A Visitor to the farm

Let me introduce Blackie.

Blackie is a three year old Highland who is visiting the farm for the next two months.
She is here for Yeoman our bull,you see she is of age to be bred and we are the farm with a unrelated bull.
I have not ever done this before.
We have run a closed heard for over three years.
The reason I decided to do this was Blackie's owner is a eight year old little boy who is in 4H and wanting his pet cow to give him a calf.
He loves the breed and how could I say no?

One of the other reason's is she is the only cow at her farm and has been since seven months of age,this cuts the risk of disease hugely.

To be honest she doesn't much look like a Highland right now despite her short legs.
Blackie found a pile of burdock in her pasture the day before arrival and her owner shaved her ears,face and neck.

 
Blackie was supposed to arrive early on a Sunday morning so if we turned her out to pasture and trouble arose we had all day to deal with it.
Instead she arrived at 8pm Monday night,it was already dark.
Blackie was led by halter into the barn where she enjoyed a freshly bedded box stall and yummy hay for the night.

Early Monday morning hubby walked her to the meadow to introduce her to the other cattle.
I was fully expecting a battle over dominance to show who was boss cow but to my surprise this was not the case!
The girls were interested in her but had no want to be anything but curious and friendly.

Here's where the problem arises.
Because the Highland's are such a social breed always wanting attention and to be talked to a petted,they followed hubby back up the meadow lane despite his trying to quietly sneak away.

Once up by the house Blackie discovered we had horses.
You see to most cow's no biggie but Blackie thinks she is a horse and not a cow!

At her farm she has been living with horses since seven months old,she goes to pasture with them and then goes in a box stall every night next to them.
She had no idea why we put her to pasture with these long haired horned creatures,she was no cow.

Blackie went through the fence and headed straight for the horses where she felt she belonged.

My girls did not think much of this,probably nor did my neighbors at that time of day, and all started mooing hysterically to try and call her back.

Hubby got the halter and we moved her back with the cows.
We headed for the meadow yet again.

If you look all the way to the left you can see Blackie hiding in the woods looking terrified of the cows.

Everyone followed hubby while me and the dogs followed the cows.
We left quietly and hoped for the best.

Later in the day I walked back and was pleased to find her standing in the trees and she had found a friend.

All is well now and she had settled quite nice!
I think she now remembers she truly is a cow!!!

Early Morning photos

While up early this am rounding up cattle I managed to take advantage of the rising sun.

You see rounding up cattle has never been a part of my morning routine.
Last night we had a guest arrive at the farm,her name is Blackie.
Blackie is a three year old Highland who I will tell you more about tomorrow...

I hope your morning routine was less eventful then mine...
until tomorrow..

We hired a new tractor driver...

But he tends to sleep on the job!

Orloff Rooster and his hens

The big Orloff wandered over by the house so I threw them a few zucchini and a cuke to munch on,he wasn't long finding it and inviting his girls to join in, even if they where a little grabby.

He is loving being able to run with the girls now that the big Cuckoo Maran has a new home.

Wordless Wednesday

"If Nothing ever Changed, there would be no Butterflies."

There here...

The long wait was worth it.
To say I'm excited is a understatement!

Saturday night just before midnight we had two trucks,a 3/4 tonne and a five tonne with a trailer, roll through the yard heading towards the meadow.
We followed them to watch what was about to happen.

You see these trucks were scheduled to arrive at midnight.
They were loaded with bees!!!
Not just a few bee's but a huge amount of bees, 74 over flowing hives, that 3,700,000 bees!!!

They were unloaded with a forklift and placed along the tree line on pallets.
Eight hives to a pallet.
We stood back and watched the 5 men work their bee charming magic with nothing but jeans and t-shirts on! And yes they got stung,many times although they seemed to be immune to the pain.

Blue with the long line of bee hives in the back ground.

These are a new addition to the 500 hives the farmer already owns.
He bought out a older farmer.
He was worried about moving them so late in the year and thinks he will loose 20% over the winter.

The bee guy will now be farming bees full time.
He will start making honey again for the first time in two years,I hope we get to sample..

Someone being a brave boy!!

Typical of his Livestock Guardian instincts he checks out the new additions to know if he needs to protect them.

But I'm sure they have all the protection they need attached to their bum!

The bees were still very active and defensive today so getting to close was not going to happen.
When they calm down I will get better pictures.

Farm filled Sunday

The morning started as usual,barn chores then breakfast.
We had a busy day ahead of us starting with the second cut hay that was in need of finishing.

This required the hay tedder.
A tedder fluffs the hay up to allow it to dry better.

We had our friend tedder while we attended a special farm day together.

Today was also Open Farm Day in NS.
Province wide 62 farms participated allowing the public to visit these farms for free.

Usually we would be on that list but have taken a bit of a break as it is allot of work to plan such a day.
Planning begins in May as your schedule has to be in by June,to the Ag awareness dept., in order to participate in September.
So instead I decided to take the day and show my support for my fellow farmers.

The first stop had me reminiscing the day I first stepped foot on this particular farm and fell in love with my darling Highland cattle.
It was the farm my first two cows came from.
His cows are just as beautiful as ever..

 A older cow,you can tell by how large her horns are, and her calf.

We had a great visit with the farmer and his beautiful cattle.

I returned hubby to the hay fields to rake the hay in to rows and start baling while my friend,also our farm hand, continued on the farm tours with me.
Here are a few pictures from some of those farms..

These Alpacas were fantastic! Absolutely gorgeous!  I left wanting to own one.
Isn't the color just beautiful? and they are sheared so perfectly all by the owner himself pictured below.

After the Alpaca farm I headed back to the field just in time for baling to begin.

The rest of the hay will be finished tomorrow.

We had a wonderful farm filled Sunday!

How was your Sunday?

It's Time!!!

Today was the day we cut the second cut!!
It might seem so strange to be so excited about hay but this has been a long time coming.
The weather is 16C but the wind is blowing so hard it makes for a good drying day.

Four of the six field's were cut, we left two standing because the grass was so thick we will have more then enough with what we did cut,roughly 850, 60-70lb squares. We will end up storing a few hundred bales off property at another barn,we just don't have the room.

In order to produce quality hay suitable for feeding to horses—free of dust, mold and weeds—it must be cut at the right age and when the weather is dry and warm. After being cut, the hay dries in the field before it is baled.

Next to pasture, good quality hay is the ideal feed and this is why having second cut makes me so happy.
It is excellent feed, as it is cut in a shorter period of time making it higher in protein and being a finer hay.

The horses,sheep and milk cows will have a lovely winter with beautiful hay to eat!

Straw was also a challenge to get this year.
Most oat and wheat crops did not do so well, there was nobody cutting straw because the plants were to short to bother.
We were lucky enough to track down a farmer with enough extra square bales to get us through the winter for sheep bedding. They are going in the barn this evening!

This is oat straw.
It is prized as bedding, due to its soft, relatively dust-free, and absorbent nature.
We only use it for sheep,the horses and milk cows have sawdust bedding as it is much nicer for mucking out daily.

Winter manure is stomped into what is called a “manure pack” in the barn by the sheep as straw is spread on it regularly for bedding.
It slowly composts  anaerobically,  that is without oxygen, so there is very little leaching or fermentation.
Most of the manure odor is gone too, replaced by a pungent earthy smell. The whole problem of odor which so plagues the animal confinement industry is avoided.
The straw makes for a nice manure pack.
We like this for lambing time to as it is warm and the use of heat lamps has not been necessary so far.

Once the hay and straw is in the barn clean out time begins!

ps- for all you gals in dry country needing hay who are paying dear I wish you were closer....we would have cut the extra fields for you!!!

This week

This week has been another busy one.
The bee guy was here to check out the road leading to the meadow and upper field where he over winters the bees.
He has not been back yet to bring them,I expect he's waiting on a rainy day,that seems to be when he comes.

The weather has been nice but the temperature has dropped low enough at night we had our first killing frost,the tomatoes fell victim.

The frost burned most of the leaves turning them brown, but the tomatoes them self seem fine.
This makes the threat of winter seem more real and being prepared more of a rush.

The cattle have been doing great on our new pasture rotation schedule this year.
We have four separate pastures so  we move them often with a quick "come on girls" they all come running to the tender grass that awaits them.
The pasture has lasted far better then any year yet,even though I'm sure the amount of rain we received has allot to do with that.
The cattle will be moved again tomorrow,back to the meadow and upper field.

This will be that last rotation for that pasture as hunting season is soon coming upon us.
Regardless of our no trespassing/ no hunting signs and gate someone continues to remove them and tries to hunt over looking our orchard which is only separated from our meadow and field by the brook.
I'm scared they will hit a cow!
Do you have issues with hunters?

 The cattle next to the horses,trees starting to turn color.

We will be saying goodbye to two of our cows in the spring.
Bindi,a two year old heifer

and Benjamin a yearling steer.

There new home will be with Hillcroft Heritage Farm a local farm dedicated to raising heritage breeds. Pop over and check them out!

Hope you are enjoying your week!