Welcome Aster and Gertie!

Uh oh! More goats?!?

Yes!

This morning we climbed into the (almost) goat-proofed camper and made our way down to Massachusetts to pick up two more goats: Aster and Gertie. These girls came from the Hillman Farm in Colrain, MA, which is home to ~30 CAE-free, SFCP-tagged dairy goats. The girls rode fairly well in the van, but it soon became obvious which of the two personalities was dominant: Gertie's. While Aster tried to sleep and be a good goat, Gertie nipped at her ears and moved her from one side of the camper to the other. When she wasn't bossing Aster around, she was pawing at the floor to hoard the hay between her legs. What a nut! Despite Gertie's behavior, the ride went smoothly and the girls arrived home three hours after their departure.

When we opened the van's door, Gertie jumped out ready to go, while Aster sat passively chewing her cud. She didn't see a reason to get out, and it even took some coaxing with grain.

Aster needs a reason to get out of the van.

We let the girls out into the upper paddock, and, as per their breeder's suggestion, we moved Grant to the lower paddock so they could establish some social relationships without Grant's horns.

Gertie poses while Grant looks on from the lower paddock.

Aster poses with a mouth-full of hay.

These girls are exactly what we were looking for when Hops passed last weekend. They're 3 1/2 years old, primarily Alpine with a little Nubian, and neither one is bred. Aster is still milking, so we can dry her off or continue milking her, while Gertie is dried off. Both have freshened every year, and so we're giving them the year to take a break.

Now we're just keeping our fingers crossed that Grant will integrate without abusing the girls with his horns. Hopefully they (and we) will be able to figure out the goat social hierarchy without too many injuries, and our goat herd will be viable once again.

I think I even heard someone on the farm say they were looking forward to milking again. Maybe next year there will be kids, and that means milk, and milk means chevre! But at least we have the option and Grant has company.

Oh, Goats! I guess we just can't live without them!

Mama Hops

I came home this weekend to the news that Mama Hops had passed overnight. Unlike our previous goat losses this year, this one I was (somewhat) prepared for; Hops had shown signs of CAE since September. She began coughing and wheezing this fall, and her symptoms only progressed as we approached Thanksgiving. After a few vet visits and little progress, we decided last week we would call the vet and have her put down this week. And then last Thursday she ate a cup of grain for the first time in several days; things were looking up, at least for a day. Saturday night she began panting again, and Sunday morning she was gone. No matter how prepared I thought I was, it was still difficult to hear that the once feisty Hops was no more.

Hops came to our farm in June of 2008. It was our first experience with a real farm animal, and she knew it. She loved challenging us that first summer, chasing us around the field, rearing up when we'd come into the field, even tossing a few guests off their feet. She was strong and dominant and, quite frankly, a big pain.

Hops - Summer 2008

We had her bred that first fall, and in April we had our first experience with animal birthing. For a whole week prior to her freshening (giving birth) I was a nervous wreck. We even camped out in the barn one night in hopes we might be present for the birth. I waited and waited, and every morning there was still just Hops.

One week before freshening (3/29/09).

And then, one night, after about two days of laying down and grunting, I saw the first real signs of labor. She was up and down, pushing and grunting, for about two hours before I finally saw any real progress: a hoof and a nose. She pushed and pushed and then out came a head, and only a head. The poor kid had one hoof back and was stuck! As I waited nervously, not knowing what I to do to help pull him out, she strained and pushed for a good 30 minutes before he was finally out. About an hour later she began the process again, and within the hour she had two more wet, wobbly kids on the ground. Triplets!

Penny, Sherman, and Grant (4/8/09)

Hops was a pretty attentive mother, and after freshening she mellowed a bit.

Hops nursing Sherman and Grant (4/09)

The triplets enjoy the spring sunshine.

After freshening she was milked twice a day for 11 months. A heavy producer, she gave us a gallon of milk a day during her peak production, which we turned into chevre, mozzarella, feta, ricotta, and the like (-avoid goat butter!). We made chowders and custards, and we even attempted ice cream. The last bit of cheese still sits in our freezer, waiting to conjure memories of our milking past.

While I must admit there were occasions when we thought life would be simpler without having to deal with Hops, I don't regret a day of tussling, dragging, or chasing. She was smart and challenging, but she had personality. She taught us patience and persistence and how to milk. She loved bananas and apples and a good scratch on her neck. And you knew she was happy when she smiled.

Over the past few months, as her illness progressed, Hops still smiled.

The Seasons have Changed...

Cedar has a new house...

Cedar has new friends...

But his friends don't quite like him yet...

Here are six of the seven ewes who are in with Cedar...

And here are some of the non-breeders...

The first day Cedar was introduced to the ladies he spent most of the time chasing them with his lip curled up, but not one ewe was even remotely interested in him. I'm sure they're just getting used to the new scent in the field.

Lamb...

The meat keeps coming...

After driving over the hill to pick up 900 lbs of pork on Saturday, we spent much of the day re-organizing freezers to fit our share in and make room for the lamb. Luckily Shetlands are small, otherwise I'm not so sure we'd be able to fit all four into our freezers this weekend when we drive back over the hill to pick them up from the butcher's.

We've had a busy few weeks here, and most of our time has been spent re-building the little three-sided shed that Xavier tore down last April. The shed had been part of a 24' x 24' corral that we've also tried resurrecting, which will primarily be used for sorting sheep.

Today, in preparation for the lambs' departure tomorrow, I got a chance to use the new corral system. It worked! Within 30 minutes (including picture time!) I was able to sort the "lamb" from the sheep. Cedar (our new ram) was very easy to work with, and the hog panels were a nice psychological barrier for me.

Speaking of lamb...tomorrow afternoon I get to introduce Cedar to his new ladies! I think in recent years I've begun looking forward to this day more than my own birthday. This is when I can begin day-dreaming of Shetland lambs in April and all of their genetic possibilities. This is when I can actually use all of those biology classes and work through the genotypes and potential phenotypes of next year's lambs. I am so glad we have a breed of sheep that allows such day-dreams and excitement!

So, here he is...

Cedar and Otto (whether) enjoy the new shed. Cedar would prefer it if you ignored his burs.

Cedar will be grouped with all seven breed-able ewes tomorrow: Clover, Crystal, Mocha, Poa, Wynona, Kira, and Maggie.

I'll post more pictures of later this week.

Fall Harvest...

Well I can't say that we harvested many vegetables this year, but the meat we grew may not fit in the freezer!

The pigs went to the butcher last Wednesday and should be ready for pick-up at the end of next week. All five were slaughtered here at the farm and the halves were taken over to Sutton, Vermont to be cut into parts and sent off to the smoke house.

On Friday night I called the butcher and made our requests for hams, hocks, bacon, and a variety of seasoned sausages. And while I've certainly eaten my fair share of pork in the past, I've never realized where the cuts came from on the carcass nor the combination of cuts that are possible from one pig. After a 30-minute conversation with the butcher our five pigs had been broken down into chops, roasts, ribs, hams, and the like.

How big were they? Last year's pigs were between 145 and 162 hanging weight, and we raised them for exactly the same length of time and fed them the same amount per pig as this year's pigs. Somehow (most likely due to a good breeding program) these pigs averaged 30 lbs more meat per carcass. The smallest weighed 160, three came in at ~180, and the big pig was 192 lbs! Considering that hanging weight averages 68% of the live weight, these pigs would have been well over 250 lbs after only 22 weeks.

The lambs are scheduled to go November 2nd, and the turkeys will go shortly thereafter.

As for other farm news, I've been working on rebuilding the small shed that Xavier knocked over last April. In addition the shed we'll be adding a sheep corral system that will hopefully help handling the flock more manageable. I'll post pictures when it's finished.

Where did the summer go? Fall is here!

LITTLE EWE, LITTLE EWE

Well, the ewes are almost all grown up. Except for Madeleine who still insists on nursing at 5 months(!), and Kira who allows it(!), the baby girls are starting to look and act like the big girls.

Edna Beard (Mocha x Xavier)

Clarina and Annette (Poa x Xavier)

Madeleine (Kira x Xavier)

The boys are scheduled to go in the freezer in early November, and at that time I'll break the ewes up and ship half over to Cedar to see what he can produce. I'm hoping to breed 7 this year, but I'll have to see if Clover can put on some weight before then. She's the only one who's a little thin, and it may be worth giving her a year off after two years with single rams.

TURKEY DINNER?

We slaughtered our BIG tom for Labor Day and got a taste of our first-raised broad breasted white. While we enjoyed the meat (all 22 lbs at 16 weeks), we don't think we'll raise this breed again. Part of the reason he went into the oven so soon was because he literally was having a hard time walking around enjoying life like the rest of the flock. The rest will go in November.

GOAT, GOAT...

Hops and Grant have been busily munching all our browse in the big field. Both enjoy a good scratch, and Hops has been much more mellow lately.

Drumstick? Thigh? 10 lb chicken?

Gus's favorite part of the day. The chickens know it's dinner time when they see Gus!

The second batch of meat birds is ready to go. The first batch was put in the freezer in August and averaged just over 6 lbs a piece at 9 weeks. This batch will be 11 weeks this weekend, and we expect them to be a least a pound or two larger this time around.

PIG, PIG, PIG...PIG, PIG

The pigs have been busy taking down small saplings and rooting up their pen, but recently they've begun gnawing on much larger trees! They seem to prefer the maples - I can't blame them.

After measuring their heart girths yesterday I think the pigs are ready to go, but they're not scheduled to go until Oct. 12th. My best estimate for weight based on the measuring system is between 230 and 260 lbs! Last year's pigs were just about 200 lbs a piece, so we'll have plenty of pork for our freezer this year!

Things are Changing

Things on the farm are always changing, but June is often the busiest month, and this year was no exception. The chores have really increased with all of the new meat animals scattered around the property, but Gus doesn't mind.


Not much has changed with the lamb flock, except their size. Everyone seems to be growing nicely, and some of the ewe lambs are starting to get brave enough to sniff me out in the open. Here are today's photos of the lambs.

Mocha's Ram - Meat Sheep #1

Mocha's Ewe - Edna Beard

Clover's Ram (a.k.a. One Horn) - Meat Sheep #2

Crystal's Wether - Robbert Stafford

Crystal and HST lambs - Meat Sheep #3 and Robbie

Poa and her ewes - Annette Parmalee and Clarina Nicholes

Kira's twins - Meat Sheep #4 and Madeleine Kunin

The first real change on the farm is the arrival of our new ram! Cedar comes to us from Pike Hill Farm in Plymouth, New Hampshire. He is a stunning two-year-old solid black ram with excellent fleece and a perfect tail. This October we'll breed Cedar to all seven ewes - if we can convince Wynona it's a good idea - and we'll keep the four ewe lambs and Lwaxana open. I really can't wait for Cedar lambs next Spring - even if it is only July!

The turkeys have made it out to the sun porch. A few weeks ago we opened the door and out they went. They really enjoy roosting outside in the fresh air. Soon they'll be out on grass eating bugs! I think they're starting to look like real Thanksgiving birds.

The new layers are enjoying the brooder all to themselves. After kicking the meat birds out on Friday they have much more room to flap around and stretch. All ten New Hampshire Reds seem to be doing quite well. In another week or two we'll try introducing them to the big flock.

This week we finally got the meat birds out on pasture after building a PVC pipe tractor. This light-weight house is much easier to move than our old tractor, and the tarp seems to provide better shade than the old tractor's roof. The birds are still getting used to coming in and out of the door, but with Gus's help we're able to lock everyone in for the night.
Not much has changed with the pigs. They are growing large and are enjoying their new trough. Here are all five at breakfast.

Lastly, our goat herd has sadly changed. Of the three triplets born in April 2009, only Grant remains. We lost Sherman last week to a horrible case of bloat. Sherman was the baby in birth order only. He was anti-social towards humans, yet he was calm and willing on a lead - unusual for a goat, really. He loved sweet treats, and in the end we suspect it was the dampened clover that did him in.

Grant - Hops's remaining kid

Well, that's it for farm news. Hopefully this month will be less eventful. The biggest item on the to-do list this month is tag the lambs, which will be our first tagging experience, and I'm hoping that will go as smoothly as vaccinating.

The Gang's All Here!

Today all 73 chicks arrived in the mail. One died in transit, but the rest seem to be happily pecking food and chirping around the brooder. We have 10 New Hampshire Reds to replace some old layers and the rest are Cornish Roasters - meat birds!

Day-old chicks gather under the heat lamp.

The turkeys are getting quite large. Some of them have begun strutting and acting like big toms!

The pigs are also growing large these days. They seem to be surviving the heavy rain and flies.

And then there are the sheep...

I can't get into the field without Maddie chasing me down. Every time I look down, this is what I see

Too cute!

And then I get attacked from the other side by this little wether.

Robbie is just as friendly as his mom!

Mocha lounges with her lambs: Edna and Ram Lamb

Clover's ram lamb decided to tear off one of his horns this weekend. He seems to be fine, but he looks like he was in a brutal fight.

The prettiest ewe glows gold in the sun: Clarina.

Lambs love grass...

The sheep are loving the May grass, and the lambs are growing quickly.

We've decided to keep five of this year's lambs - four ewes and one wether.

Above: Robert Stafford (the wether) and Crystal

Mocha's ewe - Edna Beard

Kira's twins: Ram lamb and Maddie

Clover's ram

Maggie has turned out to be quite a lovely sheep. This was the one ewe that was born last year.