Colonel's Blog, Earthdate 28 March 2023...
Hey Y'all!
Happy Tuesday morning from Free Missouri! It was a cool, cloudy morning but it has quickly turned sunny and will get into the 50s by afternoon. It looks like we will have another cool morning near freezing tomorrow and then that might be the last of it. The animals are great this morning. A ewe found herself outside her paddock yesterday afternoon. I think she got a shock as she left, green grass in her eyes, and the electric fence woke her from her longing stupor. She spent a couple of hours walking the fence line before we were able to open a gap for her to rejoin the flock. She's not our normal escape artist and was quite pleased to get back with the flock. We made the trip to OK yesterday to get pallets, 3rd pic is the trailer with the pallets chained down. We got 6 stacks, with about 20 in each stack; INVALUABLE lumber for the farm! Thanks again, Uncle Carl! The bottom pic is the lambs lounging this morning, with their pallet-feeders and pallet shelters. You can see the dogs' pallet shelter in the background. We are quite adept at putting the pallets together in all manner of ways in order to solve the farm problem of the day. From as simple as a way to get hay bales off of the ground to as complex as a milking barn, these pallets often save the day. Today we unloaded the pallets with the tractor. We still have to unload the last feed from a few bulk bags, deliver some pork to town, and pick up more bulk feed. We also ordered 10 bags of hog feed in the 50# bags since they have limited time remaining and the piglets we get in a month will start on a different feed mix.
I realized I often talk about, and make a big deal about, the hogs living in the forest but I always show you pictures of the hogs in front of their pallet feeders. So, I decided to share the top two pics of the hogs actually in the forest. They spend their days lounging amongst the trees, rooting up bugs and grubs, foraging through dead trees, generally being hogs doing what hogs love to do. There is a ton of research that shows the quality of meat is higher in animals that live a happy life. That is the basis for the way we choose to raise our animals. We keep them in the areas we want them to be, but otherwise the animals are free to be who they are. The hogs root in the dirt/mid, the ruminants graze, the chickens scratch up the ground and eat bugs. Animals being what they were meant to be is an important aspect of regenerative/humane farming. This style of farming contrasts with 'typical' farming in that it is much more management intensive. We don't put out feed for the hogs in a feeder that holds 500 pounds and check back on them in a week. We hand-feed them twice a day. During the growing season, we don't put the ruminants in a pasture for months and only check on them when it is time to take some to the market. We move them daily to fresh grass. It's hard work, but when the goal is the highest quality product possible, it is worth it to ensure the animals live a happy life. I encourage you to find a farmer following humane regenerative practices and give their products a try to see if you like it. I bet you will!
Shelley's YouTube Short today is of "Sheepster" chewing her cud while sitting on my lap on the couch in our camper.
Local Farm Report for 27 March 2023:
Harvest:
30 Chicken eggs
10 Duck eggs
1 Goose egg
5 1/2 Gallons of milk
Sales:
N/A
Cheers! Psycho & Shelley
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