Greetings Farm Followers,
Summers in SC can be exhausting! We have lived here for over nine years now and between the high temperatures and awful humidity it can become quite a struggle. Now I have lived for several years in Florida, ten years in northern Alabama so I am no stranger to southern weather, but this year it has been very challenging for sure. Between the rain and relentless humidity I can say cooler climates have their appeal.:-) Enough complaining! Let’s get some updates!
Lissa our Jersey milk cow has done really excellent in learning how to be a milk cow. I am completely comfortable with her (not less aware) of the dangers of any large animal. This is her first lactation so we are not seeing extremely large volumes of milk, the calf has been weaned so her output on a 100% grass based diet is about 3 gallons per day. Her creamline has greatly improved and from all reports her milk tastes great. Her udder is maintaining good health. My one concern is her weight, she is too thin and my concerns are that since she came from a “grass-based” dairy which grains heifers and cows at the stanchion she is not fully thriving on 100% grass forages and supplements. The Vet will give her a checkup and we will make sure no health issues have appeared like worms or parasites of any sort. Then we will give it some time and make a decision as to how to proceed. If she needs a grain supplement we will seek other pastures for her. Right now she receives supplemental grass hay, fermented alfalfa, soaked timothy grass pellets and all the minerals she needs ala-cart. I am not a fan of beet pulp products. Jersey are notorious for “milking off their back” so we are watching her carefully. She is happy and healthy enjoying her days grazing and sunning chewing her cud otherwise.
Our flock of rare breed chickens seem to think that laying eggs whenever they feel like it is acceptable. Of course extreme heat and humidity affects all life but they are surely “milking it”. I will be bringing a more dependable egg layer into the flock this Fall.
Our cross breed turkey poults are growing nicely. Looking forward to how they will turn out come Thanksgiving. The adult Narri hens think they need to brood everything. We put golf balls in our coop to keep the snakes from eating our eggs and they will sit on those golf balls for days on end. I have to down right escort them out of the coop just to get some food and exercise. They surely are some great brooders!
Our Oberhasli goats are doing well. Our one doe who had two little bucks in May is getting ready to wean them. They will shift pastures in September and join the others. I will be selling off all of the males in the next few month. So if anyone is looking for an Oberhasli buck let me know. Message the farm. They are not registered, but come from registered stock. The two little bucks are horned but the two other bucks are not. (Well the scurs fall off periodically) Disbudding bucks has always been a difficult job. Our sweet Vet in Alabama worked so hard with our goat herd but nevertheless for the most part scurs developed. So I decided not to disbud the new bucks. If they get too rambunctious we can always glue Kongs on them.
Our two Bershire gilts are growing nice and fat from their organic feed and Jersey milk. They drink on an average about 1-1/2 gallons of milk per day. Hopefully we can send them to the processor in late Fall.
Our New Zealand doe gave birth to four baby rabbits yesterday. She is a first time mom and so far she seems to be doing a good job. We pasture our rabbits so they are in movable pens with nesting boxes built in. Once the babies are weaned we will move them to a grow out pen. Lord willing, they will all survive and provide some good protein here on the farm.
And for one last update I have decided to offer organic fresh roasted Peruvian coffee and organic tea blends for sale. I have been roasting my own coffee for a few years now but this is an area that I see a need of locally. There are quite a few coffee roasters but rarely are they truly organic. Same with tea so I am determined to do the best job I can selling these niche items from farm to those of like mind. Check the Farm Store page for update.
Thanks for reading my Blog post. I do appreciate the encouragement and the contributions.
