My New Penny

This week has already been a busy cow filled week.

Last October we hauled Belle off to a friend's farm to breed with his Hereford bull. She ended up staying most of winter, but we finally picked her up on Monday.

Belle is somewhat of a *beefy* looking Jersey, but I was pleased to see she was healthier than ever. She kept weight on nicely and was easy to load and bring back.
It didn't take long before Belle and Lucy hooked up and spent the entire day and night, like long lost friends.

Then on Tuesday we took the trailer up to  a nearby dairy and bought a new milk cow.

She is a young, 2 year old jersey, who just freshened a couple of months ago.  She is very gentle, although a bit shy.
She really is not too sure about the chickens clucking around.
She is milking well, and after a week I suspect she will be completely settled in to a milking routine here.

My only complaint is that she is quite skinny.

Here she is next to Lucy. I will be spending the next month trying t get some weight on her. She is easy to hand milk too, even though we use a machine milker.

She seems to be fitting in well with the calves and cows here.

After much thought and family debate, we decided to name her Penny. We especially love the white dot on her face.

                                        As of writing this, Lucy has not left Penny's side.

We also made good use of yesterday's nice weather to repair the sheep shelter/canopy.

The snow collapsed the canopy and the poles are badly damaged. Devin will have to replace most of them, but we have it rigged in the meantime. Now, we just wait for lambing to begin.

2 years ago we had no cows and today we have 9. I admit that we are somewhat smitten with the sweet Jersey beauties and will likely get more as the year progresses.

For now, we are enjoying the warm weather, the abundance of fresh milk and the promise of a spring season.

Happy Hump Day!!

Snow Day Part 2

Today the south is getting hammered with more snow. Thankfully I am in the northern parts of the state so we are being spared the ice.

The snow, however, is sticking and still falling. In fact it is supposed to fall all day long.

Here are some pictures from this morning.

The day will be filled with sledding and snowman making because tomorrow it will all melt away, and by the weekend it will be in the 50's outside.

Next weekend it is supposed to be a nice 64 degrees. Only in the South does one get to experience several seasons within a week's time.

Here's hoping all my neighbors south of here stay safe!

Happy Snow Day Ya'll!

The Hard Truth of Farming

One thing we have learned as our family farm has grown is this: there will be births and deaths.

This week feels like spring in my mind, although the weather isn't agreeing, because the baby chicks have arrived.

These will be new laying hens for us this year and they are so cute! The kids have enjoyed having the brood box right inside the house.
Unfortunately, there is always a chick or two who do not handle the journey well and die. This batch was no exception. Three chicks died, and although it was sad, the kids have learned to accept this reality.
The remainder of the chicks are doing fabulous this morning, chirping their little hearts away.
It feels like spring in the house.

Lambing season is also upon us and that makes spring ever more a reality for me as well. We spent a good part of Tuesday preparing an area to lock the sheep in at night.

We used the temporary canopy area used by the cows during the polar vortex and simply fenced it in with cattle panels.

The area gives us a place to lock the sheep at night that is predator safe. No wild dogs or coyotes will get in and try to hurt a lamb. Now we just wait and see who lambs. I know that Lyla, the black ewe, is pregnant and ready for sure. Her belly is huge and her udder is filling with milk. The other two ewes I cannot tell for sure yet.
Spring lambing is always exciting and we are now ready.

Of course there are times when the baby animals or even the large animals do not fair so well.
Such is the case with our youngest bull calf we got just last week.

A few days ago this little guy showed signs of a respiratory illness. He had a slight runny nose, but he was still eating well. We treated him with an injection and he seemed much better the next day.
Yesterday morning he was curled up and lifeless in the corner of the calf stall. He was very cold so we brought him inside and placed him next to the fire.

 We tube fed him warm milk and placed heated cherry pit packs and towels on him. After a couple of hours he started to open his eyes. His body temperature was a low 98 degrees, however, as he was hypothermic.
I  called the vet and followed his advice of an injection and attempts to get him warmed up. We placed him on a dog bed and kept the warm pit packs and blankets on him. We pet him and rubbed him and did our best to keep him stimulated all day long.
He never did warm up enough. By 4 in the afternoon he died. It was sad.

We have never lost a calf.

Today we are aware of life and death on a farm once more. Just when you think you've got this all figured out, you are humbled by the fragility of life and you are more aware of the many animals in your care.
Some live and some die, despite your best efforts.

Today we are dreaming of spring and warm weather. We are discussing our plans of endless afternoons playing outside and planting a garden. We are remembering how grateful we are to experience farming in such an intimate way.

We are also looking ahead to a new milk cow. Yes! In about a week we will be getting another milking cow and we are excited! There is always something to look forward to!

Here's hoping you have a fabulous weekend and that spring shows up in your corner of the world soon!

Snow Day

This week we had a snow day. A REAL snow day, a day when the kids could actually dust off the sled we purchased 3 years ago and sled down the back hill.

Bless their hearts, we never have proper snow clothes or boots because, well...this is Georgia and snow rarely happens. The kids did their best to compile some layers of clothing and spent many hours outside, with hot chocolate breaks in between.

It was very cold out too so under the fluffy white snow was a nice layer of slick ice. Traffic was a mess and Chattanooga was a parking lot in many areas. We were all home, with the exception of Journee who had classes at Chattanooga State. She never made it home that day, but she did make it to her friends house and spent the night there. Her commute would have normally been 15 minutes but took 4 1/2 hours instead.

The cows had shelter to get under but they spent most of their time out in the snow. Crazy cows.

We were cold doing chores and keeping the water troughs clear of ice was a challenge. The good news is we are in Georgia and the temperature today will be in the 50's. It will actually climb to the 60's this weekend.
So we had two days of snow and ice and I happily welcome warmer weather, although there have been rumors of more snow late next week.



Now that the roads are all clear, we will head out after chores to fetch another bottle bull calf. This will give me 4 total bull calves to help me reach my goal of getting 10 this year. It can be a bit wild at feeding time with so many babies running around trying to lick and suckle everything in sight!

Have  a warm and wonderful weekend!

Bananas

Yesterday and today have turned into snow days. Yes, we have snow in the south, and although it makes for chaos on the roads, it is quite nice if you are home sipping hot tea.

I always bake something on cold days like these, and so I wanted to pass along one of my favorite recipes.

Banana Cookies with Lemon Icing

If you are like me the  you usually have bananas around the house and when they get too ripe you make banana bread. That is all fine and good but sometimes you need to break out of the banana bread routine and make something memorable.

When I was growing up my mom would occasionally whip these little creations up and I admit they were on the top of my *favorites* list.

They are not fancy or difficult to make, but the results are quite delicious. The lemon icing adds a nice little zing to the banana breading.
I will warn that the dough must chill in the fridge for at least an hour, so plan accordingly.

Now go bake something and enjoy your snow day!

Banana Cookies with Lemon Icing

1/2 C shortening or lard****
1 C brown sugar
2 eggs
1 C mashed banana
2 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 C chopped nuts

Mix first 4 ingredients well in alarge bowl. In a medium bowl, sift remaining ingredients together and then add the to the wet mixture. Mix well. Chill in fridge for at least one hour.

Preheat oven 375 degrees. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. Cool and frost.

**** You can use butter instead of lard or shortening but the result will be different. Cookies with butter tend to flatten out more.****

Lemon-Butter Icing

1/3 C butter, softened
3 C powder sugar
2 Tb lemon juice

Mix all ingredients well. Add more or less sugar until desired consistency.

Chores, Coffee, Bread, Winter

Oh what a beautiful day we had yesterday! I has some pictures on my phone but this morning my computer doesn't want to transfer photos. Hello Monday! Since we are experiencing yet another cold blast this week, I will post older pictures from days when the weather was warm and spring like.

I spent a good part of the morning yesterday cleaning out the garden beds and trimming the rosebushes. Yard work is a chore that I cannot bear to do unless the weather is mild. Zeb also helped me collect our cattle panels as we will soon need to construct a lambing/sheep area. Lambing season begins in February and we have quite a bit to do in preparation.
This morning my arms are pathetically sore as I have not done much labor this winter.

Today we are busy with school, and I am hoping to get a new sewing project finished. Sewing has been a difficult task lately, and I suspect it is the piles of cow feed and buckets situated behind my sewing table that are to blame. I really need a week to organize.
 In celebration of another cold week I have a crockpot steaming away with chili. Fresh bread has been baked and cookies are not far behind.

Every winter I get a craving for some fresh sour dough bread. Sour dough toast with a farm fresh fried egg is an amazing comfort food. If you want to make your own starter CLICK HERE.

It's a week long process but worth your time. I promise.

After I finish this post and my coffee we are headed to get some firewood. Usually we have plenty to get through our Southern winter but not this year. We will load up and be prepared to keep the stoves running all week, and then the mild temps will again return. So will the rain. Spring will be here soon, though. The rain will help make my corner of the world green and bright.

Have a great Monday! Stay warm!

Calf Wrestling

We have a nice two day stretch of nice weather before the freezing temps roll back in town.
There have been some calf chores that should have been done a couple of weeks ago, but we finally found the time to get them done.

First, the bull calves needed to be banded. Actually, the oldest bull calf has already been banded and we just needed to band the younger one. Banding them is an easy way for a family farmer to keep from raising a bull and to raise a steer instead.

This little tool is not expensive and I use it to band my young lambs as well. You put this band on it first.

Then you stretch it out and place the scrotum through it and release it slowly.

The important key is to make sure that BOTH balls are through. They can slide back if you are not cautious and not actually get into the band.

The procedure will feel a little tingly for the calf the first day. The band will cut off circulation to the scrotum and after about 2-3 weeks, the sac will fall off.

 

The next chore we had was to burn off the horn buds. Even if you raise a very docile cow, horns can be dangerous. It is best to "nip it in the bud" early. There are several ways to rid a cow of its horns but we have found dehorning paste works great on young calves.

 



 

It is best to apply this paste when you first feel the horn buds. First you need to trim the hair around the buds with some scissors. Apply the paste with a wooden tongue depressor or popsicle stick. The paste is very caustic so make sure it doesn't get on your skin or anywhere else on the calf.

It doesn't take very much and we like to lock the calves up by them selves overnight so they do not get the paste on another calf by rubbing heads. That is it!

All I had to do next was change clothes and start a load of laundry. It seems that when I wrestle a calf down I always roll down into a pile of cow muck! As a friend pointed out though, it's just grass, right?



Athena also got a nice work out since the sun was out and the temps were mild. Indiana walked her for a good while around the front pasture. We are looking forward to another nice day today.

Since the calves are growing and doing well, we will be getting another one tomorrow. A two week old bull calf. It should be fun!

Happy Monday Ya'll!