Well it's been a while since I've posted anything. Posting wasnt' an option from Tuesday through Saturday - we didn't have electricity due to a big storm/near miss tornado.
It's been such a trying year so far: losing the barn, an over abundance of rain and now we've lost the eggmobile about 30 chickens and over a dozen trees with this storm. I always say if life give you lemons make lemonade.
This time it is going to be hard. We're discussing various possibilities for barns and chicken houses. Our thinking is running toward buildings that are closer to the ground and not so prone to take flight.
In the mean time, there is hay to be made, weeds to pull, fence to build and a wedding to get ready for.
Tomorrow is another day. We'll see what it brings.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Be very very quiet we are hunting roosters....hehehe
After the near tornado blew through our place we discoverd that my son, Anders', rolling rooster pen had blown apart and all 6 roosters were running amuck. We called and left Anders a message on his cell and waited for him to come by after work.
At 4:30 he arrived with what appeared to be an oversized butterfly net and proceeded to gather up his roosters on by one. That really makes it sound easier than it was. Actually, the roosters had no intention of going back into the pen.
As Anders approached they split off in 6 directions running through the tall grass with their tail feathers flying. Anders darted after the nearest one net at the ready. It led him on a merry chase three times around the house. Then SWOOSH! down came the net. Anders tucked the rooser under his arm, carried him back to the pen and dropped him in. The indignant rooster paced back and forth looking for a way to freedom.
It was incredibly funny to see my longlegged, red headed son running about the yard chasing one rooster after the other. I sent Kacie in to get the camera - we had to have pictures!
As Anders ran by, I asked if he wanted some help.
"Nope!" he laughed. " This is more challenging. And I'm having fun!"
About an hour later the roosters were all safely back in their pen and Anders had gone on to take care of his other animals with a smile on his face.
At 4:30 he arrived with what appeared to be an oversized butterfly net and proceeded to gather up his roosters on by one. That really makes it sound easier than it was. Actually, the roosters had no intention of going back into the pen.
As Anders approached they split off in 6 directions running through the tall grass with their tail feathers flying. Anders darted after the nearest one net at the ready. It led him on a merry chase three times around the house. Then SWOOSH! down came the net. Anders tucked the rooser under his arm, carried him back to the pen and dropped him in. The indignant rooster paced back and forth looking for a way to freedom.
It was incredibly funny to see my longlegged, red headed son running about the yard chasing one rooster after the other. I sent Kacie in to get the camera - we had to have pictures!
As Anders ran by, I asked if he wanted some help.
"Nope!" he laughed. " This is more challenging. And I'm having fun!"
About an hour later the roosters were all safely back in their pen and Anders had gone on to take care of his other animals with a smile on his face.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Turkey disaster!
One thing that is a constant in farming is that you just can't control everything. The sun will shine when it shines, the rain will fall whether you need it or not.
We were driving to Louisiana. Anders was doing evening chores while we were gone and Dillon, Brian's oldest daughter's fiance was doing morning chores. It was usual for them to check in while they were doing the chores.
Morning update from Dillon was bad news: 2 baby turkeys dragged from the pen and partially eaten. From the discription it sounded like a raccoon. Evening report: all turkeys dead. Looks like a weasel got in.
Brian just sighed and said, "Well that's farming." as he hung up the phone. I wanted to cry when he told me. Those 25 little turkeys had cost us $8.50 each for heritage Midget Whites when we bought them as day old poults. What an awful way to go for the turkeys. Weasels and raccoons aren't exactly known for their gentle ways.
So now we are left with nothing to show for all the hard work, a marauding weasel/raccoon on the lose and we have to disapoint everyone who reserved a turkey. There just isn't time to order more poults and have them ready for the holidays.
What do we do next year? Well after spending a lot of our driving time discussing it, we've decided next year we will only just raise a few turkeys for ourselves. Nothing fancy just some poults from the feed store. No big investment. And we'll tighten up the cage and set a few traps.
We were driving to Louisiana. Anders was doing evening chores while we were gone and Dillon, Brian's oldest daughter's fiance was doing morning chores. It was usual for them to check in while they were doing the chores.
Morning update from Dillon was bad news: 2 baby turkeys dragged from the pen and partially eaten. From the discription it sounded like a raccoon. Evening report: all turkeys dead. Looks like a weasel got in.
Brian just sighed and said, "Well that's farming." as he hung up the phone. I wanted to cry when he told me. Those 25 little turkeys had cost us $8.50 each for heritage Midget Whites when we bought them as day old poults. What an awful way to go for the turkeys. Weasels and raccoons aren't exactly known for their gentle ways.
So now we are left with nothing to show for all the hard work, a marauding weasel/raccoon on the lose and we have to disapoint everyone who reserved a turkey. There just isn't time to order more poults and have them ready for the holidays.
What do we do next year? Well after spending a lot of our driving time discussing it, we've decided next year we will only just raise a few turkeys for ourselves. Nothing fancy just some poults from the feed store. No big investment. And we'll tighten up the cage and set a few traps.
Sampson the huge
This is a picture of HC Wenglar's Red Wattle Hog Sampson taken back in the 1970's. According to the family this big guy weighed close to 1800 pounds. That's one big hog!!
We don't have one that big yet, but we are breeding for larger hogs with a nice lean build, long heavy shoulders and large hams.
Louisiana Sausages
Yummy!!Ronnie Andrus, longtime Red Wattle hog breeder, gave us some sausages to take home. Ronnie and his family butcher their own hogs at home and Ronnie smokes the sausages, bacon and ham in the smokehouse he's built out behind the house. He showed us his smoke house. A room about 6' X8' coated in black from years of use with a hanging rack and fire pit dug into the dirt floor. The smokey smell reminded me of the best ham I ever had.
I cooked Ronnie's sausages today for lunch. Delicious! I can't wait for our RW to be ready to butcher in December. Brian and I want to try our hand at sausage making and smoking. :)
Detour to the beach
This week we finally made the trip down to Louisiana to pick up Red Wattle hogs from Ronnie Andrus. We sort of took the long way in order to drop my mom off at a friend's house in Alabama. Then Brian's daughter, Kacie thought since we were already in Alabama it would be a good idea to go on down to Gulf Shores to the beach.
Sounded silly at first, but it was a good idea. We spent several hours playing in the waves. It helped work the kinks out from the long drive
and it was very relaxing.
The only problem was we were covered with sea salt the rest of the day. My hair felt like old straw!
After we left the beach we headed over to Louisiana and up to Ronnie's to pick up the hogs.
The pic is Brian and Kacie in the waves.
Sounded silly at first, but it was a good idea. We spent several hours playing in the waves. It helped work the kinks out from the long drive
and it was very relaxing.The only problem was we were covered with sea salt the rest of the day. My hair felt like old straw!
After we left the beach we headed over to Louisiana and up to Ronnie's to pick up the hogs.
The pic is Brian and Kacie in the waves.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Thoughts on pig raising
It's time to look at our pig operation and make plans for how to maximize production, sustain marketing/sales and keep the quality of life up for our hogs.
First we need to decide just how many pigs we want to keep as our breeding stock. We know we want to preserve the line of hogs we are bringing home this week from Louisiana as a closed herd. And we want to keep the 3 sows we have (Dancer, Petunia and Gertrude) with another boar as our second herd as they have different bloodlines. That leaves us with the problem of which boars to keep. Currently we have 3 boars and the new boar will make 4 . That's just too many.
We know we will be keeping Samson. He's more of a pet than a breeder, because he's getting up there in years. We just love having him and he's such a good farm mascot. We're planning a retirement pen for him. I know it's sentimental, but that's ok.
We will have 2 boars from Louisiana. We brought George home as a little guy earlier this year. He is the nice dark burgundy color we like in our RW's. He's not old enough to breed yet, so we don't know what sort of piglets he'll father. The new boar is a coppery orange color. Not our preference, but he's a proven breeder. Then there's Arthur. We've had him since he was a baby. He's friendly, quiet, a proven breeder and the only curly coated pig we have. Everybody loves Arthur.
As you can see they all have their good points, but we can only keep 2 breeders in addition to Sampson. Got any thoughts or comments?
The next thing we have in the works is new pasture. We've had to keep the pigs up most of this summer in small lots because the new fencing is not in. Dillon & Brian are tearing out the old fence now. We're hoping to have 3 new large pastures fenced in by fall. These larger pastures will have woven wire fencing parameters with a hot wire at nose level. We'll be able to subdivide them with temporary electric fence to rotate the hogs. Each pasture will have it's own loafing shed and a "wallow". The plan is to keep each "herd" in it's own pasture and use the third pasture for the growing market hogs.
We'll be moving the farrowing into the new barn. Each sow will have her own pen with waterer and feeder and a built in baby bumper and a permanent heat lamp for the little ones.
Of course all of this costs money. We've been lucky enough to find posts at a good price and we're bartering for some fencing and gates. We still need more fencing and the barn is a whole seperate issue. It looks like it's going to go up in stages as we're able.
Ahh projects! They never end and we are continually reanylizing the possibilities, pros and cons.
If you have any thoughts on our RW hog projects, let us know!
First we need to decide just how many pigs we want to keep as our breeding stock. We know we want to preserve the line of hogs we are bringing home this week from Louisiana as a closed herd. And we want to keep the 3 sows we have (Dancer, Petunia and Gertrude) with another boar as our second herd as they have different bloodlines. That leaves us with the problem of which boars to keep. Currently we have 3 boars and the new boar will make 4 . That's just too many.
We know we will be keeping Samson. He's more of a pet than a breeder, because he's getting up there in years. We just love having him and he's such a good farm mascot. We're planning a retirement pen for him. I know it's sentimental, but that's ok.
We will have 2 boars from Louisiana. We brought George home as a little guy earlier this year. He is the nice dark burgundy color we like in our RW's. He's not old enough to breed yet, so we don't know what sort of piglets he'll father. The new boar is a coppery orange color. Not our preference, but he's a proven breeder. Then there's Arthur. We've had him since he was a baby. He's friendly, quiet, a proven breeder and the only curly coated pig we have. Everybody loves Arthur.
As you can see they all have their good points, but we can only keep 2 breeders in addition to Sampson. Got any thoughts or comments?
The next thing we have in the works is new pasture. We've had to keep the pigs up most of this summer in small lots because the new fencing is not in. Dillon & Brian are tearing out the old fence now. We're hoping to have 3 new large pastures fenced in by fall. These larger pastures will have woven wire fencing parameters with a hot wire at nose level. We'll be able to subdivide them with temporary electric fence to rotate the hogs. Each pasture will have it's own loafing shed and a "wallow". The plan is to keep each "herd" in it's own pasture and use the third pasture for the growing market hogs.
We'll be moving the farrowing into the new barn. Each sow will have her own pen with waterer and feeder and a built in baby bumper and a permanent heat lamp for the little ones.
Of course all of this costs money. We've been lucky enough to find posts at a good price and we're bartering for some fencing and gates. We still need more fencing and the barn is a whole seperate issue. It looks like it's going to go up in stages as we're able.
Ahh projects! They never end and we are continually reanylizing the possibilities, pros and cons.
If you have any thoughts on our RW hog projects, let us know!
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