Tucked in...

The storm earlier this week drove us to make some moves on animal winter housing.  For whatever numerous reasons there were several things that weren't done.  After several years of mistakes in winterizing the animals we have learned alot...and we still have plenty to learn. 
One thing I had to get used to was the idea that animals (like us) live in more confined ways in the winter. 
We like to support our animals living in a manner that suits their natural tendencies.  We put our hens and meat birds on pasture in the summer.  Our pigs have a large range of woods and pasture three seasons a year.  We use our goats to clear woodland so they always have over an acre of brushy undergrowth they are working on.   The reality is that snow and electric fencing don't really mix too well and animals like the pony require careful turnout in the winter so they don't hurt themselves on icy patches.  Everyone has a decent enough coat (or thick enough skin..and fat) to endure the cold but they also require some decent shelter from stiff winds and wet precipitation.  Basically, being cold is OK, but being wet and cold and drafty is not.  I can relate!  After discussing the whole winter "confinement" matter with several other farmers--who also pasture their meat and dairy critters-- over time, I became more comfy with the  idea of cozying everyone up for the winter.   Plus, by the end of winter, we have a nice huge pile of manure that can go on the gardens!!!
Slowly we worked up to a small list of winter residents that forced us to learn a whole new set of skills and practices.  Right now we are housing:

3 Alpine Dairy Goats
2 Large Black Hogs (sow possibly expecting)
1 medium pony
1 6 month old Dexter heifer
8 laying hens

So there are surely many ways to care for your animals in the winter but I thought I might share how we do it...which is forever changing...in the spirit of the ol' Grange Hall.  The way that farmers have been learning, and doing and sharing since the early days of farming.
The hens, per my last post, are living in the lap of luxury in their solar heated hoop house accomodation.

To winterize the goats we use sheep fence (wire 5 inch square mesh) and make a smaller sized corral around their house.  This fence is not electrified and they stay in no problem.  We throw in  evergreen boughs all winter for browse.  They get straw bedding which is deep packed (we dont change it til spring) and they get hay and a little extra grain.

The pigs got moved into a large stall in the barn which they lovingly share.  That gets mucked twice daily and they get some hay bedding which they also munch on. 

The calf is in the next stall over.  She gets tons of hay...mucked daily and ideally brushed daily---trying to make her super tame for milking...thats my goal anyway.  It seems to be going well.

The pony wears a blanket and lives mostly in his stall although he gets walks and turnout into the snowy pasture--which he loves to roll in.  He also gets dengi to supplement his forage diet and help him enjoy eating a little more in the face of declining dental health---oh getting old is tough.

We keep a little NPR or some such on the barn radio to keep everyone company -- and well informed -- and we, so far, have been pretty happy with how everyone is faring this winter.  We finally feel like we have the beginnings of a "system" down.  And we can reasonably afford our grain bill (ahem).

Of course--just when things are getting familiar--your sheep farmer friend calls to lure you with her 12 prospective blue liecester X lambs...just a couple wethers...beauuuuutiful fiber.....easy keepers....OH DEAR!  Are things about to change...again??

Country Homestead Tour #4: Large Black Hogs

Meet Henry and Henrietta! 

We eat meat.  And we're picky about it.  So for several years we have raised our own pork and chicken.  Its easy enough.  Buy a few piglets (usually 5) in the spring, feed them and treat them really well until fall and then into the freezer they go.  We go through almost 2 a year ourselves and we would sell the remainder as CSA shares. It was just fine.  Until....the year that everyone in our county decided they wanted to raise their own pork...and there was a bit of a piglet shortage...and the piglets we got were, let us just say, not choice.  So after one annoying year of piglet sourcing we decided to go whole hog (i couldnt resist that pun opportunity--really).   We decided to get a breeding pair of pigs that would become permanent residents at our farm and produce piglets, for meat and for live sale.

We went with the Large Black because they produce an excellent meat and are gentle and easy to handle.  We were able to acquire a breeding pair as piglets and since then have farrowed one great litter of piglets.  The other wonderful thing about this breed is that they are in demand so we have had no trouble selling our piglets and they go for a premium price. In fact, we ended up selling out the last litter and not even keeping one for our own freezer! This is nice as it offsets the cost of feeding these piggies all year round.  The other nice thing about them is that they are "pasture pigs".  They are inclined to, and do, munch on grass--cutting their grain needs slightly.  They do, however, root in areas where the pasture quality is low or there are grubs to be found. This is a con if you dont want your pasture torn up--on the other hand--we have found it to be a plus since those areas of poor pasture are now tilled and fertilized and can re-seed and grow properly.  The pigs, just two, have been a great help in renovating and fertilizing our small pasture areas and we also used them to turn under one of our gardens this year.  Just a little moveable electric fence--and you have an automated tilling machine at your service.

Henry now weighs in at close to 700 pounds and the Sow is close to 500 pounds as best we can measure.   They are so docile that our kids can go in their pasture with them with no trouble.  Its really quite amazing. 

I wasn't so sure at first about having year round pigs on our property.  I was concerned about smell, and the hassle of doing extra chores in the winter (lugging buckets of water across knee deep snow fields).  But, they have definitely earned their keep, are not smelly at all, and we are looking forward to another litter in November if all goes well.   We are very thankful to know where our meat comes from, from day one.  And for the opportunity to share our space with two very sweet, very special pigs that will likely be with us for a very long time.

For more information on the Large Black and other Heritage Livestock Breeds check out the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/largeblack.html

Country Homestead Tour #3: Dairy Goats

Ginny and Minnie

 Dairy Goats.  Alpines to be specific.  Love them.

These two lovely ladies came to us three springs ago at two days old as culls from a local goat dairy.  They were the first mammal that we brought home that was going to really be a long term resident (i.e. we're not going to eat it).  It was an exciting undertaking, riding in the back of our Volvo 240 Wagon with three little goat kids climbing all over me and snuggling in my lap.  (stay tuned for tale of #3).  Our first animal shed that we built from scrap lumber (originally for hens) would become their new home and we would bottle feed them every few hours for several weeks.  The girls (then 1 and 4) were great at holding one bottle each and I the third.  We bonded well and the three of them became more "cat" like than goat like, following us and snuggling in for chin scratches. 

bottle time

We took heed of everyone's warning about goat craftiness and strung galvinized wire fence 5...yes 5 wires high and put a nice strong charge on it.  Knock on wood, we haven't had any trouble with goats getting out, into our garden, or climbing on our cars...or any other number of goat horror stories.  I swear by a really hot charge on your fence..and making sure the fence line is clear of debris so it doesn't short. 

And so they grew all summer long and did an amazing job clearing the underbrush of what is to become a new pasture.  This was purpose #1 for getting the goats.  Low cost bush-hogging.  And it really does work.  They eat every last leaf and twig and pine needle and strip of bark that they can reach while standing on their back legs.  It makes it tons easier to go in with a chainsaw and cut firewood without all of the dense underbrush that crops up in old-pasture-now-badly-managed-woodland.  So, developing pasture has provided goats with food for 2 years and us with heat and hot water for a few winters.  How great is that.  These guys are so useful....and cute. 

So arrived the first fall and the first heat cycle of our two female goats.  And here is where #3 comes in, the buck.  OH the buck.  The buck we intended to castrate and just never got around to it.   The buck that, thankfully, bred our ladies....and bred, and bred.  Oh dear.  And well, that is truly what bucks do.  It is their one mission in life.  It also results in them being 'buck-like' which you could also call 'jerky', 'annoying' 'smelly', 'rude', 'dangerous around small children' and any other number of unpleasant things.  We were those people.  The one's that don't really prepare for owning a buck.  And, after I forgave myself for being a bad farmer, I called our friend who gave us the kids and she gladly took the buck back to her beautiful large meat goat farm.  His future was probably somewhat limited, but since we had named him and become rather attached, we chose not to contemplate that too much, at least around the kids.  They deal with enough animal processing, this was one hard lesson that we would shelter them from a little.

Purpose #2 came along that next February when I fulfilled one of my life fantasies and became a midwife...well a goat midwife.  It was an amazing birth and we all participated.  My oldest was amazing, giving mama Minnie her energy drink and comforting her post-delivery, helping to blow-dry and name little Liza who shivered against the 20 degree February chill.  And my husband out stapling up typar and grain bags around the outside of the house to keep out the drafts. 

Home dairying that year was insanely satisfying.  I, being a bit of a lactivist, left Liza with mom and just milked once a day, sharing the milk.  We had pounds of chevre and felt so extravagant eating it on everything and in everything.  We had more milk than we could use for baking and drinking.  It was an easy chore that I never dreaded, even on the coldest or buggiest of days.  The peaceful satisfying rhythm of the milk stream hitting the pail and the steam rising from our breath.

Liza:  The next generation

Well, Liza, at 1.5 years old, is still sneaking 'nursies' now and then...crouched under her very patient mother.  And fall is coming again.  In the next couple weeks the girls will be taking a little vacation at a farm down the road.  We're hoping they'll like the male company there.  Looking forward to some more midwifery and piles of chevre next spring.  It'll probably be our last freshening before we switch over to cow dairy.  But the girls have made a permanant home here and their contributions and companionship we are grateful for.

The Princess and the Grease Gun

This moment I stumbled upon this past weekend sums up a whole bunch.  Why I love our place here, our home and our community.  Why I love how we spend our time and the way it is shaping our kid's view of the world.

A short list of things I am grateful for:

Fall

His grandfather's harrow

The third generation of greasing the same wooden bushings the same way

Her desire to help all day long

In a pink velvet and tulle princess dress

His gentle willingness to teach a 4 year old to use a grease gun

Friends who let us use their tractor whenever we need it

Neighbors who hand down pink princess dresses

A cool sunny day spent outside

New England Pie Pumpkins harvested for winter eating

A field turned under, a blank slate, anxious to be fed and get back to work

Starting the week knowing we have done good work

Together

Country Homestead Tour #1: Hens

breakfast in the #14

Well isn't this timely. We are in the midst of a half a BILLION egg recall in this country. Seriously. Something is terribly wrong. And I think most of us know what that is.

I thought, as we started this blog that it would be fun to periodically give a "tour" of the parts and pieces that make up our homesteads. Here in the Country we have a diverse range of animals and vegetables (weeds) and other random things that make life here what it is, and what we love. So, to kick things off, lets start with the very thing that got us started on our path. The simple, lovely, and oh so tasty egg.

Years ago we started out with a half dozen hens. Somewhere in the middle we got up to about 60 hens. Now we are happy with our 8 hens. Things are constantly evolving here!
So here's the deal. We eat eggs. We eat our own hen's eggs. We eat fresh eggs. And after that--all other eggs seem pretty...well, pale in comparison. If you have hens, you know what I am talking about. Having a few hens in your yard is a no brainer. Its easy, inexpensive and a wonderful lesson for the kids on everything from care of animals to reproduction to responsibility. The birds are good for pest control and, properly managed, offer fertilizer in return for being well fed.

Lets look at some Eggonomics, just in case you are on the fence about whether to bring feathered friends into your life. A dozen organic, pasture raised eggs (organic feed and grass and sun) costs $5.00 retail around here. A dozen of the same eggs from your own back yard will add up like this:

$7.00 pullet will lay about 60 doz eggs over her 2 year laying life. So she costs about 12 cents a dozen. A good layer (RI red, Golden Comet, Barred Rocks) will eat about 5 pounds of feed for every dozen laid. That 5 pounds of organic grain will cost you about $2.20 around here. So your cost per dozen is $2.32! Using non-organic feed you can cut the feed cost in about half.
Of course, there is some up front cost for housing, fencing and whatnot. Some people go crazy .
We go with the more "homebrew" set up involving yard scrap lumber and free tarps. But we have no neighbors to offend, and we take advantage of that.

So now if you are not totally numb bored from me taking you to egg school, you can enjoy a few pics of our ladies and their lovely accomodations. No egg recall worries at this house. We encourage everyone to do the same!

Toasty warm in the winter inside their hoophouse

Summer living, easy, with their mobile range house and fencing