Letting the Cows Out!

Now that the weather is warmer and the grass is green, most of the cows stay outside all the time. That left the barnyard empty yesterday. So, we let my little Holly outside for a rip. She was pretty tentative at first, but then she absolutely loved it! She raced around and around the barnyard, happy as a lark. She held her little tail high up in the air! She hadn't been allowed outside before now because her horn wounds are still quite sensitive and healing. But the yard was empty, we closed the gates so she couldn't get out anywhere. After about 5 minutes of just running, she slowed her pace and started snooping around everywhere! She was so curious. I think the poor thing was getting bored in her pen. This doesn't mean that she will go outside every day now, but at least we know she loves it (who doesn't love it outside?)!

To Work The Dirt Beneath Your Feet

Its lovely that the earth has dried out enough that I can accomplish some work now. It was so wet for the longest time, but after a week of sunny weather, the garden was finally ready to be tilled. Planting indoors has slipped by me slightly, and today I got caught up. Indoors, I started some cucumbers, zuchinnis, melons, squash, herbs (for the 3rd try) and my popcorn. I didn't plant a lot of the first bit of the list, as most will be directly sown after the end of May. But I was antsy and decided to try started some indoors. Outdoors, I also did some planting. I put in a small "salad bowl" patch, with onions, early carrots, dill, radish, kohlrabi, turnip, kale, spinach, chard, lettuce and spinach. These are all early plants that can take the colder ground and a light frost. Actually most of them thrive in the cooler temperatures. All those fresh veggies just make me sooo hungry. I get so sick of the hydroponic vegetables from the store, theres nothing like eating from your own garden! Last week I planted my strawberry plants and my cherry trees. The strawberry plants went in a foot away from each other. For the cherry trees, I dug a circle, fairly bigger than the size of the tree, loosened the earth and put some well rotted manure in the hole. I try to water the trees every second day. I just have to keep an eye on the weather for frost, so I can cover them if need be. In about three weeks the real planting push will be on!

The Great Chicken Adventure: 5 Weeks Old

Grow. Eat. Drink. Poop.

This is the stage that my chickens are currently at - along with a "terrible twos" - type curiosity. The chickens were beginning to fight a lot at feeding time a couple of days ago. I either needed to buy a larger feeder, which is about $40, or be creative a make one, and of course, the latter was my preferred option. We had some old wood kicking around, and I used that to create a basic trough, and centered on top I nailed a 1 1/2" wide sapling (to prevent them from sitting inside the feeder. The trough I made is about 6 feet long and will last them until it rots. Making a waterer isn't so simple, so I believe a purchase may be necessary. Some other coop developments include a heat lamp reduction - there is only one going at night now. I have also painted some planters for flowers out front of the chicken coop. In one week the chickens will be eating a 2:1 ratio of the starter feed they are currently on, and the grower feed which must be introduced into their diet. I have put more time into trying to socialize the chickens. Most of them don't mind me picking them up, Rob the Rooster is still my preferred bird. I think my rooster count is up to 6, with possibly more coming. Its incredible how some are so definitely roosters, while others take so long to make their gender known.
See for yourself how much they have grown!

The Great Chicken Adventure: 1 Month Old

Well time flies, and that's a fact. My chickens are already a whole month old - and you can tell their age by how much they've grown. Ive spent several hours the past week engaging them. They've become friendly and curious. I have one chicken that is completely comfortable sitting on my knee. He likes his chin being rubbed and his feathers stroked. He's the bravest, and he shows it off to his coop-mates by the way he stands up so proudly on my knee and makes these cluck/peeping noises. The roosters are by far more bold than the hens, from what I can see. The males are making themselves known by the lovely red combs that they are developing on the tops of their heads, and by the red beards that are starting in on the bottom of their chins. They all get quite excited when you twirl heads of hay between your fingers, they all come and chase it till they can get it from me. Then they take off running, with the others chasing trying to steal the hay from whoever has it. Its like a game of football! (If Ive said it once, Ive said it a hundred times - "who needs tv?"). Some more developments have been made within the coop. I have one heat lamp completely off and the temperature is fine for them. I will have to upgrade to a larger feeder by next week - as they are getting so large they really crowd around it. I have painted the outside of the coop, a nice grey blue, because that was what I found in the garage. I have to paint the trim still and that will be white. The poor chickens will be put to the back burner as soon as the planting begins - then it will be morning and night chores, and that's it!

This is my friendly rooster (he might stick around to service the coop in the fall)

Family photo

Playing with the seed heads on the hay

Here you can see the beard and comb growing in - and that makes him a rooster!

Comments From the Coop

Tis The Season to Start Planting (Indoors)!

I feel like of all the things I try, this is the one I have the worst luck with - starting veggie plants indoors. This is year three, and Im hoping the "3rd times a charm" rings true. This year Ive got a wonderful weapon on my side - the infamous grow light. In the past my tomatoes and pepper plants have grown ghastly tall and scraggly, always reaching for the light they cant get enough of. Ive started my plants that all require 6-8 weeks of growth before being transplanted outside. I plan to plant my garden the first week of June, which is usually after the last frost. So my tomatoes are on week 2 now. I also have cabbage in, ground cherries, some herbs, a couple flowers. The majority of my tomatoes germinated the first time around, but the ones that didn't I replanted last week. Im waiting for them to germinate. Its a tricky balance of watering too much and not watering enough. I try to check and water as needed in the mornings. The grow light stays on overnight and they get natural sunlight through the window during the day. This week I have to plant my melons and squashes and my popcorn - along with the last of my herbs and some turnip. My only issue is that Im running out of space to put them all. Maybe a greenhouse will be an investment for the future..

Mornin' Chorin'

Let me start off by saying:

This basically sums up morning choring!
Actually, I find it quite fulfilling doing chores up at the farm in the morning. The smell of a barn wakes you up with a stronger smell than fresh brewed coffee! I hear the rooster crowing. The barn cat rubs up against your leg, awaiting his snack of milk for breakfast. The cows are mooing, eager to get outside and check the weather.
Theres lots of stuff to do when you've got a barn of cows to care for. Now that I have Holly, my little Jersey cow, I go up every morning to help with the chores. Along with her in the barn there are 4 Jersey ladies, one more female Jersey calf, 2 one year old Jersey males, 7 Hereford females and 3 fresh and new Hereford calves. Its a very complicated routine to get everybody looked after in the mornings - each cow has its own needs depending on age and breed, but I will try to generalize the process.
1. Scoop poop and refresh bedding
2. Give water to cows that stay indoors
3. Feed grain ration to some of the cows
4. Milk the cows (that are producing milk) and feed milk to calves that get milk
5. Let (some of) the cows out - separating old from young and keeping some indoors
6. Give indoor and outdoor cows hay
All the morning chores take about 1 1/2 hrs with two people working. But the routine continually changes, as the seasons change.  
Later in the day theres more chores that get done, milking again in the evening, putting the cows in etc. Im not too familiar with those chores though because Im the morning chore girl! Its so much fun having a cow, and getting to be up at the farm every morning. Theres endless things to watch - the animals are steady entertainment. If everyone took up farming, there would be no need for T.V.!

When a Cow Gets De-Horned

Yesterday marked two weeks since I bought my lovely little Jersey girl, and hard enough to believe, it also marked one week since she was de-horned. In all the haste of caring for animals and trying to develop my homesteading skills, I forgot to write down all the juicy details of what goes on when a cow gets dehorned. Here is the foundation of information I learned about cows and their horns, to start with. A lot of meat breed cattle have been bred (I assume by a series of parents with this gene) to be polled. This means they have no horns, they cant and don't grow them. But, dairy cows have only recently been developed to be polled, and the majority grow horns. Now, lots of farmers keep their horned cattle, but you can have trouble getting the cows into stanchions (the things their heads go into to "tie" them), they may fight with the other cattle - and damage them, they can be a danger to you, either intentionally or accidentally. And so a lot of people get their cows dehorned -like I did. The best time to get a cow dehorned is when the weather is cooler, before the flies are out and when the cow isn't more than 3 months old. If theyre before 3 months, the horns haven't grown very much, and aren't more that a little bump, which gets burned off and prevents the growth of the horn. Whereas, an older cow has more horn, which the vet has to cut. Holly wasnt the ideal age and if the weather was any warmer (as in a typical year) we`d already be into the flies by now. But the vet still came to dehorn her. The vet does dehorning all the time, and in total he didn't take much longer than 15 minutes to do the job. So a week ago Wednesday, the vet came out to the farm, I showed him the cow and told him where I got her. Then he tied her up in the pen with her halter on again. I held the rope tight and he gave her a needle on the left and right side of her head, just below the horn to freeze the area. Some vets will put the cow right out, but after seeing it done it seems like it wouldn't really be necessary. Holly didn't fuss very much at the needles. So then we took her out of the pen, walked her up to the electrical plug where there was a strong post and tied her there. My neighbour held the rope that time, a full time and full body weight job! When Holly couldn't move her head away from the post she got upset and tried to back away by lowering her body. Meanwhile the vet worked quickly. He took his big pair of snippers, squared them up over the first horn, and snip! The horn when flying, a squirt of blood went flying out and the vet grabbed his heat element, and seared the wound quickly to prevent it from bleeding. That stunk a bit.. Then he did the same thing on the other side. Holly was trying to swing around left and right and what a job the vet has to keep her from moving and get those horns done. But he did a great job, he was quick and he didn't charge very much, only $58! When we took Holly back to her pen she was a bit upset, but by evening she was perked back up and was as good as new. Now we have to wait 6-8 weeks for the wounds to heal, that means she cant go outside. There are crevices in her head where the horns were, but they'll heal over. The vet said to cover the wound with a piece of cheesecloth, superglued to her hair if the flies start - to keep them away from bothering her. But so far no flies, which is great! So unless something happens, that will be the only vet checkup for a which for miss Holly. (Good thing too because I don't think Holly will remember the vet wiht very fond memories..)