedules don’t exactly “mesh” with farm life.

We had 3 craft shows this last weekend and in the midst of all the planning, when I had just returned home from a craft show the previous week, I received a phone call from someone. This person had found our little farm on the web, and was wanting to bring his wife - who was celebrating a birthday, to visit us.

I called Marilyn, who was at another show, and asked if we could do this, since we would be doing 3 craft shows that weekend.

Well, she had the same opinion I did - “I think it would be okay - how sweet that he wanted to give her something for her birthday that she would really like.”

So we put this on our schedule, too.  4 events - one including an on-farm, in-home visit. WOW. Are we insane, or what.

As the week progressed, the young man called back - on Thursday, to firm up the “appointment” - 10AM Sunday morning - and he was very excited that Marilyn offered to wait on the milking until they arrived.

They arrived around 10AM and - we had a wonderful time visiting with them. We really enjoy telling people what we have learned, and share some of our dreams with them. It is even better when the people you are sharing with are excited. These 2 couples were polite, truly interested in what we do, and all asked questions and took turns milking goats. After they left, Marilyn and I talked - and we realized that we are really blessed - blessed with what we have, with the people that stop in to visit and with the life that we have chosen to lead.

We would like to say “Happy Birthday!” and “thanks” to our visitors, who helped us realize what we have - and for the blessing that they gave us, too…

–Pat

Now that I get home from work at 5:30PM (EST), I have about an hour of sun light in which to do any outdoor activities. Included in this 1 hour time frame is milking goats, shutting in goats and chickens for the night, making sure that the goats have hay, greeting my family (1 wife, 2 sons) and anything else that I need to get “caught up on” ( I put this phrase in parentheses, since it has become both the joke and bane of my existence).

Along with shoveling, feeding, milking, etc., there is still a considerable amount of weeding, fence building or mending, barn additions, winter chicken housing, greenhouse mending (thanks to Ike, our friendly hurricane-in-passing last month), wood stacking, wood splitting, watering, planting (winter crops to be grown in the basement with the pellet stove and lights), house maintenance, yard cleanup and other assorted duties that even urban dwellers must contend with every day.

Add to that, auto repairs and craft shows - This is a very busy season for us, since all of the high schools in the Greater Cincinnati area run craft shows in the fall, holiday season. We have a lot of “value-added” products we make, like soap and lotion with our dairy goat’s milk, candles, lip balms, lotion bars, etc., with the beeswax from our bee hives, honey - bottled and labeled for sale - you get the picture.

We figure we could spend a few dollars for “advertising” at craft shows - with the cost of our booth - and actually make some money out of the deal. We wind up getting paid for “advertising” in a certain neighborhood, so we select our “targeted markets” (craft shows) so that we get personal exposure in the entire 275 beltway, which encompasses the Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati areas.

Anyway, we have at least 1 craft show per weekend, and in some cases, 2 - starting around the first weekend of October and running into early December. Whenever we have more than 1 craft show per weekend, Marilyn and I split up, and I take the lesser show.

This week, it has caused a bit of stress… You see, we have a craft show in Northern KY that we have to stock, but they provide the people to run the show, and run the cash registers - so we aren’t necessarily obligated to attend, just setup, tear down, and volunteer for a certain number of hours. As a result, we now have 2 additional craft shows this weekend - both on Saturday, in different locations, and, to top it all off, my front brakes are shot and I need to replace them.

I was going over my schedule for the week, to see where I could fit in my front brake job, as I got into my F250 3/4 ton 4wd truck to head to work. I turned the key and “click” it said -”Huh?’ I said. “CLICK” it said again, as I turned off, and back on the ignition key.

Well, that was a good indication that the truck was NOT going to start for me. Probably corroded wires, since the Starter Relay responded. But, I have to take time to investigate - and it’s Tuesday already!

So, in order to do this show on Saturday, which is in Ohio, I now have to fix the starter system on the truck so it’ll “get up and go”, and I have to replace the front brake pads, so it’ll stop. Plus, I have to do all of the day-to-day things aforementioned - all in 1 hour of daylight.

Looks like I need to buy halogen work lights and a lot of coffee…

It’s beautiful weather right now. Even though we are into November, the past four days or so have been absolutely gorgeous. With highs in the mid to upper 60’s, and now into the 70’s for the next 4 days, it couldn’t be better for getting caught up on the outside work.

We are feeding the bees now - every morning we put out a 2 to 1 ratio of sugar water. With a solid week and 1/2 of this, the bees should have ample stores for winter.

I still have a little bit of fencing to do. I swapped out electric high-tensil for 49″ high field fence, with a single high-tensil electric wire running across the top. Both long sides of the boys’ paddock is done, and I still have the short end to do. Hope to get that wrapped up tonight.

So far so good, though. Since I did the long fences (finished yesterday), Jacob, our pesky nubian buck has not escaped. That means I can focus my attention elsewhere - and possibly get some things done.

I still have to sink the posts for my solar panel rack, frame the end walls of the greenhouse and patch the tear in the plastic, and move the chickens in there for winter housing.

- Pat

With a background in electronics, computer hardware, software, and networking, I have developed a knack for troubleshoot things. Sometimes, on the farm - it isn’t quite that easy.

Dealing with “electrically alive” systems is NOT the same as dealing with “biologically alive” systems. There are some things I just don’t know, or understand about the biological systems - but then, I might add, neither do the geneticists that insist on tampering with the natural rhythm of life on this planet and destroying natural species of plant and animal - or modifying them without fully considering the repercussions of those alterations - but… I’m walking down a bunny trail here.

The “system” in this case is the chicken, and the issue is the mysterious loss of eggs. Eggs from our 70+ hens. Normal output is approximately 4 dozen of these little golden treasures on any given day.

We have had chickens for about 3 years now, and they don’t seem to be a mystery to us any longer - or should I say, they didn’t seem to be a mystery. We have read numerous books, done research on the web, and of course - we have at least 3 years of experience…

We have had lapses in laying in the summer due to weather changes, or stress ( like when the boys forget to water them in the middle of summer and it’s 90 degrees outside), or because of the decrease of light-hours per day. But I must admit, that all my troubleshooting prowess had failed me miserably on this issue.

We were missing eggs!! No, the farm dogs didn’t get them and no animals got them - there were no telltale signs.. .like the cracked pieces of shells left over. Plus, when a varmint gets eggs, they usually like them so much… they come back for the layer!

Anyway, the chickens had been down in production for about 2 weeks. I did notice that there were a lot of feathers around - more than usual - but I didn’t put 2 + 2 together. I had sent the boys on an egg hunt - to the hay barn, out in the fallow pasture where there are tall grass and some weeds - all of the places that chickens like to hide eggs ( but where we always find them).

It wasn’t until I received an email this morning from my lovely wife that everything came back into perspective - the chickens were molting!

Well, of course they were! I had read up on this phenomena; once a year, they will lose all of the feathers and replenish them. A new coat - and it takes all of their energy to manufacture it. We had this happen 2 summers ago, but it was not to this extent - not all hens molted, and it was in summer. We are in the middle of an out-and-out revolt! I mean “remolt“! It seems that this year, all 70+ hens decided to  molt at the same time!!!

Well, I have to explain this to our customers who have been very happy with egg delivery - until the last 2 weeks. And I have to tell them that it could last a couple of weeks longer.

I guess once you get over 50 - the first troubleshooting step should be to make sure your own memory system is functioning normally before attempting to troubleshoot any other type of system. And if it’s a biological system - all bets are off…

Pat

We recently purchased a Nubian Buck goat.

For those of you that may be unfamiliar with the term “buck”, it is a male which is capable of breeding. If it was a “fixed” male, it would be called a “wether” - but, I digress.

This young buck has discovered a certain scent in the air - the young does that have come into heat.

Now, we have electric fence to keep the goats contained in their own paddocks. The boys have their own paddock, the girls have their own paddock, we have another paddock for them to “browse” or “graze” in, and they are all contained, safely, away from our fruit orchard, bee yard, etc.,. - You get the picture.

Anyway, since this young buck has discovered the young ladies in waiting, he has decided that to be close to them is worth the sacrificial shocking of his life.

I have found him, numerous times, in the girls’ paddock and have had to literally drag him out - back to the boys’ yard. I now have to re-fence the boys paddock to avoid this inefficient use of my time. Once that is accomplished, I should not have this issue.

In order for you to fully understand this young buck’s attitude and persistance, I must, however recall the day we brought this young buck home. He instantly ran through the electric fencing, so I put him in a 4 foot high dog kennel so I could better determine what to do with him.
I was given approximately 3 minutes time to make that determination, since he jumped over the 4 foot high fence. There he was - hanging by one foot - caught in the fencing. I had to run down, hold his foot with one hand ( to keep him from ripping his hoof off), while attempting to free his foot from the entanglement.  I yelled to Sam, my youngest, to get wire cutters off of my workbench as quickly as possible.

By the time Sam arrived with wire cutters in hand, I had freed the fleet-footed mad-deer and was holding him.

My next brainstorm was… let’s tie him to the tree! I took a 24 foot dog chain ( wire cable) and attached it to his collar and wrapped it around the tree.

“That ought to hold him” I said with a victorious shout. Within 15 minutes time, he had broken the collar off of his neck and I had to catch him - again - with nothing to grab onto!!!

By the way, at this point, I should describe what bucks are like during mating season - they are in, what is termed, “rut”. They will pee on their beards and front legs - to give them that distinguished, and irresistible scent that all the lady goats would die for ( or maybe from, considering the stench).

Anyway, here I was, holding this extremely smelly goat which - oh, yeah, by the way - did I tell you he is really lovable and friendly? Yes, this whole time, he is rubbing against me much like a cat - with that scent rubbing onto me and my clothing - and all the while, I’m trying to think what to do with him as dusk and nightfall were approaching. I had visions of standing, all night, holding onto this beast because I didn’t want him to escape, run down the hill and get killed in the street by a fast moving vehicle.

I wasn’t worried so much about the financial loss, as I was of having to tell our friends that sold him to us - their goats are a part of their family and I’d hate to have one of their close relatives get hurt and then have to explain that. They would never forgive me - let alone sell us another goat. And we had already planned to buy 2 nice Nubian females from her in the next week or two!

I yelled for Sam and Nathan (Nathan had just arrived home with his mother, after selling at a craft show all day) to find me another collar. I caught the buck, and wrapped the chain around his neck choker-chain style to hold him until they returned.

They did return - with a collar that would hold him. I found a dog tie-out stake (2 feet long to be driven in the ground), drove it into the ground inside the boys’ paddock, attached a big nylon rope to the ring of the stake and tied it to his collar.

After a night and day tied, just within reach of the electric fence that the boys’ paddock shared with the girls’ paddock, he had learned his ‘lesson’ (or so I thought) of the electric fence. He had stuck his nose into the fence a few times and did not want to go within 6 inches of it.

Of course, that was before the girls’ started calling to him and he smelled their wonderful perfume. He is a teenage boy goat through-and-through, and would gladly take the shock of his life for a closer look - and touch!

Fence posts, fence wire, here I come - and I will top it off with a strand of high-tensil electric fence wire - to shock him if he tries to climb over!!!

That ought to hold him!  My famous last words….