The Diary of a Farmer

4.25"

2008-08-29T20:53:00.000-07:00

Yep, that is the amount of rain we have received in the past 2 weeks. Pretty stinkin awesome. All of our irrigated pastures had been holding up well with the whopping 2" we had had since the start of May. It had been dry bones.

Now everything is green and the cracks have come together. Our grasses are thicker than ever with new growth popping up everywhere. Water is life on a farm, and without it, nothing can live. Helps you to understand why Christ is the Living Water for us and apart from Him, we too will perish.

Farming teaches you so much about creation. How smart God truly is and will be even after we are gone. He designed animals perfectly, along with the symbiotic relationship between the animals and land. When left simple, the way it was intended, things just work out better.

We seem to think that we can do things better but all that gets us to is M&M and potato chip beef along with pop tart fed pork. (See my wifes blog)

Just thought I would give some pictures from this week of the pastures and cows.

New Additions

2008-08-19T09:47:00.000-07:00

This week, we added what we hope to be the last of our breeding sows for at least a couple years. Our goal is to produce 120-150 finished pastured hogs a year. To do this, we figure we will need 8 sows to get the job done. We breed Hampshires, Yorkshires, and Blue Butts. We had four sows, 2 Yorkshires, 1 Blue Butt, and 1 Hampshire. We added 1 Yorkshire, and 3 Blue Butts. The Yorkshire will be ready to breed in a month, and the Blue Butts will be ready in about 2-3.

Nothin like pig butts

Dirt under the feet

I buy my breeding stock from a breeder of show pigs. Unfortunately, his pigs are confinement pigs and I hate going there every time. It is so sad looking at the eyes in the poor pigs, beat down, tired, broken. The joy it gives to bring these girls home and allowing them to be on dirt for the first time. To let them root around, using their noses, to waller in the mud, and run around with lots of room. For the next few days, they will be in a pen letting them get use to the other sows through a hog panel and plus they will be very sore from walking in the dirt, using their neck muscles. This gives them a place to lay around and get use to the true happy farm life without the other girls picking on them while they are sore. Then they will move out into the pastures with the other sows.

First time they had ever been allowed to roll in the mud

Lucy our veteran sow laying in the mud

2 of our newly bred sows. We raised these two from piglets and were suppose to butcher them but we decided to keep them for breeding stock.

Getting acquainted through the fence. The older sows are pretty dominant over the new younger ones if introduced into the same pen right off.

Smooch, thanks for the new home out of confinement.

Since we now have so many sows, feeding has been a bit challenging. You can only imagine going inside the pen with these girls, and boys and trying to get bowls on the ground without them clobbering you. Plus for some reason, they will just go back and forth from bowl to bowl running the younger sows off from their food.

So I had to come up with a system for feeding them where we won't have to get in there with them until they are actually eating. In came the stalls. So far, they work great. Each gets to eat their own food without someone else coming over and knocking them away from it.

Could you put some food in here please?

My bud the Dud chillin out of the rain. (If new to the blog, his name is Dudley.)

The egg trailer is done and up and running. Although they aren't laying yet, they are at least starting to get in it and roost. I'm hoping that by the time the cows rotate back around, they will all have found their way into it. Happy hoping I think.

Tropical Storm Edouardud....I mean Edouard

2008-08-05T19:08:00.000-07:00

What does it take to get a bit of rain here. You would think that with a hurricane passing south of you 2 weeks ago and a tropical storm passing just to the north of you, one might pick up a couple of inches of rain.

Well, apparently not. Between these two glorious storms, we managed to get a total of 6/10" of rain. Not even an inch.

The cracks in our pasture are still there. Looking like they could blow molten hot lava out of them at any time they are so big.

I use to laugh when I would hear people saying to pray for rain but now that we are farming, you begin to understand their concerns. It is pretty dry here, but in Austin Co, one county to the west of us, it is bone dry. I do think they may have picked up a bit of rain but I'm not sure. They need about 12" to do any good there.

The day was cloudy and cooler though. It only got to about 84 degrees. Two days ago, it was 104. The cows really appreciated the break from the steaming heat. I think the pigs stayed out of the woods most the day and foraged about the pastures doing what they do best....tearing the ground up.

I don't want it to seem like I am complaining, just feeling a little bamboozalled (sp?) at this time.

Magic Poo

2008-07-29T20:22:00.001-07:00

Was going through to move the cows this evening when I noticed this nice pile of poo. Yep, I said nice pile of poo.

The perfect poo looks like pumpkin pie filling with a little dimple in the center of it. That means the cows diet is just right in protein. If it is too runny, and you are not suspecting worms or parasites, then your protein levels are too high.

Anyways, kicked it around a bit and low and behold. Dung beetles. Lots of them. Hoooray. If you look at this pile of poo, you can see him in his tunnel (the hole in the center) taking the miracle food straight into the ground and to my grasses roots. Awesome.

You won't see these guys if you use chemical wormer's; this tantalizing pile of food this fellow desires to play in, would then be a pile of toxic death. Makes you think.

Egg Mobile Progress 2

2008-07-29T19:37:00.000-07:00

Today I got to work on the Egg Mobile for a few hours. It really does go faster when you have someone to help but when by yourself, you find all kinds of ways to use arms, legs, feet, hands, elbows, hips, foreheads, you get the picture. Especially when hanging sheet metal for siding while standing on a Little Giant Ladder.

I feel it is about 60% finished. The inside is done I just have to finish exterior things.

I still have to put sheet metal on the roof, put doors on the front and back for the chickens to enter and exit, and put doors to open behind the nesting boxes.

I may have to add more roosts but I will have to see once they all get in there. This is only half of the roosts.

I want to paint something funny at the top of both the entrances.

Still need to put doors on the backs of the boxes to lift up when collecting eggs.

Working Pens

2008-07-26T20:03:00.000-07:00

For the last year, we have been raising 30 stocker steers for the first of our grass fed beef. In some posts ago, I pointed out that our initial vision was to be a producer of fine grass fed beef using stocker steers from a breeder who raised his calves only on grass up until weaning. Then we would get them at weaning time, he would wean them for us using hay, and then we would finish them out on our pastures.

Well, our beliefs in sustainability grew more and more. Land management became the core of our beliefs along with herd management. I quickly learned that if you don't have complete control of your heard, from birth, you will always be inheriting someone elses poor land and herd management problems. Hence the reason we decided to convert over to a closed herd of Red Brangus cows.

We got ourselves into the egg business, thinking that 100 layers would be good, then decided that we would want to finish out 20-40 hogs a year. Well, now we have about 400 layers that will start laying end of August, we are set up to finish out 120-150 hogs a year, we are converting from stocker beeves to a closed herd of Red Brangus, and are in the works of getting an on farm outside poultry processing area built.

So in the next year, a lot of new things will be taking place here as we go from production phase to actually having product to sell. This has finally led us to getting our official set of working pens.

Over the last year, I have learned that cows simply allow us to control them but at anytime, could actually leave the property and never come back if they so desired. No fence, be it an 8' game fence with welded panels on 4' centers, could actually keep a full grown cow in if it really wanted out. Hence the reason for a good set of pens. Plus, my cows haven't yet been trained to simply walk up to a trailer in the middle of the pasture as I point them out and tell them to load up, its time to walk the final leg of your journey. I think they would look at me like I was a bit loony and continue to eat grass.

Naturally, as a cow gets moved to a new environment, they begin to get anxious, stressed, and act a bit whiley (sp?). I know this. And I know that the first time I introduce them to the pens, it will be a bit of a shock for them. But my remedy for that will be through routine and familiarization.

I have found that just like kids enjoy, and need structure, ( you may feel that your kids do not feel that way but that may be the problem, they lack structure) cows are the same way. They like to know things will be the same over and over. Things just go better when it happens this way. You explain the rules and guidelines, and they do their best to follow them. They know what to expect day in and day out. Soon they learn that the handle side of the rope is where they go to move from paddock to paddock. A lead cow immerges and leads the cows each and every time. It makes them comfortable. After a while, they know the system up and down and will perform like clockwork if the time is invested early on.

So my plan is to always allow the cows to rotate through the pens even if I don't intend on working them. Just to let them get use to the routine of going in and out of them. That means that every 30-40 days, they will walk in and out of them. We will gather weights and data, every 90 days, so that we will be able to tell what type of Average Daily Gains (ADG) we are getting. By rotating them through each time, they get use to the gates, the tub, the alley, and the chute. Hearing the sound of the metal rattle and echoes of the moos. Without structure and routine, there is mass confusion, and when working cattle by yourself, you just can't allow that.

We will be getting a pole barn built over the top so that they will be out of the sun and it will be a great place for when we go to wean our calves next year.
****Note to all who have never weaned calves----you really need to have a good set of high panel pens for weaning your calves. If not, they will jump over them or go through them and be back to their mamas by day end.

Here is a little tour of the new set up. From a cows perspective. MOOOOOOO

This is the gate where the cows will enter

Once inside, the will be in a catch pen

They will walk around in a clockwise motion around the partition

Once around the partition, they will go towards the tub

The tub has a gate that comes out and allows the cows to walk in a half moon shape.

As the cows enter the tub, a swing gate is closed behind them and it locks each time they move forward so they cant reverse back.

At the end of the tub, they go into the Alley. You can adjust the width for bulls, cows, or calves so that they cant turn around once inside.

The alley leads to the chute. I like that they are closed panels because it helps the cattle not get scared by movement on the outside of the alley.

This is the chute where we will have our scale so that we can weigh the beeves every 90 days or so. We don't vaccinate, use chemical dewormers, fly repellents, or antibiotics, so the main reason will be for weighing the animals.

This is the work area that can also be used as an alternate pen

Once out of the chute, they will either go to the going to processor side.

Or through this next gate

Where they will go into this next pen to be turned back out to pasture.

The holding pens are pretty good size, 20'x40'

Whether loading in the trailer or going back out to pasture, this will be the gate you leave out.

I really like the idea of semi permanent portable pens because they really are easy to set up and move around.

I was at the fire station when they came out and put them up where I told them to over the phone. Well, when I got home and started to look at them, I realized where I told them to put them was underneath the power lines. I can't put a pole barn in the easement so right away, I got to take them apart and move them. I moved the whole set of pens about 150' away by myself using a tractor of course in about 6 hrs. So I highly recommend them.

So this is the new addition to the farm which I am so excited to get to use. I have about 2 weeks till they rotate around to them. Come on guys, hurry up and eat already.

Egg Mobile Progress

2008-07-18T19:50:00.000-07:00

Well we worked on the egg mobile for a bit today and finally got all the framing done by this evening. You don't realize how hard that old steel gets over the years. Now that all the framing is up, putting all the tin on should go pretty fast. Should, but you know how that goes.

We got to get a little bit of the tin on before night time so after seeing it coming together, I think it may actually work. We live right off the highway so we want to get a mural painted on the side for farm fresh eggs. It will be like having a 24' billboard moving around.

The cows are doing amazing. There is a tremendous difference in moving them 2-3 times a day vs 1 like we were usually doing it. They are wiping it clean, weeds and all, in a matter of about 6 hrs per 3/4 acre. It will be interesting to see how the grasses recover with the amounts of urea and manure that are being put into each paddock.

The paddock on the right will get 30-40 days of rest before the cows rotate around to it again.

Tomorrows grass

I thought we might get a bit of a small shower to end the day but that too passed. It was very pretty though I thought.

I get to be a fireman tomorrow so the farm chores will have to be done by Aunt Debbie and my amazing wife. What a pair they are.

New Project

2008-07-17T20:17:00.001-07:00

I'm a firm believer of not having to have it all figured out before getting your feet wet in farming.

We bought 300 chicks before I had a brooder house set up, but you know what, when you have 300 chicks coming in the next couple days, you tend to figure out a brooder house pretty quick.

We bought two sows, and some feeder pigs before I had a pasture fully designated for them, but as they get bigger, then your motivation comes for getting things further in line for them.

You can try and learn all you want from a book, and try to have things set up absolutely perfect but sometimes I want to write a book, and right when you open the cover, bam, a big wrench flies up and hits you in the face and says, "Now whatcha gonna do?"

The best training is OJT (on-the-job-training) so my advice is if you want to do something, do it. Then learn together and figure out how to fine tune things as you go. The great thing is you should never be satisfied with how you have things because there is always going to be improvements you will see can be done.

So that being said, I have about 375 pullets or so that are going to need a place to lay eggs in the coming weeks, so........

Today is the day for converting this old cotton trailer I picked up a couple of months ago into the first of our full fledge mobile egg machines. I found two at one place and brought one home but the other needed some work before I could haul it the 50 miles at 30 mph. So Old Man Scarmado is suppose to be fixing it for me. These things are old as Mathusila (sp?) but will be great for what we are doing.

So Aunt Debbie and I started our project after I finally got all the materials gathered up. I know a guy that had some old tin that he sold me for cheap so I bought about 600 linear foot of it or so. You can never have enough old tin, especially when it is the good stuff from long ago and not the cheap gauged stuff you have to buy at the local hardware store.

Its so fun when I get to do projects with Aunt Debbie because of her personality. She is the most positive person I know who is constantly uplifting you even when you really feel like you don't know what you are doing. I can hear her now, "Thats okay," as I break the 6th drill bit.

Plus I am always putting her in a bind because I am 6'1" and she is 4'11". Honestly. So out of habit, I tend to put things where they are just right for me but way out of reach for her. I don't do it on purpose but you would think that I could figure it out by now. So that is something I have been trying to get better at doing.

So tomorrow, we hope to be close to done with all the exterior work on the trailer. Then comes setting up the inside for roosts, boxes, etc.

On the sides of the trailer I will paint in neat letters, FARM FRESH EGGs. We have over 3000' of highway 105 frontage so surely people will see it and be interested.

This was the sunset as I was moving the irrigation for the night water. The cows moved a couple hours earlier and were loving the cooler evening as some clouds rolled in.

It makes you realize at the end of each day how blessed you were to have gotten that day and be prayerful that you get to experience another when you lay down to sleep.

Same Song Different Verse

2008-07-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

I know I have said it before, I'm still alive, just not blogging right now. Well, I'm still alive and I can only say that I am going to try and do better. Things are magnificently great right now and there is a lot to update, but baby steps, right?

Other than not having rain, everything else seems to be going full steam ahead. Rain is a huge part of farming so I will get to that topic in a bit.

We currently have 61 head of cattle grazing on our pastures. As stated in a post long ago, we are moving to a closed herd of Red Brangus cattle. We currently have 25 Red Brangus heifers who should all be about bred now, we hope. We have one bull currently, Pete, who is a frame score 5 bull that we hope we can breed down with. Eventually, we will be down to a frame score 4 or 3.

We have 3 black baldy heifers we are going to keep so that we can see what kind of calves they throw. They are kinda long legged gals though so they may not get to stick around as long as everyone else. It will be worth a shot though.

We have 32 stocker steers we are feeding out for meat until we begin to butcher our own calves in a couple of years.

I thought I loved the black baldy breed but after getting into the Texas summer, I realize, I don't much care for them. Actually, I don't much care for any black cattle. I will try to take a picture tomorrow to show the proof, but after about 11:00 in the morning, they are looking for shade. I actually had to put a water sprinkler out for them because I felt like they were getting too hot. When you do Managed Intensive Grazing, lots of times, there aren't any trees because you are managing where the cattle graze. So in came the sprinkler. The Red Brangus eat all day and even lay in the sun. Not the black ones. They lay under the sprinkler for hours at a time cooling off. Such the reason why we will never, on purpose, own any more black cattle. We're going RED.

Our first hogs are set to go to the butcher on August 1. This is very exciting for us. We have 3 that we are going to get processed so let us know if you would like to purchase some retail cuts.
After that, we will have 3 more then we will be into our Born on Yonder Way Farm Piglets.

I love this hogs blue eyes

Our two sows gave us 20 piglets, of which 18 made it to pasture. One of the runts got laid on, and after castrating our boys, one had a hidden hernia and it popped out shortly after castration. We lost him. My thoughts on castration in a future post. Just say it wasn't pleasant.

So of the 18, we will probably have 15 that will make it to finishing weight. Three somehow had hip problems and they slowly are getting worse. They will probably get butchered at an early age for our personal consumption. I don't know if the hip problems were genetically obtained or what but if we have the same problem on the next litters, we will have to maybe think about culling the sow from the program.

We are up to 4 sows now with 2-4 more in the future. I think we would like to keep 6-8 breeding so that we can produce somewhere between 120-150 hogs a year. Sounds like a large number, but after you start having piglets and seeing them on pasture, you wish you could do 1,000 pigs a year. They are by far the easiest animals on the farm.

"How You's Doin?"

Our pullet count is up to about 375 or so. I don't know, we have chicks, and chickens everywhere. Right now, I just let the ones that are setting outside of the houses hatch them out. This week we will probably get 15-20 more chicks hatching. I figure the more the better. We currently sell out of eggs every week so that is good.

We are in the process of getting a store front built with a kill room attached. We want to process all of our own poultry so until it gets finished, we can only count the days till we get to start raising and processing chicken and next year, turkeys.

We currently have 45 paddocks for rotating. These are approximately 2 acre paddocks. To get a better graze, I have been cutting each paddock into 3 pads and rather than moving the cows 1 time daily, I went to 2-3 moves daily. What a difference it makes.
You would think I had mowed the grass. Saves diesel and who needs commercial fertilizer. When you pack them in this close, they give a pretty good bit in each pad. Cows are such efficient animals its amazing to think how they can turn that grass into pounds.

As stated before, we have been lacking in the rain department. Water is life, and without it, everything living will die. How evident that is when you are farming. We had 18 acres of irrigated pasture put in last year and just last week added 17 more. Now we are up to 35 acres which has been a huge blessing this year. We are looking to be fully irrigated by end of the summer which will allow us to do many great things at Yonder Way.

We use the K-Line system which is a bunch of sprinkler pods that are attached by a poly tubing and pulled around your 4 wheeler or buggy. (Thats what we call the Polaris Ranger.) I really enjoy how it works and you can move them any where you want, as long as they reach, and water only specific paddocks if you like.

So for now, you have been caught up. My wife does an awesome job at updating our family blog, which lots of times flows into farming, so if mine gets stuck for a month or so, check her's out. Hopefully I will do a better job.

Piglets, Chicks & Hogs oh My!

2008-05-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

As stated in the previous post, Lucy our sow, had a litter of 10 piglets on Saturday. Well, four days after her, Ethel had her a litter of 10 piglets. Now all would be great if all 20 piglets make it but in Ethel's litter, 2 were extremely small. I mean small. Lucy actually had 12 piglets, but 2 of them didn't make it and the two that we think might have been still born were much larger than these 2 runts. We try to allow things to be as nature would have them here so I unfortunately have to go by the way of "survival of the fittest." It is hard seeing these two little guys fight for their positions. I tell you what though, if they make it, they will be some bad some guns. Pigs with attitudes. My wife has a neat little story on our family blog about them.

Lucy and her 10 piglets

Some of Ethel's new piglets...You can see the pink runt in the front.

So yesterday was the big day of moving our laying pullets out of the brooder house and onto pasture. I have never in my life had to move 300+ chickens but Lynsey and I devised a plan. So to the side door we moved the cattle trailer and we were going to herd them in and load them on the trailer. Well, they didn't want to go out the door so they just went to flying and packing into the corners. Not good. I thought for sure they were going to either crush or sufficate each other. So to plan B which we didn't have. We got a net and started rounding the pullets to the door just keeping them in a semi circle so that I could get in and start putting them on the trailer. Eureka, it worked. Just took much longer handling each bird rather than them just loading themselves on the trailer. So out to the pasture they went and boy do they look more at peace now. I can't imagine confining a bird for all its life and not allowing it to do what its natural instincts tell it to do.

The new pens....Eventually will be used mostly for our broilers.

Roaming from the pen

Roamed right out of the pen and to the barn...I moved them back that night to their new house and they did great staying in there today.

This hen came out of some bushes the other day and had 14 chicks following her. She is down to 11 now due to some stray cats. I have to get rid of them. She is the best mom ever.

This is just a plug for kittens. We are kitten rich and I mean these are some fine kittens. True barn kittens that are nice. Is that an oxymoron? In the next couple weeks, we will have 19 kittens to give away. Please take one or two, maybe three.

7 of the orange and white

4 of these...more long haired

I got our new 12 door hog feeders in this week. The lady told me at the feed store that they come in 2 sections and you just assemble the top to the bottom. Simple enough, so I ordered 2 because I would only have to pay freight once and in a couple months, we will be able to use 2.
However, in this area, nobody finishes hogs anymore so they thought I was absolutely crazy for even buying these things. Sounds great for us from a business stand point because no competition. Especially when you are producing pastured pork supplemented with certified organic grain.

These are 40 bushel feeders but I have the extra bands to make them 60 bushels if need be. I like the size of the 40 bushel though because I can use the small tractor and dump feed directly from the bucket to the bin. Plus I check the pigs everyday so I don't mind bringing feed a few times.

So when I went to pick up the feeders, they were not in 2 sections, but in about 10 pieces, with 4 bags of about 300 bolts and nuts and pins and washers all mixed together. So then I open the instructions and in there is a diagram that looks like it was drawn with a pencil. I'm not going to get any deeper because I am happy with the feeders now but after about 18 hours to assemble one, I was a little unhappy. So I called the manufacturer and they were very helpful. But this is what it looks like with the hogs happily eating out of it.

Putting together was terrible, you really need 2 people, but other than that, they are great feeders. Very durable.

The last two days have been great rain days. The first day we got 1.1" and the second 1.3". So I hope the seed really begins to come in. We are still real thick with rye grass right now but I only think I will get one more rotation on it before it goes to mostly seed head. Thats good though because I am hoping it will reseed itself pretty good this year.

Thats about it for now. I have a little bit of seed to get put out next week and then I'm tapping out on that. That will be a huge weight off my shoulders.

Still Here Busy as Ever

2008-05-13T20:25:00.000-07:00

Yep, you probably thought I had fell off the face of the earth but not the case. You see, I don't know what happened.... There was the baby goat, BIB, then came the second kid, Bambi, and then I just got so busy out here that I didn't really want to blog about all the little things that were going on. I don't know why, I just really wanted to come in and spend time away from the computer at night. So thats what I did. But I will catch you up on the great things that are going on here.

First things first. Once again, I hate the goats. Yep, I'm a fair weather goat fan and right now I just wish they would run away... But they are so dang cute roaming around the place...They just keep roaming into places that they have no business going in and eating seed, dried molasses, and getting into the pig and chicken feed. They are relentless. However, when all the spring seeding and spreading is done, they will have nothing to get into. But I still wish they would run away.

The cows are doing great. I am particularly pleased with the Red Brangus we purchased almost 2 months ago. They are extremely efficient and looking better and better each week. Even crazy #707 is in full swing. They are currently rotating on our 40-45 paddocks. Pete the bull is very laid back but I haven't seen him working his magic yet. Maybe he waits till no one is watching. I look to have 5-10 beeves ready by end of the summer so that is exciting.

Pigs are really enjoying life and getting bigger and bigger. Lucy and Ethel were pregnant, Lucy had 10 piglets last Saturday night, and Ethel's rolls are still in the oven. She looks miserable. Her heat cycle falls 4 days after Lucy so I figure she should have her piglets in the next couple of days. Lucy is a great mother, just overbearing to Ethel now but I guess that is expected by sows. I remember walking up on some feral hogs when I was a land surveyor and the mother of the piglets chased us up a fence. We had to sit there for 2 hours. So I figure letting them live in their natural environment brings out nature in them. Our stocker pigs are really filling out. They look awesome. I have 3 that will be ready in about 4-6 weeks I think and then I have 3-4 others that will be ready by end of summer. One of the stockers, I am going to keep for a breeder sow, she looks great and has converted feed much better than any of the others. We'll see.

We officially have chickens coming out everywhere. We are currently getting about 30 eggs daily but that will change in the coming months. Of my 300 layers we purchased, 9 have died, only 4 were natural deaths. (I had a rampant mother hen get inside the brooder ring and she went to killing my other chicks looking for her lost one that got in there. I was pretty mad at her for that.) I have been very pleased with Ideal Hatcheries chicks. However, I have hatched about 60 of our own chicks and have 3 hens setting right now. I figure we have the room, why not let them do it. I mostly allow my bantams to set since they are such great mothers and I am the only one that usually eats their eggs. They are pretty small. I am going to be moving about 325 layers onto pasture tomorrow so they will officially be out of the brooder house. To think confinement chicken never get to look forward to roaming on pasture. (Next we get our broilers and turkeys)

Our pastures are looking great. Its amazing in just one year the difference. Not only have we put out seed for our cool and warm season grasses, but implementing Managed Intensive Grazing has changed everything. By rotating each day, aggressively grazing then allowing to rest for approximately 40-45 days, our grasses are awesome looking. This is kinda funny, but in one week, we had someone from Conroe TX send a letter saying that they wanted to buy our property and soon after that, someone called from Houston TX and said they wanted to lease it for their cattle. If they only knew how much has went into this place. It is nice to know though that people are beginning to notice the place when they drive by.

Plans are in motion for our new office building equipped with a fully operational kill room for our poultry. More on this in the near future.

So this is what is going on. I can't promise posts everyday like before because right now, it is so busy, that at night, I just want to relax at home with my girls. However, I will be more diligent in keeping this blog updated. I love farming, its my passion, but I don't really love typing on a computer... but it is a great way for me to document the things going on at the farm. More pics will be on the way. Thanks for checking in and reading about our lives.

New Kid On the Block

2008-04-02T18:54:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a great day on the farm. We had two chickens that hatched two batches of eggs. All in all, we got 18 new chicks. Then while doing the morning rounds, I noticed that Thelma, one of the brown pygmy goats, was off by herself in their old pen. They never go in there by themselves so that seemed kinda strange that she was even in there.

Well later in the day around lunch, I went back out to feed the animals when I noticed her in there again but this time she was in her little house. I got to thinking that she was due anytime so I went to go check on her. Sure enough, there was BIB. The cutest little kid I have ever seen.

Today was her first day to really get about. Its crazy that they come out walking right away for the most part. She keeps her near the barn for the most part, but I had to get the pigs out of there. I was worried that they might accidentally step on the little girl, or even worse, nip her or something. Pigs do like meat and all although we have never fed ours meat. I think that is why we haven't lost any chickens to them yet.

Louise the other brown goat is due anytime. Her bag is full and she looks like she is getting very uncomfortable. Hopefully in the next couple of days, we will get our second kid, or kids.

This morning was the big morning for our laying chicks. The post office called at 06:00 and said they had a bunch of chicks in there. So off I went to pick them up. I stayed up till midnight last night getting the final touches of their house done. I was concerned about it being too drafty, so I made a border around where they were going to be. I hope it works. It looks like something off of ET.

We got 300. 100 Black Australorps, 100 Rhode Island Reds, and 100 Americanas. All 300 arrived alive, but within 30 minutes, one looked sick. So I separated it and put it in a small brooder. It died shortly after. So now we are down to 299. As of 9:00 pm, no more casualties. They seem to be doing good up to this point. These are going to be our 100% organically fed, free range layers. It is amazing the difference in the look of the feed in the organic grains vs. commercial grain. I don't know if it has anything to do with it being non-genetically modified.

I have 4 chickens on the outside of the brooder border, they know how to take care of those babies so much better than us. They just walk around the outside, with their chicks following. I think I have about 36 chicks with them. I still have one hen setting so in 10 days, she should be hatching. I love spring.

Update....

2008-03-28T18:55:00.000-07:00

As of right now, #707 is back in the pasture. We were coming back from Round Top when I got the call about 6:00 pm. We were about 30 min from the house so I had to book it to get home, changed, hook the trailer up, and get down the road, before it got dark.

I was amazed that they caught that cow in only a day. Boy was she still crazy. He said he would just take her straight to the sale barn if it were him. I figured I will give her one more chance. She is very pretty.

So we got her loaded up and I brought her home. I backed her into the pasture where all the other cows were and opened the door. Out she went into the herd. I thought score......point for Yonder Way.... but then she took off toward the back of the pasture. Still in the same fence but trotting like a horse. I thought for sure she was going to jump out again. But she didn't. She came back and got in the middle of the herd. Hopefully tonight and tomorrow, she will calm down and settle in.

I have to work in Houston tomorrow so prayerfully she will be ok and Lynsey won't have to do anything major. If so, I might be coming back home. That is one of the perks of being a Fire Fighter, we all tend to help each other out.

Pete and his girls

2008-03-27T18:30:00.000-07:00

Today, possibility became reality. We officially purchased our first 10 heifers and bull for the beginning of our closed herd. But that statement in itself sounds so simple, for the easiest part of the day by far was the writing of the check. Lets start from the beginning.

These are Red Brangus. I love Red Brangus and all the characteristics they possess so that is what we went with. We are 100% grass-fed, grass-finished so long lanky legged cows that finish out at 1300-1400#'s is not for us. So I want smaller framed, easy fleshing cows. These 10 heifers I have will probably max out at 1000-1100#'s. The bull is a 5.2 for frame size which is considered really short. However, his ribeye area and ultra sound info was pretty good. I feel really good about Pete being our starter bull. He is registered Red Brangus so he even gets some fancy papers with him. But then the craziness began.....

Loading them was a breeze. Got on the road, they are only 20 miles from the house, and got to the pasture. Well, the first load, I brought 7 heifers. I backed the trailer in and opened it up and off they went like white lightning. I mean, gone. There was one that was especially whiley. She got to the fence and just jumped over it. Like a show pony or something. The other six didn't know what to do so they took off the opposite direction.

Well our other herd of cows waiting to be moved were all the way across the pasture waiting patiently. The whiley one took off towards them running all the way. She got to them and jumped the poly wire that was keeping them in. They didn't know what to do. They knew I didn't open the gate so it seemed they were confused on whether to leave or follow this strange new trick cow.

I figured she would stay with the herd now knowing where she is probably suppose to be. So after the other six I went. Well they successfully ran through all my poly wire that was dividing the eight paddocks in the pasture they were in then proceeded to the pig pasture. Over that fence they go. I mean these girls can jump. I figured at least they can stay in there and calm down. So I divert my focus back on the main herd and the whiley heifer.

Lynsey and I go down the alley way that is suppose to bring the cows to the new paddocks. This always works but with this new creature in play it seemed like it was going to be disastrous. We finally make it to the top of the hill, which is pretty far away, and our herd starts lining up. It seems this is the order they were looking for. At this time, 5 of our original herd are out of the paddock, but they are next to the others wanting to get in the alley. Then all heck broke loose.

Whiley heifer just took off to the corner of the pasture and over the electric fence she went. Then over the barbed wire fence after that. Yep, she is officially rogue. Down the road she goes with everyones dog's barking. I wanted to throw up. I jump the fences and she is already about 200 yards down the middle of the road, sprinting.

So I holler to Lynsey, but it was windy and I guess all she could hear was wind. So I keep hollering. Then the cows think I am telling them to come to me so they start leaving Lynsey and coming towards me. Well, I at this time am running as fast as my worn out boots will go. I can't much say it was sprinting cause I bet it didn't look that way. Lynsey took off across the other two pastures towards the highway just in case she might try and come back towards that way. I headed back towards the Ranger to get in it to chase. However, the Ranger was all the way back at the end of the alley. I ran fast down the hill and then thought I was going to die going up the hill. Really, once again I almost barfed, just not the what am I going to do barf like above but rather the my body thinks I have lost my mind and knows I will have to stop if it throws up. But I made it.

So in the Ranger I go, flying in the grass along the highway, and out pops Lynsey. Man she was fast. Rubber boots and all. So now we are like Luke and Bo Duke driving down Waesapape Rd looking for this rogue heifer.

We go and go. Looking in all the pastures just to see if maybe she went over again. Then eureka, we notice a herd of cows all starring in the same direction. Yep, there she is in someones front yard. So we pull in and think maybe we can get them to close their gate to keep her in. After all, they had a mesh fence with 2 strands of wire on top. Surely she wouldn't try and get over that. Ha, think again. Over she went but this time, she caught her foot and it flipped here over. Her foot was caught for a moment in it but she quickly freed it. Then she was off across this guys pasture. She finally went to the corner of his place and chilled out.

So what to do when your new heifer jumps every type of fence possible other than 8' game fence? I guess you just leave it there. I called a friend and he said the best thing to do is just let her calm down there and get use to that herd. Then in a week or so, maybe she will come up with their cows and then we can pen her and bring her back. So I talked to the owner later in the day and he said that would be fine. He was such a nice person.

Well I went back and got my other 3 heifers and a bull. My original herd came down the alley way and went into their new paddocks. This time, when I unloaded them, they saw the other cows and stayed where they were suppose to go. The other 6 actually felt left out I guess and got in the paddock with them. So now 9 of the heifers and the bull are in with the original herd. I went out there several times and they really seemed to have calmed down. My original herd is use to us so I think they put them at ease not being skiddish.

I drove back by the other mans pasture and our heifer was lying down in there. She got up when I drove by so I guess she knows I was inquiring about her. Then I noticed that he had a Black Angus bull so who knows, she may end up bred. Wouldn't that be fitting. I don't even get to breed her to my new bull.

Oh what a day. I am pooped.

Goats, at it again!!!!

2008-03-26T19:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought I had these little boogers contained, but boy was I fooled. They cooperated for a while, leading me to feel like I was in control. Then they all at once decided to show me that at any moment, they could have gotten out. And boy did they ever.

Not only did they escape, they began destroying the chicken wire that had kept them in for so long. They would stick their horns in the mesh and begin to jerk making bigger holes in it. Then they would stick their heads through and push their way through until there was this perfect hole about 10" in diameter. So day after day, I would round them up (more like chase them around) and repair the holes, wiring them back together. They would stay in for a bit, then do it again. Finally, I gave in.

The whole reason I can't stand them being out roaming where they want to go is the chicken feed. These four would sit and run the chickens off and literally eat a couple pounds of food twice a day. This is not very cost effective. Plus, they use to try and eat the pig food. Well, I quickly devised a plan to foil their efforts. At least for the chickens, the pigs are big enough to handle their own battles.

With two stock panels, their appetites would have to be filled with grass and other browsey things because, "No chicken food for them!!!"

Now the goats can be the free spirits that they so long to be. They are so cute, roaming in their little group all around our central area. When they get real excited, they bounce instead of run, kinda like the skunk on Bugs Bunny. (Pepe Le Pugh) sp?

However, they have really been doing some really funny things lately. I knew they had some funny personalities, but this has taken it to a new level.

Yesterday, I go out to the barn in the morning, and Billy is standing on the cows back. This cow is separate because he is not doing so well right now. But in an effort to help him out, Billy decided to get on his back and scratch it. Yep, he stands on his back and paws at his back. The cow loves it. Then, the cow would stand up and Billy would face him. Billy would put his horns under the cows neck, and go to town, scratching the underside of his neck. And who said animals couldn't communicate.

And today, I was doing my morning routine when I notice Billy staring up at the bottom of the chicken coop. I could see stuff falling from the floor to the ground, but I figured maybe the cat had gotten in there. Boy was I surprised. Inside, no other than Anna Belle. As you can tell, she is back to her mischief. I have to admit though it was very cute. She is really doing great after losing her kid a few weeks ago.

I have chickens setting everywhere. If they are setting when I go to collect eggs, I usually get the eggs out from under them each time. If they continue to try and set after several days of doing this, I will put about 14 eggs under them and let them go at it. Currently, I have three setting on about 42 eggs total. Who knows how many will hatch. I have two bantam hens setting on eggs but they set in the same box. I don't know how many eggs are under them, but it is a bunch. They are suppose to hatch next Monday. We'll see.

The cows are doing great in their rotation. Our native spring grasses are coming in great. The cows really enjoy all the tender weeds and wild flowers right now. If you make your cows eat these things, they really will eat them and enjoy them. At least they look like they do. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be putting out our warm season seed, Texas Tough, and Crabgrass. I can't wait to see how they do. Rain baby Rain.

Our 300 chicks that were suppose to come in the morning have been delayed. I was so aggravated. Their house is fully set up and ready to go and then I get the dreaded phone call. They were going to be short 27 Americanaus so I could either be short those and get the order tomorrow or wait till next week and get them all. So I chose the latter. I love the green and blue eggs and so do our customers so I want to have them available.

Thats it for now but a lot has happened this week so I will have lots to write about. Peace out from Yonder Way

Possibility

2008-03-19T19:08:00.001-07:00

I have been searching for Red Brangus everywhere. Most people around here run Black Angus or Brangus. We are looking to establish a closed herd, using our calves for replacement heifers for ourselves or feed out our steers and heifers for 100% grass fed beef.

When it comes to grass fed beef, you don't want what almost all commercial or registered breeders are genetically looking for. In a time when size is everything, genetics is allowing for taller, longer legged cows that are large boned and weighing in excess of 1500#'s. Thats for cows while bulls are weighing in excess of 2000#'s. Well, we don't want that. I'm looking for a medium to short frame cow, smaller boned, wide body with easy fleshing. I think I finally found the place that will start us off close, but it will take us years of breeding down before we get where we need to be.

The farm we are looking at is Triangle K Farm located in Chappell Hill TX. This is awesome because it is only 25 minutes from our farm. These cows are living in the exact conditions as our farm with summers of high temperatures and high humidity. Conditions that really keep the Black Angus/Brangus from doing well. Also, another benefit of buying from this farm is that they have daily contact with the animals because they do rotational grazing, they are use to electric fencing, and they predominately produce forage based cattle. Meaning that these cows very rarely ever eat grain. Our calves of course will not be allowed to consume grain at any time so they will truly be grass fed, grass finished beeves.

Here is a few picks of the prospective cattle. They have two smaller, compact, full bodied bulls that I think may be a possibility, and then they have 50 commercial Brangus heifers to choose from. These are all 3/8 Brahman, 5/8 Angus.

My favorite bull...You can see how much shorter he is than the same age bull next to him. I liked his fullness, coat, and color.

This guy is like a pit bull. I liked him too, he was even shorter legged than the top bull but his birthing weights were on the heavy side which makes me worry about ease of calving for the heifers.

She is about 12 mos old...Medium framed.

I like them because the have heifer/cow heads on them. Some of the cows I was looking at you couldn't tell if they were steers or heifers.

These cows have been supplemented with very little through the winter. They are all full bodied. Granted this place has awesome winter grasses

Its going to be hard picking 10 out of the 50.

I like the darker red color...

I may try some light colored and dark colored to see which perform better.

Please pick me...

We are looking at getting around 10 or so with a bull. That way we can start breeding in May, June. Then that will give us spring calves, born in March, April, giving them good milk from the spring grasses. I can't wait.

Spring Hatchings

2008-03-17T20:28:00.000-07:00

Today was the 21st day of setting. I guess its that time of year, the warmer temps, the greener forage, I really don't know. I have so many chickens that are getting broody and trying to set. Well being the lover of life, and enjoying some of my mutt type chickens running around, I picked out a few and let them have a go of it. A couple of weeks ago, I had one hatch 4, but only 3 made it. I never found the 4th chick but I think it fell through a space in the ceiling where they hatched and probably got snatched up by a cat. Who knows. So this gal began to set and I could tell she was serious. She has some bantam in her which makes her a great mother. Initially she had three eggs under her so I added 11 more making it 14. I put a mixture of all kinds but mainly bantam eggs and a few other types. Who knows. Well who would have guessed she would hatch 13 out of 14 eggs. Thats a whopping 93% hatch rate. The bantam chicks are so small it is hilarious. But what an amazing mother she is.

Next Monday, this gal will be hatching her eggs. I think there is 10-12 under her. She is the sister of the first chicken that hatched the 4 chicks. They look identical except this chicken doesn't have as big a red thing on her head. Then the next Monday after that, I have another bantam chicken that is setting on 10-12 eggs. It will be nice having chicks hatching each week and with my new brooder house, I have room for about 600 chicks. Good thing since next Thursday, I will be getting my shipment of 300 in. Excitement.

I got my warm season seed ordered and it should be in any time this week. I am going to be seeding a Texas Tuff Bermuda mix along with Crabgrass. Tonight and tomorrow it is suppose to rain so that will help prepare my seed bed. I am going to be broadcasting over existing native grasses and allow the cows to press them into the soil. Our rye grass and Clovers, Durana and Bur, are coming up more and more with the warm weather. I need to get out and take pictures of that. I am experimenting with some new pasture applications so more on that later.

This week I plan to finish building our paddocks weather pending. I went to the NRCS Friday and got Mr. Dan Wilson to draw them up for me. Its so much easier to get approximate acreage sizes on their computer programs than for me to go out and estimate. Not only that, but at our NRCS office, I try to really push Mr. Wilson to see what all he can do. When I got ready to leave, I realized that I had locked my keys in the car. I have a Honda Civic that I use to drive to Houston and to putz around doing errands. It gets 35 mpg vs. 12 mpg in Big Red. But back to Mr. Wilson. We quickly put our heads together and rounded up the necessary tools to keep us from calling Pop-A-Lock. Some High Tensile Wire and a Flat Head Screw Driver. I held the door pried open and he worked his magic with the wire. Since it doesn't have power locks, we had to pull the trunk release so I could go in through the trunk. Within a few minutes, eureka, we were in. Thanks Mr. Wilson for all your help. If I had a pic of you, I would put it on here. (Lucky you, your daughter, Sarah Shalley, hooked me up.) He does smile though.

But this is what the remaining 8 paddocks will look like which will give us 40 paddocks total. I may try to get him to print a printout of how all my paddocks are situated. It looks like one pig puzzle.

What a wonderful week it will be. We always need the rain, lets just hope it doesn't get too soupy.

Awe Man....

2008-03-08T19:41:00.001-08:00

....Annabelle is the goat on the right side....

Today was extremely sad for us out here on the farm. We've been anticipating the birth of our first kid (baby goat) for a while now.

We thought that last week Annabelle, the momma goat, was ready to deliver. I was so sure that I sent KK running to the house to get her momma and her camera. Lynsey came running out of the house and we were all sure we were about to witness a goat deliver her first baby. We waited, and waited, and waited......nothing.

So time went by- four days to be exact. These four days have included many trips to the goat pen to check on her progress.

I worked in Houston yesterday at the Fire Dept. When I get home in the mornings from my shift, I make the rounds on the farm to check on all of the animals. I went over to the goat pen and noticed that Annabelle looked littler. But, I didn't see a baby goat walking around anywhere.

As I approached their shed I built for them to lay under, I saw the baby goat laying there on the ground in the hay lifeless. My heart sunk. I felt so bad for the baby and Annabelle. The worst part about being a farmer is seeing things like this happen. I know it is inevitable on a farm where there is so much life, because where there is life death is also a reality.

The momma seems to be doing alright. She has been crying for the most part of the day. I think she is looking for her baby.

I don't know exactly what went wrong. I think the baby goat was stillborn. When I found it, the goat still had afterbirth all over it and looked as if it hadn't even moved.

Man, this was a rough day. But, I learn and grow each time something like this happens because I dread it happening again. We were so excited and had been looking forward for this day to come for a long time.

KK asked me today at lunch time if Annabelle had had her baby yet. I told her that she did, but the baby didn't make it.

"Awe man, I wanted to hold it," she exclaimed cupping her hands together. That made my heart sink even more.

We have 3 female goats and 1 male. The other two females appear to be pregnant as well. So, hopefully we will get to experience another kid being born soon. We already have a name picked out for the little one......"Bib." Bib means- Born in Brenham. It seems to be a theme around this town. You are either a 'bib' or a 'bob', which means born out of Brenham.

Some Thinking

2008-03-06T07:58:00.000-08:00

This week I have been doing some serious thinking and evaluating. When you start sustainable farming, teaching the land to be self sufficient and have your animals work for you, there are many trials and experiments that go on. One thing I have noticed and learned is that in this wet season we have had, you are going to battle parasite problems. By choosing not to use commercial dewormers, the battle you will face initially is a tough one. So here is where different experiments and techniques come into play.

We currently use apple cider vinegar (ACV) to help with the problem. After going to the TOFGA conference, we learned that ACV is so much more than a dewormer, it has lots of other internal benefits to the animals. However, ACV cannot come in and take out an already established infestation. It will however, keep an infestation from happening.

When we started, we planned on doing a stocker operation, buying only cows from one source. The individual I buy from has really good cows and has a closed herd himself. All his replacement heifers are from his seed so he doesn't go out and purchase sale barn cows. We get these steers/heifers (we were going to feed out both), when they were weaned and they typically weighed anywhere from 550# sometimes up to 800#. This seemed like a good route to go but then I began to get a little more educated on these things. Yes, if we go the stocker route, we will be able to produce more grass fed, grass finished beef for our customers, but at what cost to us. We do have to purchase each animal so that is a an initial hit but you can make up the cost because the turnaround on the animal is faster than coming from raising the animal calf to finish. But.....

After having the steers/heifers for several months now, I am quickly realizing that though they may all look good initially when they come off their mama's, not all cows are created equally. Just as people I suppose. In the Stockman Grassfarmer, I read that anytime you buy stocker steers, you will usually have 15-20% that are tail-ender cattle. These are cattle that are perfectly healthy animals, but just don't have the genetics and capability of converting forages and energy into the same results as the other 80-85%. How true they are. Then on top of that, these animals are going to be your animals that are more prone to sickness, parasite infestation, and inconsistent weight gains usually a direct cause of the other two. I can't truly try to teach my land to be sustainable if I am always bringing in and inheriting poor herd management and land management from someone elses farm. Essentially that is what I am doing each time I buy a set of cattle for stocker purposes. So what to do?

We have decided to go to a closed herd. Yes this will take more time but after doing research, it is undoubtedly the correct path to take for us. This way, we can control genetics. If they don't match our standards, don't keep them as breeders. We can keep cows that are more fly resistant, shorter, wide bodied, and flesh easier. Keep cows that have good maternal instincts, that have good nipples that aren't too large for the calves to nurse. We will be in complete control of what we keep on the farm and get rid of. In New Zealand, they cull 25% of their cows each year. Is that what we will do, probably not, but that is why they have some of the best genetics in the world for grass fed beef. We want to be able to produce the best possible beef we can on the most consistent basis as possible.

After much research, I think we are going to go to the Red Brangus. I initially was leaning towards Red Angus heifers, sired by a Devon bull, but then I found a local farm just 15 min from our farm that sells Red Angus and Red Brangus. The owner allowed me to come out and look at his operation and boy was it big. 1800 acres, 700-800 head of cattle. Their main product is producing great bulls for breeding stock. I think he said they produce 300+ DNA tested registered bulls on their place. This is where he started talking to me about the benefits of the Red Brangus over the Red Angus, especially for our area.

It is hot and humid here most of the time. We have great early falls and springs, mild winters, and usually hot summers. The Black Angus/Brangus is used extensively in this area. But why? I don't know and he didn't know either. He has been producing great cattle for over 40 yrs in this area and still didn't know why people used them so much. He produces them as well, but only because so many people around here buy them from him. Smart business. But back to the Red Brangus. He feels these are going to be the new movement in the future if people would wisen up. They are red, of course, which makes them much more comfortable, tolerant, and efficient in the hot summers here. Yet handle our mild winters exceptionally well. By having the Brahma in them, they get more heat resistance and better parasite and fly control through natural genetics. By purchasing through him, who puts out lots of heifers and bulls a year, he is constantly working on his genetics. He understands grass fed beef and rotational grazing. He currently rotates all his cows weekly on much bigger tracts and really relies on the forage aspect of the cattle. Very rarely does he feed grain unless his heifers have twins, which he has had 8 sets this last month. He has cattle that are shorter legged, smaller boned, wide bodied, smooth haired, and more fleshing than any I have seen. Great for me, I just have to get him to sell me about 10 of them now along with a great Red Brangus bull built good for grass fed operations. He doesn't want to let any of them go but I hope I can budge ol' Stone Wall. They have a large auction in Oct. so hopefully then, we will be able to purchase a good number of our starter heifers for the beginning of our new herd. Then the fun begins.

But back to the thinking. I know this post is long, but I haven't done one in a while. I also am really wanting to use companion animals more. (ie) chickens and goats.

I ordered 300 layers yesterday so they will be in the end of the month. I have my house ready to use as a brooder for a while until I can get them big enough to go out on grass. They will still stay in that house though for a while with it being open for them to roam around freely. While they are in there, I will hopefully get a good size mobile house built that I can move around in the pastures with the cows. So I have about 2 months there. This will help spread manure and for horn flies and face flies.

The goats I want to help with browsing weeds and other unwanted forage, but also for parasite control. Cattle, goats, chickens, pigs, dogs, pretty much all animals have parasites, just as humans do. In our healthy state, our bodies know how to keep these numbers in balance and we are virtually unaware that we have them. However, in my case with the tail-ender cattle, these guys aren't growing as fast as my good looking healthy thick beeves. So these parasites know that and really vamp things up in their systems. Now I am fighting a battle that is very hard to fight naturally but it can be done. So this is the route we are going to try:

1.) Brix test. This tells you how sweet your forage is and is a good indicator of the parasite loads your pastures naturally have. If you brix is around 3-4, you will have a bad parasite problem. Brix of 7-8, things are much better and the parasites will have a hard chance of survival. Once your Brix gets to 11-12, you will virtually be parasite free. I have no idea where we are but I am going to get a refractometer to do a test. Very important.

2.) Never allow our animals to graze below the two inch height of forage. Currently we don't have this problem because our rye grass is up pretty good and they move daily. But this area has high parasite loads.

3.) Plant more forage so that the animals are able to keep their systems constantly going. We are way understocked at this time but in the summer, this will be big for us. I want them to always have more than enough forage so that when they move, there will be around 20% residual.

4.) Goats. These guys are a deadend host to cattle parasites so what enters them, dies there. No eggs layed, no larvae hatching, drastic drop in numbers quickly almost to the point of extinction over time.

5.) Continue on ACV. This keeps healthy cows healthy and can help turn your slightly infested back on the right track. I will continue to give this 3 days out of the month.

So this is what I will be working on here in the next 2 months or so. Sorry this is so long but maybe this will help others out. Good thing, is that I have 30 or so grass fed beeves that are doing great. I can't wait to be able to finish them out on our good spring grasses and see how the results are.

The Nomad

2008-03-01T05:40:00.001-08:00

"Yee Haw"

So we have this rooster. I didn't know he was a rooster for the longest time but there was always something strange about him. Our chickens on the farm are divided up into three houses and the barn. Down in the pasture, are a bunch of roosters. I know that is mean but too many roosters equal unhappy hens. So they are down there waiting their slaughter date. Then I have a main house, one behind our house and then about 8 chickens roost in the barn. But there is this rooster. He was originally part of the chicks that we moved behind the house and there he stayed for the longest. Fitting in and socializing like everyone else. Then something happened. It was like he lost his way. Hence the name Nomad. This poor guy is always by himself. All day. He pretty much does nothing right. His crow sounds like he is saying," Yee Haw." The only time he gets a hen is if he sneaks up on her and then he really doesn't know what to do very gracefully. When he finishes, you can almost tell that the hen is disappointed with herself that she let herself get caught. He doesn't bother anybody, he just doesn't know where his place is.

The cows are on their final two rotations this weekend. We have had a couple of glitches but nothing major. Most of them were from careless mistakes I made that either confused them or allowed them to break rank. Cows may look dumb and lethargic but at nights, I think they turn into ninja panthers and find ways to get out. I suggest to always have a couple paddocks up ahead of the one being grazed so that if they do get out, they don't take off to the other side of the pasture. Usually the only reason they bust through the rope is if they are chased. I think some coyotes or maybe some deer spooked them the other night and they broke loose. This is part of the new pasture we purchased last year. I seeded it in almost pure rye grass in late October just to see how it did. Not too bad. Mid March I will be putting some warm season grasses on it. I think once it is cleaned up a bit, I have about 6 burn piles to burn and 2 trees to cut up, it is going to be very pretty.

This pasture has lots of huge trees on it. Something our main pastures lack

They eat as close to fence as they can. No fence line weeds anymore

"Love that green"

The pads divided with the reels. I go through Powerflex Fence Co.

These are new pictures of our hen that snuck and hatched some eggs. She had layed 5 but only hatched out 4. Aren't they cute. Its amazing how good these hens can take care of their young chicks.

Showing the chicks their food. All she does is keep tumping it over.

Leading the chicks off to scratch around

We now use only organic grains for our pigs. It is amazing the difference of it vs. commercial feed. The pigs also highly prefer it. They use to pick at their food, now they take huge bites out of it. This is what the grain looks like inside of the feeder. I put about 200#'s in at a time. We will go to all organic grain for our chickens but I am waiting to get my new chicks in so that they will be organic from birth to death. Can't wait

Around the Farm 2

2008-02-25T19:59:00.001-08:00

The pigs are all finally in their new pasture. There has been some serious squelling with them testing out the fence and their boundaries. I actually had one that got shocked, went through the fence, then didn't know what to do so he came back in. Worked out pretty good. This is some more pictues of them in their new home. They finally got the nerve to go into the woods, which now I can't get them to ever come out.

I decided to build them a covered shelter for when it rains and just in case we get another little cold spell. I think we will probably be in the clear, but in this part of Texas, sometimes you get a late freeze before April 1st. Who knows. At least if they want to they can go under it. Makes me feel better I guess.

I went to check the chicken that was setting on the eggs. Well, if you read previous posts, there originally ended up being 16 eggs. She is a new layer, and I really don't think she knew what to do with them. So she went off and hid, laying all her eggs here. This is fine, but she didn't want to set on them. So now these 16 eggs were here and no one to hatch them. I decided to put them in plain site of all the chickens hoping that someone would pick up her slack and set. No one. There was just way too many eggs. I think they were a little intimidated. So I fed them to the pigs. They loved them.

Well, the next week I could find her and lo and behold, she was back up in the same spot. This time, she was broody and I knew she decided that this time, her eggs wouldn't be taken. So now she decided to set. Finally I caught her out eating and I was able to do an egg count. Five. A bit easier for a first time setter. Today I noticed some chirping and there they were. At least 2 that I could see. We'll see tomorrow. I put some chick starter and water up there so she can show them the ropes.

Then while building the pig shelter, I noticed that one of my favorite bantam hens was sneaking around in the barn. Then all of a sudden, she bypassed the normal laying box and snuck around the back of one I have in storage. So I see her go in and inside is 10 eggs. So today she decided to set. In 21 days we'll see how many we get. I love bantams. They are so motherly. I probably could have gave her the original 16 eggs and she would have tried to set on them. Her whole body would have been off the ground. Just a bunch of eggs under her.

Love that Green

2008-02-24T12:20:00.001-08:00

We are now through paddock 15 of our 23 shifts. At first when I decided to begin rotating the cows through the new rye grass, there was a bit of uncertainty in doing it. However, after being half way through the rotations, I am glad I did it. The cows are looking great, and the pastures are really changing.

This is one of my favorite steers

Along with rotating them through, I have been applying compost in behind them to help with some nutrient issues and also begin to build organic matter. As I stated before, if pastures were equivalent to hands in poker, we were holding a 7-2 off-suit. But through proper land management and a little help being applied in terms of organic matter, natural fertilizers, and forages, we are going to be in good shape. Man, in just under a year you wouldn't recognize the place from what it was to now.

In a day this will be pretty much gone.

So with the dawn of spring officially around the bend, many things will be happening here on Yonder Way Farm

The PIT

Last night we had a relaxing time of family time. Not that we don't usually have family time at night but this time we were going to sit outside around the FIRE PIT. We made this thing this year as a "togetherness project," as my dad would say, just the wife and me. It started off very simple but in time began to get bigger and bigger. Eventually, it was about 2 foot deep and about 8' in diameter. The pit turned out way better than expected.

I could sit and watch a fire all night long. Ironic I put them out for a living.

So our tradition for these nights is burn a lot of wood, drink hot chocolate, and on occasion, eat God knows whats in them, full of nitrite, hot dogs. Only around a fire that is big enough to burn the exterior off your face off and make you feel like your clothes are about to spontaneously combust can you forget what your putting in your mouths. But we usually do it on these nights.
But this night, we just drank hot chocolate.

Boy thats a lot of hot chocolate

Then today was a good ole relaxing day. KK has been wanting to go out in the canoe ever since I brought this thing home. So I told her yesterday that today would be today. Wouldn't you guess that today is the most beautiful day in the world but also the most windy. But try backing out on a 3 yr old. These guys you have to show that it won't work very well. So out we set. I think her favorite part was riding in the canoe while being pulled by the Ranger.

So we get to the water and right off the bat I know this isn't going to work very well. I am in the back and she is just in front of me leaving no weight in the front. So now I look like a speed boat doing a hundred mph across the lake except I am in a canoe going maybe 1/2. Needless to say, we just kept getting blown in circles, up onto the bank, and try paddling while fishing with your little girl. I got all twisted up in the line. Within 5 minutes she said, "I think it is too windy, maybe we should try another day." Thats my girl. The good that came from this though, besides just getting to hang out, was that her verse for the week was "Even the wind and the waves obey Him" Matt 8:27. No better visual aid than this because lo as we tried, they weren't obeying us. What a mighty God we serve in deed.

New Pigs

2008-02-22T17:55:00.001-08:00

Now that I have the new pig pasture complete, the 8 door feeder in the pasture, and 3 feeder pigs currently, I figured I should go ahead and get 5 more heads for the remaining 5 doors. The Pig Man, thats what I call him, called me last week and said that he would have some ready end of this week. So today was the day. I am hoping that this is the last few I have to purchase from him because now, both my breeder pigs are indeed pregnant, so we will have our own litters in the coming month. More on that.

In this litter, I thought I would try a couple of different breeds this time just to see how they fair. I got 3 Yorkshires, 1 Hampshire/Yorkshire cross (that is what we will be having in our litters), and a Duroc. I really like the Duroc's. So now, I have 8 feeder pigs, 2 Breeders, and a big Stud named Dudley.

It always fascinates me seeing pigs that would have been in confinement getting to be free and raised the way nature intended them. To see them come out and touch dirt for the first time, and start trying their noses, and nipping at all the different vegetation. Its quite sad to think that the pigs most eat in a grocery store never get to experience this. They live in concrete boxes, with hard floors, that when their feed gets on the ground, it cuts into their skin because it is so coarse. Once you get pigs on your farm, you will realize that they are the life of it. They love doing what they do best, tearing the ground up. But when you walk out there, they stop what they are doing and run as fast as their funny bodies will take them and then fall over in front of you for some petting. They are very emotional animals who in confinement, continually stay depressed. Very sad.

This guy wouldn't quit rubbing his body in the soft dirt.

In the newly sprouting rescue grass. Probably feels like carpet

Look what I found to play with.

While at the TOFGA conference, I found a feed mill that sells only 100% certified organic feed. It is called Coyote Creek Farms. They specialize in chicken feed but I got to thinking that pigs eat pretty much the same things are chickens. So I asked the lady, named Sue, if they would be interested in doing this. She was very excited and called a nutritionist and got a recommendation. The even better part, is that the mill is only 75 miles from our farm. Can't beat that. Now the feed is way higher than if you were to buy normal feed but the benefits are well worth it. No GMO products in this stuff, Redmond Natural Trace mineral is used, no chemicals of any sort in the grain. They milled it for me the morning I went to pick it up. It was so yellow and fresh smelling. Probably could make some great cornbread with it. Maybe. No we aren't looking to get certified organic, but we always want to be feeding our animals the best products that are out there.

This is 1000# of pig feed. It smells so good.

Needless to say, I will be getting a price list together for our products because pretty soon we will be in the product selling business. It takes time to build things up so that you can be able to produce over a sustainable amount of time. With such a huge demand for pastured pork, non the less, pastured pork fed only organic grain, I feel these things will get reserved quite fast.

Happy 27th

2008-02-20T04:22:00.000-08:00

Today is my amazing wifes 27th Birthday. We got married when she was 19 so I feel like I have seen her grow so much. She is the best wife and mother the Lord could have ever blessed me with. She is my best friend and the love of my life. Thank you babe for wowing me all the time and I hope you have a great day. Sorry I have to be at work. It is 6:15 in the morning and the guys have already tore into the cake you made like a pack of coyotes. For those of you who don't know last week was my birthday and the tradition in the Houston Fire Dept is that on your birthday, you have to bring cake and ice cream. So my wife made a Godiva chocolate pound cake for the guys. They always get excited about her baking goods. Thanks babe and "Love you bunches."

Why Support Your Local Farmer?

2008-02-19T19:27:00.000-08:00

Well if you felt all safe and cozy knowing that the government is keeping the commercial food business in check then I hope you threw up yesterday morning. If you don't know what I am taking about then here is the link to the full story. I first saw the videos that were aired on the television about a month ago. I could not believe what I saw. These animals that were so sick that they were unable to stand were being carried into this processing plant and being butchered, and sold to the public. But not just the public, but our children through school lunch programs. Yack. And to think that when I was in school, I always got 2 lunches because I just liked food that much. I wish I knew then what I knew now.

The great thing is there is a new movement coming on and if this is not evidence as to why then your blinders are welded on over your eyes rather than the side. I urge you please support your local farmers. I don't mean that you have to buy all your fruits and vegetables along with your meat but at least your meat. Animals are living things that can harbor some awful things, and if you have ever been to a sale barn, you will see that the majority of these animals are being sold because something is wrong with them. Not newly weined calves but I'm talking your full grown older cows. You know who buys them? Commercial slaughter houses. These animals are allowed to be slaughtered under USDA rules as long as they are breathing and able to stand prior to slaughter. Thats it. I don't know about you but I don't want to consume a sick animal. Nope, not me.

There are many farms around everyone, whether you know it or not, that offer locally raised products. Now I'm not saying just go grass-fed, though I don't know why you wouldn't if you had someone producing around you, but go locally raised. Buy from a place where you can go and see the animals and how they are treated. What are they eating? Do they look stress free? I know that sounds weird but a stress free cow produces better and tastes better. Animals were made for a purpose. To work the land, keep other species in check, whether it be other animals or vegetation, and to be eaten by things bigger and smarter than them. But just because we get to eat them doesn't mean you don't let them fulfill their purpose while on that path. I heard it best one time that "God made beef perfect then man came along and screwed it up." That is so true. We somehow feel that we can take an animal that functions perfectly in its natural environment, on its natural diet, and somehow make it work better by forcing it to eat alien things and be confined on a dirt pad. Well, this is what we have come to. A country allowing our kids to eat manure caked, almost dead yet living, abused meat in our tax payed schools. Wow.

So please take the time to invest in yours and your kids health. You can no longer plead ignorance on the issues anymore. You have been shown the evidence so make the wise choice. Support your local farmers and invest in products that are the way they were meant to be.

Video of Commercial Packing Plant

Lime & Compost

2008-02-16T19:37:00.000-08:00

After coming back from the conference, one thing they really emphasized was PH and organic matter in your soils. Well, we have extremely low PH, around 5.2-5.5, and it needs to be around 7. We also have extremely sandy areas in our pastures that usually have a hard time retaining nutrients and organic matter. The solution, Lime and Compost.

Last July, I got 2 tons of lime per acre applied to about 30 acres. This left about 70 acres left to do. Trying to get someone to apply lime in the summer is one of the hardest things you will try to do. Most conventional farmers are applying heavy doses of fertilizer at this time, and at $500 a ton, it is much more profitable to put this out than $30 dollar a ton lime. So I was able to get 60 tons at that time.

This time however, I had a guy that said he could do it the next day after I called him. Amazing what a difference the season makes. So in came 148 tons of lime. These trucks were pretty awesome. My daughter didn't think they were near as cool as I did. This was a lot of lime. So now it is out and today we got a nice slow rain throughout the day. The good soaking rain which will be good for this to work faster. Also, always go with the finer grade lime. If you go with the standard agricultural lime, your looking at about 12-18 months for results versus about 6-8.

I also started applying mushroom compost to our pastures. This stuff is amazing. We have a local mushroom farm just about 60 miles from our place, and this stuff is pretty much made up of natural ingredients. Chicken liter, horse manure, hay, cottonseed mill, molasses, and other minerals. I sent an analysis to A&M to be tested and it came back with much better results than I suspected. The fertilizer in this stuff is awesome.

They delivered 2, 18 wheeler loads today, about 90 yds, and I tried to beat the rain in getting it spread. As you can see, I got most of it done. I can get about 6 acres per load so I have about 10 acres completed thus far. The most tedious part of this is not loading and spreading, but the time it takes to come back and get another load. I figure I can get about 10-12 acres done a day so about a weeks worth of spreading should get it done.

The grass is really greening up prior to application from good rain and warm weather. W have had almost a full week of weather in the 70's. Crazy how warm this year.

My cows are in day 7 of their rotation. They seem to be doing great. It is amazing how the pads look after each rotation. People complain about having to move cows but these guys are ready to move as soon as I get out there. I feel like I don't open the gate fast enough and they are getting impatient. They moo at me so I just keep mooing back. Then I let them through and the heel kicking begins. If you look closely in the picture, you can see where the compost has been spread. We'll see how the pastures look after this good rain we just received.

Moooving Cows

2008-02-15T19:08:00.000-08:00

Ready to move

Well about a 6 days ago, I made the executive decision to move the cows onto the paddocks with rye grass and clover. I say executive decision because I felt like I had two little people on my shoulders. One saying, "Go ahead and move them, its ok." And the other saying, "You said 8 weeks off and its been just over 6, you should wait." Well I said lets move them and see what happens. I don't know if it is the best thing, but we will see in a bit. I do know they enjoy the new green grass bunches more than the good quality hay. Their poop is like liquid fertilizer now which is good for breaking down into the soil.

I move the cows by making alleys using electric poly wire on reels. This system has worked great for me thus far as long as you don't run the cows. If a cow wants out of a fence due to stress, it doesn't matter if it is hot or barbed, they will go through it. Just keep it narrow enough that they are comfortable but not too big that they get unfocused and get side tracked. This is where a lead cow really is beneficial. Mine helps me a lot.

Here the cows are making the 90 degree turn to go to the new paddocks. The brown cow in the front is my lead cow. We call him #1 because that is what his ear tag is. I know, genius.

The cows in their new first paddock. This rotation will consist of 23 paddocks, with the cows being moved each day. It is amazing how much they eat in just one day but it is good to know that once they move, they will not return for almost 30 days. Right now, I have a total of 31 pads but I won't rotate on 8 of them till spring.

This is the center run of my 15 paddocks. This is 3 strand 12 gauge high tensile wire. All my paddocks are divided with step in posts and poly wire on reels. As you can see, you can move your chemilizer easy as well. If you don't have one, you need to get you one.

Still eating

Tonight when collecting eggs, we got a new record amount, 29 eggs. I use to remember thinking I can't wait to get a full dozen each night. Good thing is that I have had lots of people to buy them so I don't end up with a fridge full. Thanks for all of you who support the feed bill for these chicks.

Haven't Forgot

2008-02-14T19:10:00.000-08:00

I was tagged by Tim at Natures Harmony Farm a couple of weeks ago. Here I have to tell 7 things about myself (and wife) that people may not know. I will get on this soon. I haven't forgot, there really isn't much that is interesting about me and I don't want to use all Lynsey's stuff. She is very interesting. So I will get her to help me out. She is my "helpmate" after all.

Back On Board....But Now Sick

2008-02-14T18:18:00.000-08:00

This is an actual sign we saw while on one of our farm tours. Never thought there was a problem with people just going into these places and saying, "Well, looks good, lets bury Freddie right there."

Well we have internet now, so now we can be connected to the world. Isn't that sad. It has been forever since I have updated things but I have a lot of posts ready to go. I am going to have to ration them out though or I will feel like I am bombarding everyone. Then they don't scroll down and see all of them. However, now I have some kind of bug. I know I got it from one of my brother fire fighters, who apparently doesn't feel the need to use his sick time when he is sick. Now all of us are mad at him because several of us are not feeling good after a couple of weeks. However, you must push on.

One of the major things I finished a week or so ago was the waterlines going to the new hog pasture. So what I am going to do here in this post is show how easy it is for one man to install 1900' of water line, covered, install spigets, and be ready for operation in about 10 hrs. Thats right, one full day.

The above picture is a subsoiler. If you don't have one, its the best $400-500 dollars you will spend. This thing is made to make rips in the ground so that water will be able to go inside the hard pan that most peoples pastures have over years of compaction. However, you can hook your water line to it and pull it under ground just as well. So this is what it looks like. It is a Bison SVH-1.

Take your tractor and line it up where you want your water line to go. You need to do pre rips because it will take a lot of the weight off the subsoiler when you go to pulling the water line in. I have now done it both ways. By not pre ripping, I broke about 6 sheer bolts vs. none with pre ripping. You only have to make one pass when pre ripping so it doesn't take long at all.

This is the subsoiler actually going through the ground. As you can see, it goes pretty deep. If at the lowest setting it will put your water lines about 18" in the ground.

This is what the ground will look like after one of your pre rips. You can see that it doesn't displace the dirt the way a trencher does which makes for easy work when you go to cover your line, if you choose to.

After you have pre ripped the ground everywhere you are wanting to put your lines in, take your PVC pipe and put it in 200' sections behind the rip. I then glue them together and take 2 sections of 200' and make 400' pieces. I don't go over 400' sections though because that allows you to stop and make sure everything is going as planned without pulling apart somewhere and now you have to find where it happened 18" underground. Then you will be thinking," Why didn't I just use a trencher?"

I then glue a bushing with a threaded end on it and screw a K-Line cap on the end. This is the side that you will be pulling underground. I then connect it to a chain that is attached to the bottom of the subsoiler (they don't come with these so you will have to figure a way that works best for you) and begin to pull it in. Once you get to the end, you will cut the bushing off and apply a spiget or whatever you choose to use as your water source. This is 1" PVC. I use that all over the pasture for water lines.

This is what it looks like as the water line is being put under the ground. There is no covering that has to be done because the subsoiler doesn't remove dirt as it is ripping. I usually don't even run over the rips when I am done because you will see that the areas around the rip will be much greener and absorb much more water than other places.

***Note: I have pulled up to 1000' in a run but that was over a very flat area. If you are going in dips and going over hills, go half way one way and then pull the other half going from the opposite direction. You will have one more connection to put together where they meet in the middle, but if you don't, the weight will pull your PVC in half. Then the searching begins.

Once you have all the water lines in the ground, you will have to dig out anywhere you have to make connections. This time, I had three separate runs so I had to make 3 connections. If you know you are going to be tying into this line later for future water line installation, I suggest putting a valve at the end and putting a box over it. It is nice to be able to just walk up and open the box and tie in and get going.

After you have all the lines tied together, figure out where you want to put your water sources and reach into the rip until you find the line. Its very easy. Dig out around the line and put in a T. The best thing for this is a saddle T. They sell them at plumbing stores. All you do is drill a hole in the T, then put primer and glue on the top half of your PVC pipe and inside the T, then snap it on. Drill a hole through the water line where you already drilled out the T and there you have it. I wish I would have taken a picture of this. Then attach your water source.
***Note: Leave one end of your water line open so that you can flush out anything in your line before pressurizing it.

Then put your valve cover on. (I use Shipley Doughnut buckets because I can get them for free. I just cut the bottoms out and bury it putting the lid on for protection.)

And thats it. Hope this has been somewhat informative for those who may do this in the future and sorry if it was boring to those who it doesn't pertain to. It was showed to me by a very wise man and I feel I should keep the tradition going.

Still No Internet

2008-02-10T19:10:00.000-08:00

Well since we got back from the conference, our internet comes in and out. Mostly out though. We now have not had it for 5 straight days. This is not good if you are trying to do a blog, hence the reason I have not updated for over a week. However, tomorrow they are suppose to come and hopefully fix it for good. Who knows though, they have tried that before. So for now, I can't add pictures since I am having to type this at work. The conference was great though. My wife got to go with me and we both learned so much. She writes much better than me, and she wrote a great summary of what we heard. Here is a link to our family website where it is located. I got a lot of new ideas that I am working on and it has finally quit raining enough to do some work. I will update this week hopefully, internet pending.

Gone For a Bit

2008-02-02T03:29:00.000-08:00

This weekend is very exciting for us. Lynsey and I are going to be attending the TOFGA (Texas Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association) seminar in College Station this weekend. We aren't in any hurry to be certified organic and don't even know if that is the route we will venture into, but there is a lot of information to be had here. There are farm tours, exhibits, speakers on hollistic animal care and herd management, soil rebuilding, and many other keynote speakers. It pretty much lasts all day. I feel like I am in college again, which isn't good because I didn't finish that. However, we get to spend the whole day together and learn about good stuff. Can't wait to share.

Got Fruit

2008-01-31T19:03:00.000-08:00

This morning it rained 1.3" so once again everything was soaked. What to do with such soft ground? Plant trees. So I planted 3 peach trees, 2 pear trees, and 2 plum trees. I still would like to get some apple trees planted this winter but I haven't found any that were good enough looking to invest in. Eventually, we would like to have our own full fledge fruit orchard including grapes, oranges, raspberries, blueberries, and who knows what else.

I am by no means a tree planting pro but I felt that maybe some people may not know how to go about planting a tree. So this post I will do my best to explain it to those who may need a little assistance. I'm sure that the saying "there is more than one way to skin a cat" applies to tree planting, so if you have any good info please feel free to give it.

First, place the tree in its pot on the ground and cut a hole bigger than the top diameter of the pot.

Once you have the outline cut, remove the circle patch of grass and clean out the hole to where the dirt in the pot will be flush with the top of the ground.

Then once the hole is cleaned out, take a pair of post hole diggers and dig a hole in the hole about 12-18" deep. This is to assist the tap root in developing without making it have to fight through the tough ground. Our ground has a lot of clay so it is very hard.

Then fill the hole you dug with the post hole diggers with a top soil compost mix.

Add compost to the dirt you intend to put back into the hole. Take the root ball out of the pot and place the tree into the hole. Put the compost dirt mix around the root ball but do not over fill the hole covering the tree too much. Only cover up to where the tree was originally in the pot.

Pack lightly, then form the excess dirt in a ring pattern around the filled hole. Stake the tree on two sides and tie with string loosely. Do not tie the string tightly around the trunk and do not tie the string too tightly to the stake. It should have a little give. If you can play a note like a guitar on the string, loosen. Water and enjoy your work.

Pear Trees

Plum Trees

Blackberry Plants

Around the Farm 2

2008-01-31T05:29:00.000-08:00

Official count 14. (By end of day 15) She got off them for a long time so either she gave up on them or she is trying to build one huge clutch. Who knows.

Here on Yonder Way Farm, we have roll call every morning. It is a very detailed plan of how today will be ran. Notice how attentive they are. In the middle of it some just began to walk away.

While checking on the pigs, I noticed 3 deer eating rye grass in our next pasture. They pretty much go there every morning, now that deer season is over, right in front of my tree stand. I think some times I see a tongue sticking out and hear "Nana, Nana, Boo Boo, You can't shoot me. Always next year.

The cows are enjoying this paddock much better. It is up on the hill so not near as muddy. I am so ready to get them out of these paddocks and onto the rye grass. I keep telling myself, stick to your plan. Its hard though.

Drinking ACV (apple cider vinegar). For a lot of these cows, this is their first round of ACV. I fear that with the wet weather, we may have an abundance of parasites and worms right now so I have decided to keep them on it for a while. To maintain I will continue giving ACV 3 days out of the month, but to get on top of them, I will keep them on it at least a month. We'll see how the performance of the animals inproves.

This is how you get rich orange yolks. I love seeing the chickens pluck the newly formed grasses and slurp them up. It looks like they are eating noodles. Once again, sad to think that the eggs you eat from the store are from chickens that have never enjoyed grass. This is a feather legged chicken that looks like a big robot when it runs at you. They bound with huge strides.

Thats all I have for now. Its raining this morning so we will have to see how the day unfolds. I still can't get in the pastures to put in water lines so it will be something around the garden or barn.

Hide & Seek

2008-01-29T20:56:00.001-08:00

Well for the last week or so I had been noticing that eggs were missing out of the barn nesting boxes. I usually get around 4 in there and for a while I was getting 1-2. Didn't understand it. I looked everywhere. In every box I could find, anywhere with hay, under the trailers, in the bushes. Couldn't find any eggs out of place. Well I did notice a couple of times that a chicken would come out of the new layer house I had cleaned out. So I looked everywhere I thought a chicken may lay. (There aren't many places to lay in a cleaned out building.) Except for one place apparently. Today while going out to feed, I heard a noise and low and behold, a chicken flew up onto the rafters. Then she went up onto this flat area that is the roof of a smaller room at the front of the layer house. Wha la. There she had made the cutest nest with at least 12 eggs in it. She was in such a broody mood that I couldn't get her off to count accurately. So what a pleasant surprise. I have no idea how long she has been setting so only she and the Lord know when these will hatch. I put her food and water up there so that she won't have to go far to leave them. Good thing is its a pretty big area up there so she can stay up there for a while after they hatch to bring them down. I love births.

Then while in the barn, I noticed one of our barn kittens was hiding in a feed pan. I kept waiting for him to say Peeka Boo but he didn't. So I just took his picture instead. We have 4 true barn kittens if anyone is interested. Would be great outside cats. They already are hunting everything.

Dudley rooting

I know I put a bunch of pictures of our pigs but they truly are the life of the farm. It saddens me to think that commercially raised, and confinement pigs never touch a blade of grass in their entire lifetime. It makes me happy to know that these animals get to be in there natural environment, eating natural diets, fulfilling their purpose; to be eaten but having a great life getting to that point.

Who needs a plow?

Are you my mamma?

Who knows what tomorrow will bring. Still waiting for the pastures to dry up in order to finish installing the water lines for the pig pasture. Chance of rain tomorrow so who knows. Won't complain though.

I love Potatos

2008-01-28T20:15:00.000-08:00

I don't know what it is about them, but I do thoroughly enjoy them. Potatoes are one of those things that can be cooked so many ways of which all are pretty much yum. I feel that instead of shrimp, Bubba should have went on about all the ways that potatoes could be cooked. If there were only potatoes and eggs to be consumed in the world, I would be a happy man. I even put potatoes in my eggs every morning. I am salivating as I type this just thinking of getting to eat that conglomerate together when I wake up. Oh my.

Grow Baby Grow!!!

Going to try and do the clean potato method on this batch. You make a trench and lightly cover the potatoes. As they grow, you add straw. You keep adding straw as the tubers get longer and then when it is time to harvest the potatoes, they are on top of hay and not in the dirt. "Take a chance, Columbus did." Uncle D.

Today I planted our first batch of potatoes. Last year we planted some and they were the best potatoes I have ever had. So crispy. We eat nothing but red potatoes. They are so much more healthier for you than any other potato; especially the skin. So today I planted about 20#'s worth and in about 6 weeks, I will plant 40 or 50 more pounds. Like I said before, one of my 2008 goals is having a large enough garden this year to support at least 10 families. This is all new to us so we will have to see how it works out. I don't know how much food it takes to feed 10 families but hopefully we will come out ok. Who knows, maybe we will have enough for 15-20.

Now that I have the goats moved to their new home, I now realize how much I enjoy them. They have absolutely no purpose on our farm. As a matter of fact, they are probably the only animal on the farm that will never get eaten. This being said, their only purpose is to have babies, eat, and be loved. Two of them are much more friendly than the other two but I feel they are coming along. I feel that at least 2 of them are pregnant, although I don't know how far along. I feel one should be having a kid anytime. I felt her milk bag and it is full. How exciting will that be. I love the miracle of life, not the movie, and can't wait to see what they look like. These are pygmy goats too so I know they can't help but be cute.

Cute little girls (Thelma & Louise). They keep getting fatter and fatter.

Other female (Anna Bell). Hopefully will have her kid soon

Dr.'s Visit

2008-01-24T20:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I moved the cows to a new paddock. Every month, I try to give my cows preventative check ups. This consists of deworming and mineral replacement. I have read a lot about ways to deworm, and we use different methods for our different animals. With the goats, chickens, and pigs, we put diatomaceous earth in their feed. However, with our cows this is different because we don't feed anything other than grass. So in comes Apple Cider Vinegar.

When we first started administering ACV, I would fill the water trough with water and add 1 ounce per gallon of water in the trough. Then I would have to turn the water off, so that when the cows drank, it wouldn't fill back up and keep dilluting the vinegar. The problem was that I had to check the water every couple of hours to make sure it wasn't dry. Sometimes, I would go out and the trough would be almost full. Then other times, it would be completely dry. In comes the Chemilizer.

This makes things so much easier. Hook it up to your water source, drop the pump sciphon in a bucket of ACV, and connect it to your water trough. For every gallon of water that flows, 1 ounce of ACV is applied. No more checking, no more worrying if they are getting enough water. You figure that on average, a cow consumes 1 gallon of water for every 100 pounds of weight. So a 700 pound beeve will consume about 7 gallons of water daily needing 7 ounces of ACV. By doing this 3 days out of the month, you should have no problems with internal parasites and worms.

I also supply trace mineral blocks for 3 days. Without these, your cows will begin lacking the natural minerals that are sub par on your pastures. We are in a building phase of pasture renovation for the next couple of years so this is much needed for us. It is amazing to see that when these blocks are put out, the cows that have been with us the longest rarely go to the blocks. The newer beeves sit and lick and lick. They make a ground up mineral feed but it is much easier for me to put out blocks in pans than to move a covered mineral trough around. Much cheaper also. Hopefully in the future, trace minerals will all be provided by our pasture grasses. That will be down the road though.

So this is why I say that the beeves are at the Dr.'s office for this rotation. Without healthy cows, you get poor performance with poor gains. If you are wanting to try ACV with your cattle, I highly recommend the Chemilizer for its simple assembly and easy use. Only happy, feeling good cows here.

Oh My Mudness

2008-01-24T19:47:00.002-08:00

Well the rains have finally stopped after 40 days and 40 nights. Just kidding, just 4 days. But boy it will have been much needed if it turns off bone dry in the next months. It never did rain hard but it was a consistent mist/heavy fog for no lie 4 days. The ground is super saturated. Water is literally just sitting on top with no where to go. This being said, first thing this morning I knew I was going to have to get the cows to a new paddock. What a mess that turned out to be. No work boots here, had to pull out the dreadful rubber boots. Its like walking around with a tarp on your feet. I want leather, form fitting, steel toed boots, (Twisted X Boots, best boots out there.) So I moved the cows. This took quite a bit longer than normal because of moving hay in the mud. Boy I rutted the pasture up. But what do you do? Good thing is I plan to lightly disk in the early spring, first part of March anyway, so no harm done. This paddock is set up to be my Dr.'s visit for the cows. More on that tomorrow though.

Since the pastures are too wet to do anything in, I mean anything, the pig pasture has come to a screeching halt until next week. No fencing could be built, no nothing, except gardening. This is not my strong point, but I forgot just how good it feels to get your hands in some nicely tilled dirt and put some plants in the ground. I figured I would try to get a late winter garden in so that we could get a small bit to put up for the rest of the year. So today was the day to get started.

I tilled this area that was ready to go and put my rows in. This soil is so much different than it was last year due to the heavy amounts of compost it has received over the last 6 months. It has turned from a silty sand, almost beach like, to more of a sandy loam. I sure hope it produces well. Today we put in transplants, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, green leaf lettuce, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, brussels sprouts, and strawberries. In the next couple of days, I will seed beets, carrots, spinach, sugar snap peas, turnips, and a couple other lettuces. I don't know how well they will do but the garden is all I have right now to keep me busy. Plus, when I am this close to the house, my lovely bride can come out and help me while the kiddos are napping. Thats the best part.

You are so beautiful...to me...can't you see."

Am I gardening or playing football, who knows?

Had to move the chicken coop that was in the garden area. These guys just come right behind you and start to pull up what you just planted. I had to sit and watch them till dark to make sure they didn't go back but instead went into the coop to sleep. I showed them, took their eggs, then moved them in the pasture behind the barn. Good riddens for now.

Strawberry plants: never had any luck with them.

Pig Progress 3

2008-01-22T13:35:00.001-08:00

Dudley finally fitting in

Today, despite the mud, cold, misty rain, and everything being plum wet, I finished the pig pasture fencing. Boy is that a huge check off my list. Not only that, when I tested the wires, everything was at max voltage, 10,000+. Now I know that pigs don't need near this much to make them obey but it isn't them I am worried about. There are several dogs in our pasture by where my pigs are due in part that our south boundary line is a county road. One of these dogs, as nice as he may be, looks like a micro horse. He is huge and my daughter named him "Beast." No lie, he has to weigh at least 140 pounds. Not only that, but we have coyotes that I feel frequent the place at night so I didn't want there to be a chance that one may get in and hurt my feeder pigs. So instead of initially going with a 3 strand perimeter wire, I went ahead and added a 4th. Now I feel fully confident that it will do the trick. Here is the fence and all its dimensions. I have no idea how much acreage it is but I would say maybe 8?.

South 405'

Northwesterly 345'

Southwesterly 200'

Southeasterly 485' (Rowdy couldn't get in, check)

West 270' (Rowdy couldn't get out, check)

North 845'

Still going North

East 450'

15' Dogleg South, then East 210' to beginning

It is still raining. Not hard almost a constant mist. Things are so saturated that it is hard getting around the pasture on the tractor. I finished the fencing around 13:00 and went to subsoil my first rip for putting in my water lines. That didn't work though because as I drove I began to bury myself in the mud. Good thing for 4 wheel drive. If not, the tractor would still be there. So, that being said, the water lines won't be in by Thursday. I just hope it will dry up before first part of next week.

Rain, Rain, and More Rain

2008-01-20T02:03:00.000-08:00

"Better to be ontop of the pig than on bottom."

I know as farmers you are never suppose to complain about the rain so heaven forbid, I won't. In fact I love the rain. It is essential to life and without it, nothing could live. (Like Jesus)

However, I think one thing could be tweeked just a bit. That thing would be that it should rain only in the evenings or at night. This only makes sense. At night, you are already in your house, spending time relaxing and with the family. There is no need to see rain because you can hear it and know when it is happening. Plus, especially in the hotter months, the rain would be able to be absorbed by the ground faster because less evaporation would take place. Usually in summer, it gets hotter after the rain in the day time because the humidity jumps from 100% to 250,000%. By having the rain be moved to nights, this would allow for more productive days and things could actually get done.

My wife would tell you that the main reason God makes it rain during the day is so that farmers will take a day off and just do nothing in the house. Maybe she is right.

It has been a good steady, almost misty rain for the last 3 days and that has really slowed things down. Plus it has been cold. Not cold in up north terms but cold for me. So with all this, the chickens are less active, the pigs sleep all bundled up, the cows look at me and make me feel all mean cause they are miserable looking, and my goats just want to eat. But after today, it is suppose to be stop raining for a bit.

I have about 1/2 day left on the fencing of the new pig pen and then I have to put the water lines in. I am hoping that by Thursday I can move the pigs and let them fully enjoy what nature has to offer them. Updates on that will be soon.

Eggs, Eggs, Eggs

2008-01-18T07:31:00.000-08:00

Last night we got 17 more eggs. We have several bantam chickens who lay the smallest eggs ever so I eat them for myself rather than selling them. If I got a dozen eggs and there were some bantam eggs in there I would feel I got ripped. However, to me, they are some of the best eggs to eat. Very rich yolks.

So this week, we got 17,13,12,14,17 eggs. I don't know what has changed but I noticed that several of our chickens have new sets of feathers so they may have been molting. I still have about 15-20 more chickens that should start laying soon so that will be nice until I get my master chicken house up and going. People don't start having chicks to sell until Feb or so.

So needless to say, I have 8 dozen eggs that I can sell this weekend. We will be in College Station for church Sunday morning so if you go to my church and would like me to bring them in, I can. The cost is $3.50 a dozen, but if you bring the carton back to me the next ones after that will be $3.00. These are the most beautiful and tasty eggs you will ever eat and so much more healthy for you than store bought eggs. These are true free-range eggs. Heres a link to see the benefits.

Eggs from pastured poultry are higher in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E, and vitamin A. Meanwhile, they are lower in total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol. In addition, there is a direct relationship between feed, yolk color, and the nutrient content of the egg. The more orange the yolk, the higher the level of health-enhancing carotenoids. Compared to supermarket eggs, eggs from pastured poultry are a vivid yellow/orange—proof of a richer store of disease-fighting carotenes.

(Bornstein, S. and I. Bartov (1966). "Studies on egg yolk pigmentation. I. A comparison between visual scoring of yolk color and colorimetric assay of yolk carotenoids." Poult Sci 45(2): 287-96.)

Please comment if you would like me to bring them to you in College Station.

Pig Progress 2

2008-01-16T17:30:00.000-08:00

For the last 2 days, my biggest breeder pig, Lucy, has been in heat. After heat comes the standing part, which the first time I saw it, I didn't know what she was doing. The term "standing" refers to when the pig is ready to breed. This is the act of actually allowing themselves to breed. I remember the first time I went outside and this was happening. She was a lot calmer than normal and she kept following me. Not with a feed me type walk but like a "Where you going big boy" walk. I was confused. Was I being whooed by a pig. Well, I called a fellow I know that sold me the pigs and I told him what was going on. He said that she is standing and is ready to breed and that she is showing me this. Well I knew right away that I needed to get a boar so I asked him if he had one for sale. At first he said no but then he called me back and told me he would sell me one of his breeder boars that they had. He breeds predominately show pigs and he wanted a little bit more characteristics than this boy was packing. However, I want feeder pigs and he would do great for me. So in comes Dudley. Well, I missed the first standing period so I had to wait for the next one. (They cycle every 18-21 days)

So I noticed this morning that Lucy was standing and this time I had the boy to do the job. So I thought. I put the two together and off he went like white lightning. This was wild. My pig guy told me that you want to see when they actually do it, that way you will know to put them back together later in the day to make sure they breed "good." Then you will know the due date pretty close. So, I sit in observance of these two beasts of animals going at it. It felt weird first but then I thought, "this is what has to be done." But there was one set back. Lucy is about the same age as Dudley and weighs about 270 pounds. She is very tall though. Dudley, weighs about 340 pounds and is really compact. Her being tall and he being compact apparently possed a problem. After about 10 minutes of watching this horrible display of breeding, I realized Dudley may be a dud at this time in his life. I think he may need to grow a bit taller because he apparently couldn't find the mark. It was a huge let down. So all morning, I tried to make sure they were getting the job done and the whole time I was out there, the Dudster failed miserably. So then I just let them stay together to see if maybe they could figure it out. Surely in the wild these things are figured out. I mean in the dog world, you see little dogs somehow getting big dogs pregnant. So for now, I will have to wait and see. She should still be standing tomorrow but I have to work in Houston. I will just leave them together and then let her out when I get off in the morning. I just hope I don't get home and the Dudster has had a heart attack from trying so hard. Poor guy. I think I may have ruined his confidence by naming him Dudley.

If anyone has any information on how to help my poor Dudley out please let me know. I'm perplexed.

Once I quit stressing over the pigs, I went back to working on the pig area. I know have all the electric fencing done on the existing fences. All the T-Posts are set, insulators on, and my bottom line wires are strung. If I get a full days work in, I feel that I can have all the wire strung and everything connected together. Then the fun part, running water to the pad. Its not hard, just not my favorite thing to do. Good thing I didn't become a plumber I guess.

Dreary Day

2008-01-15T15:10:00.000-08:00

Today was a pretty dreary day from the get go. I had to go to College Station early this morning to work on our old house. (we are in the process of selling it.) The realtor we have called me the other morning and said that she had someone interested in buying it but she felt it would be beneficial if I did some yard work. I also had to drop off the keys to her. So that was what I did. I didn't get home until around 12:30 this afternoon and then I needed to move the cows to their next pad.

Boy were they excited. There isn't much green grass where I have them now, so I give them high quality hay to eat. The funny thing though is when they see you setting up the next pad, they know its getting close to time to move. So they line up and wait. Then they start talking to you. Mooing back and forth as if to say, "Hurry it up, we want to come over there." They are so happy when you finally open the gate and let them through. They literally kick up their heels and bounce around, running into each other. By no means is it graceful, I think thats the best part of it. To see 800 pound animals trying to be agile.
3 1/2 yr old holding 24,000 lbs of beef at bay

Then the rain really began to pick up and about 14:30, I got to start on the pig area. I worked for about 2 hours in the rain, although it wasn't that bad because most of the fence lines were in the woods. This gave a little protection. So needless to say, it started coming down a good rain so I decided to head back in the house. I'm not complaining though because it has been steady and we need the rain. We'll see what tomorrow holds.

Pig Progress 1

2008-01-14T17:12:00.000-08:00

This morning was a bit chilly when I woke up, around 31 degrees. The cool thing though was that the tank water must have been a bit warmer because there was a huge cloud of steam over it.

Not much happened today except for working on the pig area. I got my posts set and began putting insulators and hot wire on the existing barb wire fence. This is more time consuming than actually building the fence from the start because you are having to try and fill in the gaps as best as you can. Its hard to add extra T-Posts in low or high areas so you have to follow the existing fence. Anyway, I hope that I will be done with the fencing by Wednesday. Then comes running the water lines for their waterers. Great thing though is last night when I went to get the eggs, I had a whopping 17. The most by far we have ever had. Tonight I had 13, so in 2 days I got 30. I'm starting to get a bit so now I might be able to start selling them to pay for their feed. That would be a great feeling.

Existing fence line with new hot wire at bottom

Other half of existing fence line

One of the newly set posts

We just found out Lynsey's grandpa is at the hospital because he began to have severe chest pain this evening. Please lift him up in prayer if you don't mind. His name is L.D. Hill and he is 80 years young. Thank you so much and your prayers are much appreciated.

Pig Fever

2008-01-12T15:49:00.000-08:00

Well today I am back working on the farm. I have so much to do but I feel like I want to be doing them all at the same time. I was looking on the local Country Store website while at work yesterday when I noticed an 8 door hog feeder for sale. I have been looking for used stuff like this all the time but never come upon it. Brenham is not a huge pig raising town, I think there is one guy that actually raises pretty much all the pigs for 5 surrounding counties. These are show pigs though. Anyway, I called the guy and he said he would take $75.00 for it. I had no idea what it looked like and he made it out to be old and real used, but we need it out here.

So when I got off this morning, I drove home, tended the animals, then headed to his house. It was a bit farther than I thought but I was excited about this. Well I got to his house and there it was. The prettiest 8 door hog feeder one had ever seen. It was old but this fellow had pretty much redid the whole thing. I mean, it almost is too good looking to put out with them hogs. So I bought it and now I want my pigs to eat out of it.

"What a beauty"

The problem though is that I have my 3 feeder pigs mixed in with my 2 breeder pigs. So each and every night, these 5 go at it when it is time to eat. They don't hurt each other but they sure do like to push on one another and make terrible noises. So already knowing this, I don't want to put this in with them yet. This hog feeder holds a couple hundred pounds of food in it so that the hogs can eat when they like. This is good for feeder pigs but I don't need my 300 pound breeder pigs to sit and eat themselves full each day. So now I am going to start on another 08 farm project: getting the new pig area built.

I use nothing but high tensile wire for our animals except for some of the perimeter fencing that was put up earlier. So today I spent most of the day planning where I want the pigs to be and getting my lines ready. This means mowing and lots of weed eating. I feel like I have been weed eating all day, wait, I have been. None the less, it is done so tomorrow I get to start setting my posts and putting the fence up. I have run so much electrical fence out here in the last 6 months that once I get to this stage, I am a pro. After staking it out, I feel the area will be about 10 acres +- with half being pasture and the other being wooded areas. This part of our pasture is in the worst shape. Very sandy, rough (I can't get a tractor in to mow), and very poor grasses. There are several dry creek bottoms and tons of acorn trees. I'm hoping that by rotating the pigs around this area, they will till up most of the junk and help fertilize the area with their natural goodness. Then I can come behind them and plant much better grasses for them. Then by having the acorn trees all over, this will be great for finishing them off come Oct. and Nov.

Guess the rabbit hid too long. (mower got him)

View of the new pig areas:

Dry Creek Bottoms
Can you spot my dog Rowdy? (Its like wheres Waldo)

Nothing too exciting but I will keep progress pictures coming. I am off for 5 days so hopefully I can rock and roll through this.

Amazing Video

2008-01-11T10:23:00.000-08:00

I'm being a fire fighter today so I thought I would put a video up for all to watch. This is an amazing boy that I only hope my son, if I ever have one, would be like. Have something to wipe your eyes, unless your a block of concrete, your gonna cry. Hope everyone has a great day. I'll be off for 5 days after today so hopefully I can get a lot done on the farm. Please watch this video, I know it will bless you.

Logan The Sky Angel Cowboy

Hay Day and Goliath

2008-01-10T22:00:00.000-08:00

Today was pretty mundane. I usually try not to get myself too busy on my in between day of being a fire fighter so I figured I would go and get our last loads of hay to get us through till our rye grass and clover are coming in great. This whole thing is kind of silly because out of inexperience, I thought that since I planted rye grass and clover this October, I would not have to feed hay in the winter. This being our first year to plant, I made a mistake because the rye grass started coming in fast. However, the cows love this stuff and immediately started eating it up. My fear was that they would eat it too much and stress it out, thus causing it to not be strong enough to really take off in February. So I flash grazed all our paddocks of rye grass and clover, 24 total, and moved the cows into an 8-pad section where I will feed hay.

Here’s the kicker. I baled 110 bales of hay in October but thinking I wouldn’t need them, I had a guy come and buy them all. Yep, I sold all our free hay. Well not free, my labor, wear on equipment, and diesel. But still, felt free. So while I have been loading this fellows trailer and he leaves, I am off going to another place and bringing in hay. Looks kind of silly from the outside I’m sure. In the end though, it isn’t as bad as it seems. Our grasses are not very good right now. We are in a3-5 year plan of completely changing the soil and grasses available for forage so rather than feed these cows our not so good hay, for just $10.00 more a bale, I was able to get great hay to feed. Not only was it better quality, but more dense than our grasses were. The plan is in about 5 more weeks to begin our cows on the rotations again on the cool season grasses that are coming in. For now, they are really putting the manure and urine down on these 8 pads they are on now which I will lightly till under in late February to seed new grass.

After putting all the animals up tonight and checking the eggs, there was the biggest egg I have ever seen in my life in the coop. I mean gargantuan. This was the best prize I could have possibly found. I began looking inside the coop to see which bird looked like she was in pain because there is no way that this sucker came out easy. I mean, this looked like she had stored up several eggs to put into this one. Huge I tell you. Needless to say, there is more to this story but you can read about it if you like on our family blog (link) in the near future. My wife said that she had to tell the story. All I can say is take a look at this Goliath of an egg.

Around the Farm

2008-01-09T00:27:00.000-08:00

I have to be a Fire Man today so I don't get to work around the farm. However, I am really digging getting to put pictures of our farm up for others to see so I guess I can do that. Hope everyone has a great day, and I love you Lyns, KK, and Laney Rae. Y'all mean the world to me. Hold down the fort.

"Good Morning"

Pigs at Work

Clean Up Crews

Roosters Hanging Out (Free to any that want some good roosters...hint hint..really.)

Beeves (Or Fuzzy Beeves as Lynsey would say)

Does this angle make me look fat?

What a Waste

2008-01-08T19:30:00.001-08:00

After a couple of weeks of feeding our beeves hay, I realize that regardless of what I do, they are wasting a lot of hay. I mean maybe 30-40% of the bales. These are good pure Tifton 85 bales so I would like to keep from wasting as much as possible. I have tried rolling, moving partial bales, and having them just set on the ground. In no time, the beeves are on the bale, busting it up, and begin to eat, urinating and putting piles of manure on it. Good thing is that they won't touch it once it gets this stuff on it but bad thing is they won't touch it once it gets this stuff on it. The answer, hay rings. This is suppose to limit waste to about 4% so what a money saver. But I don't intend on wasting the manured hay. Always wanting to try something new, I am going to rake it up, manure and all then bale it. I'm hoping this will make a good compost bale that we will be able to bust up in our garden sometime in the future. I have no idea if this will work, just hate to see things like that go to waste.

The Culprits

The Answer

KK is so amazing. Today she asked me to make her a salad for lunch. I guess seeing me eat salads all the time has made her want to try them for herself. I figured after watching her eat, she really liked most of the other stuff that was on the spring mix vs the actual spring mix. However, if she will eat the leafy stuff with some other stuff, she is still eating leafy stuff. It was awesome. Just shows that if your kids see you eating healthy, your habits will eventually become their habits. Can't wait to see what she will do when she is old enough to actually know about making decisions for having a healthier body.

My Little Rabbit

We received a little bit of rain today, maybe .1" of an inch. Just enough to get the ground wet but the temperatures did get more pleasant. Rather than being 70 degrees for the low like yesterday, I think it is suppose to be 45 degrees or so. What a beautiful thing as the front came in. Gods creation is amazing. So amazing it leaves us without excuse. Romans 1:19-20

Yonder Way Farm

Layer House Progress

2008-01-07T18:40:00.000-08:00

Today I finished cleaning out the new layer house. This was the part that I dreaded most because not only was I going to have to clean it out but I was also going to have to organize the barn. This old building was sort of a catch all of things which makes it difficult to sort. Where do you put all the different little knick knacks, do you need them, and maybe down the road I may need this 2' section of 2x4. I am the worst person in the world to organize things because I myself am the biggest pack rat of all. I honestly will talk myself into keeping something that I might use in 2 years. Forget a bout it. So today the building is cleaned out, ready for me to start getting it ready for chicks. I hate that I will be getting them while its cooler but the sooner I get them the sooner I can be in business producing eggs. Plus, I love chickens and their rolls that they play on a farm, pretty much being the clean up crew of everything.

Finally Clean Barn (As clean as this one will get)

On The Move

2008-01-06T21:32:00.001-08:00

Well today is Sunday and that is the one day that I try not to do anything too work related on the farm. I firmly believe in the Sabbath and this is normally my day to take it. However, it is time to move the cows to their next paddock and if I didn't do it today, I would have to wait 2 more days because it takes them that long to consume a round bale. So, rather than going hunting on the last day of the season, I took responsibility and started with the move. First I had to put round bales in the paddock and cut the string off them. (Most people don't do this but it is not uncommon for a cow to get a blockage because they have a taste for nylon rope. Never tried it myself.) I set the pad up yesterday which only takes about 10 or 15 minutes to do, so that part was done. Then came moving the cows. These guys and gals make it so easy on me. They know to go to the gate handle end of the poly wire fence and wait for me. I open the end up and off they go. On these pads, I run two water troughs because these are long skinny paddocks and I noticed with one trough, they tend to stay more towards the end with the water. So having two equal distance apart has really given me much better coverage. I now have my roosters in the paddocks with my beeves ( I don't know if I want to go ahead and eat them or let them sift through the manure, spreading it out for me and eating the fly larvae helping with horn flies.....They do well on pasture because they are large and hawks leave them alone.)so I had to move their house. Its on wheels so it just goes behind our ATV. This was a nice way to start the morning and I was done by 08:30 to get ready for church.

Beeves In Their New Pad:

Church was awesome. I really love our church body and our pastor is deeply connected to the Lord and preaches every Sunday with challenging messages. Its good to know he doesn't just tell us what our itching ears want to hear but instead, preaches what God is really laying on his heart, even if it is not popular. Click on this link to hear the message.

Thats about it. I'm tired and can't wait to see what tomorrow holds. Its suppose to rain so that will keep me on track with my new layer house.

Pics Part 1:

2008-01-05T16:37:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics of around the farm. I'm addicted to having a camera on me now. I feel like I need to let everyone see what I am seeing.

Dudley Sleeping

Ah Chicken Scratch

Big Boy

Digging to China

Still Digging

Looking For Food

Looky What I found

Fence Line

New Layer House

2008-01-05T09:41:00.000-08:00

I am really excited about this. As mentioned in 2008 goals, we have a building that I am going to convert into a large laying house. It has electricity, concrete floors, a large door in the end so that I can drive our small tractor in to save litter, a room in the front so that I can incubate lots of eggs and keep chicks safe, and many windows so that the chickens can come and go as they please wandering out in the pastures and around the barnyard.

Old Building

Stuff, Stuff, Stuff...Need to DeStuff

Today I started cleaning up. First I have to clean the barn up because I know that I am going to have to move a lot of the stuff from this building into the barn. I like to be organized before I move things that way I’m not just adding stuff onto more stuff. I will keep you posted on the progress of the chicken house. I’m hoping by mid week next week I will be done. Ready for chickens.

Cleaning Barn

Chicken Laying in New Coop

Shaking Things Up on Yonder Way

2008-01-05T08:52:00.000-08:00

Well I decided after much wrestling with and battling that it is time to move the Pygmy Goats. I love these guys to death but this was a botched experiment. When I first got chickens, the area I had them in kept growing much too fast, faster than the chickens could keep it down, so I had to mow. I already have a huge area to mow anyway so I definitely didn’t want to have to mow there too. So in come the goats. I liked the pygmy goats because they were smaller (later learned is a downfall), cuter, and people really enjoy buying their kids (babies). But being new to the whole farming thing, I didn’t think that if you put goats with chickens that the goats will eat your chicken food. I soon learned that by far, goats have to be the most stubborn animals ever. Persistant, witty, and being so small, I couldn’t keep them from anything by using electric wire so I just let them out to roam on their own.

This seemed great, they were all over the place until they found the barn. Now they were constantly trying to get in the feed room. I then had to set up a barrier to keep them out. But the worst thing was they knew just when I was going to feed the pigs. This was crazy. As soon as I would walk out, they would start creeping up. Then I would pour the food and begin chasing them. I’m all about not stressing animals out but these guys were really stressing me out. Plus, they weren’t ever going to be eaten, they were simply a botched experiment. There are four of them so as soon as I would get one of them out, the others would dart for the food. I mean, they knew I was chasing them and as they passed the food, they would take a bite a head off running again. It looked like a circus. The pigs were oblivious cause now they had their food.

But now, I am at peace with all men and animals. I have moved the four goats back to the original chicken pen. It has chicken wire all the way around so they can’t get out. Yes it was because they couldn’t seem to help themselves when it came to others food but also I think 2 if not 3 of the females are pregnant. They loved being in there with the pigs but my fear now is that if one of them had a kid, the pigs being a pig would eat the poor kid. So now they are back where they belong, eating what they are suppose to eat, weeds, brush, and hay.

New Location

Since I was moving the goats into the chicken pen, I had to move the coop out and relocate the chickens. Now I know your not suppose to move their houses mid day and that you should move it at night when the are inside so that when the leave the house in the morning they will know where it is. Yah, Yah. I like to make things harder on myself sometimes so I knew they would be where the house use to be. Plus this would give me a good chance to actually get some numbers of how many chickens I actually had since I would actually be picking each chicken up. So last night I moved the chickens and placed them in their new roosting spots. Things don’t always go like they should.

Eating Like Good Chickens

Waiting To Get Back In

I let them out and low and behold within an hour, they are back across in their old pen with others trying to figure out to get in. Sometimes I feel like getting rid of all the not so smart ones and only keeping those that make things easier on me. Kinda selfish sounding but man, they just don’t make any sense. Tonight, the round up will commence again. At least I have a whole day to plan.

Day With the Girls

2008-01-04T18:06:00.000-08:00

Today our friends had a baby and my wife being a photographer went to capture the whole day. It is awesome what she does. She is so amazing and has such a gift to capture all the precious moments in people’s lives. Since she went to do this, I got to keep my two precious treasures all day. Kaylyn (KK) is almost 4 and Laney Rae will be 10 months this month. Lynsey, my wife, has got these girls schedules so down that it sure makes me be at ease when I get to watch them by myself all day. She truly is an amazing mother as well as a wonderful wife.

It was pretty chilly today so for the most part, we had to stay in the house. However, since we don’t have cable anymore, this allows for interactive time. KK is such a big help and a fun big sister. She plays with Laney Rae and keeps her going. KK is a live wire, never stopping, bouncing off everything, wanting to know everything and how it works. She is getting so big in front of my eyes and it seems just like yesterday she was born. Now she talks in complete sentences, gets her own food and water, and even knows how to crack eggs all by herself. We twirled batons, had two or three tea parties, talked back and forth on pretend cell phones ( we didn’t even have those when I was her age), and cooked Deer Burgers for diner. She is getting too big.

Laney Rae is such an amazing baby. She is so happy and content where ever she is. She plays then gets fussy, then you know its time to eat and boy can she eat. Then when she gets fussy after that, you hold her and when she doesn’t want that anymore, its time to put her to bed. She won’t let you hold her to sleep, she wants her bed. Its funny because now she loves to dance, scooting her booty on the floor. I think she is going to skip crawling because she doesn’t do it, yet now she is pulling herself up and standing. That would be funny if she just up and started walking.

I love these girls and the joy they bring to my life. God is truly amazing in how He can make such beautiful things come from man and wife. Creation is a miracle and I love getting to see it on the farm but more so in my family. I love being a man amongst 3 princess'. We’ll see what my third child will bring.

Composting: The More the Smellier

2008-01-03T20:11:00.000-08:00

This morning was very cold for Brenham standards. The low was in the mid 20’s or so. I felt like Randy on the Christmas Story when I went outside to let the animals out to begin their day. If the wind would have blown me over, I would have been like him, just rolling on the ground, unable to get up. I love the mornings on the farms because everyone is fresh and ready to start the day.

Frozen water trough:

Pigs keeping warm in the hay:

Goats doing the same:

Dudster playing with Rowdy:

Chickens doing what they do best, working the dirt:

Today I finished getting most of our spring garden areas tilled. After tilling them under, I spread a bunch more compost on them with the hopes that in 2 months things will be ready to go. We have such sandy soil here, especially in our garden areas so we have a lot of our vital nutrients wash out. Our PH tends to be low so the mushroom compost we use, which is has a more alkaline PH, around 8.0, really helps to boost our soil. It is amazing that once you get the PH balanced, (Not Degree), your soils really release a lot of nutrients it tends to store in case of emergencies. Not a science lesson, just wanted to give some pictures of today’s events.

Loading compost:

Manure spreader:

Before 2nd batch of compost:

After compost: This is my lovely helper KK. I love that she comes running out when I am working and wants to help. Never would have thought it in a million years. Although, most the time, she has a Princess dress on over her clothes with a pair of rubber boots on under them. Awesome.

Disclaimer...My wife Lynsey is a professional photographer. All the pictures on The Diary of a Farmer were taken by me Jason Kramer. Even the ones that look like someone took them while I was working, driving a tractor, etc. "Thats how I roll," I jump out of the tractor, snap a picture, then get back in and continue working. My pictures are amateurish so if you want the good looken ones, go to Yonder Way Farm blog or her photography blog. Booyah to the third power.

Best Part of Waking Up….

2008-01-03T18:00:00.001-08:00

Well I guess the best part is that I got to get up. As a Houston Fire Fighter, you realize that every morning, there are lots of people that weren’t afforded that opportunity. So I would say that is the true best part. But right after that is breakfast. Each and every morning, I pretty much have the same thing. Here is how it goes:

Drink Apple Cider Vinegar: This is something that everyone should do each morning before you put anything else in your stomach. Take 3 tablespoons of unfiltered raw organic apple cider vinegar and put it in 8 ounces of water. (You can add a tablespoon of honey if you like to give it some sweetness rather than just tart. You must use warm water if you do this though or your honey will stay on your spoon.) Drink fast, don’t breath while drinking and keep your eyes closed. Great for ridding your body of unwanted internal parasites, worms, skin problems, high blood pressure, the list goes on. Even helps you poop better. All about that. Read up on it. The proof is there.

Then I eat ¾ cup of old fashioned oatmeal with 3 tablespoons of milled flaxseed and raisins. Add a tablespoon of honey for sweetness and your good to go. Maybe its an acquired taste but is much better for you.

Eat 3 farm-fresh eggs with some sort of veggies in them. Most mornings its sautéed onions, but others its onions and potatoes, mushrooms, red bell pepper, jalapeno (hurts too much though after the apple cider vinegar kicks in), or any other type of veggie. The more veggies the better. Free range farm fresh eggs, and I stress farm fresh, are loaded with vital nutrients, lots of protein, higher in omega 3’s, lower in cholesterol, and much more CLA than commercial eggs. I know, not everyone can get these gems but I am working on that situation.

Piping hot Cup of Joe: We got this coffee press from my sister at Christmas in a Chinese Christmas game and boy is it like the best thing ever. I am all about challenging myself to get back to simpler ways of doing things, always thinking what if the economy fell, or all our power and water were taken way by Bin Laden. Kinda conspiracy theoryish I know but you gotta be prepared. All I need is a tea kettle and this press and I can have the best coffee ever. Literally EVER. (“Its only like the greatest coffee ever made!”) I can heat my water with fire, non electric and wha-la, good ole Cup of Joe.

The Sun Rise: People are missing out on this. I can’t even explain getting to see the sun rise each day. It is beautiful.

I don’t know how people farm up north. Its 26 degrees this morning, I’m worried when the sun comes out I’m going to look across the pasture and see water spraying everywhere from busted trough lines and I don’t want to go let my chickens out. What a weenie. I look at a blog called Sugar Creek Farm in Iowa and they have snow everywhere. At least by noon it will be 50 degrees here.

Got Gophers

2008-01-02T19:30:00.000-08:00

Today was garden day. I had put compost on the garden area a couple of weeks ago and let it burn off most of the vegetation that was on top. So today I began tilling in the compost into the ground when I noticed a dreaded gopher mound. Then several mounds one after another. Last year we were infested or overrun with gophers. There were mounds throughout the yard probably in the hundreds. Well, we tried everything. We smoked them, poisoned them, I even sat for an hour till one stuck his head out the hole and I shot is head off. (I was kinda impressed about that) Then we found these nifty little traps that allowed you to catch them and now you knew you actually had got rid of the critter. I think in total we killed 66 gophers in a period of 2 months. Not a single mound has been in our yard for about a year till today. They are slowly migrating back from the pastures and into the yard so I had to take the offensive. This is the progression of the battle.

The Invasion

Their Underground Tunnels

The Traps (You have to have them anchored or they will drag them off)

The Kill

The Disposer of the Kill (Free dog food)

I have to admit that gopher hunting is not very productive in using your time wisely but it is very fun. I highly recommend that anyone who has never hunted these elusive creatures down should give it a go. I’ve got the fever, and it ain’t for more Cow Bell.

Yonder Way in 2008

2008-01-01T20:20:00.000-08:00

I can’t believe it is already 2008. New Years is always fun to me because it gives you a chance to make some goals for that year and challenge you to meet them if not exceed them. Over the last year, I have figured out that my true passion, other than Jesus (Sunday School answer, but true), is farming. Not just farming, moving cows and driving a tractor, but sustainable farming that pulls us away from relying on big agriculture to provide for us but instead being able to produce things that cover all of our needs. This means cows, pigs, chickens, eggs, fruits and vegetables. Not doing them the traditional way that most people do today but allowing nature to work its course. Everything in their natural state doing what comes natural to them. Working the land. The one thing I have really noticed is that God made this place to work like a clock and we spend more time trying to make it fit our needs rather than allowing certain “natural” things to help us along. I hope that in the near future, we are not just producing food for ourselves, but that we are able to provide for many other families, who want to know where their food comes from and show their children that the food we eat doesn’t just pop up at the grocery store. So being my first post, I feel that it would be beneficial to anyone that wants to read this to know what Yonder Way Farm will look like after 2008.

Land: Currently I have 31 paddocks for our cows to rotate on. In late October I planted my rye grass and clover on about 50 acres so hopefully it will really come into action early Spring. We will continue to rotate our animals using Managed Intensive Grazing combined with High Stock Density Grazing. This allows good grass consumption, large amounts of manure and urine on paddocks for fertilization, good “hoof” action, and for the land to receive plenty of rest. By the end of 2008, the plan will be to have approximately 40 pads for our cows to rotate on.

Beef: We currently have 31 steers and 5 heifers. Most of them are black baldies (Angus/Hereford) crosses. This month, we will get 10-12 more and I hope to have approximately 80 by the end of 2008. Come late Spring early Summer there should be 5-10 ready for butchering so news will come of that when they are ready.

Pork: This has become one of my new projects because it started off with me just wanting to produce pork for our family. However, who doesn’t like bacon and pork chops. Only those from France or Canada and maybe some Russians. After seeing how commercial pigs are fed out, eating slop, snack mix from Kelloggs and other processed food makers, I really want to offer a true, pastured pork product. Our pigs are able to root, roam, and lay in pasture 24 hours a day. In 2008, I hope to have about 10 acres set aside for pork alone, doing the same thing as our beef, rotating on paddocks. Pigs won't be rotated to the original pad for a minimum of 30 days. Upon finishing the pigs, they will be moved to an oak patch where they will spend the last 4-6 weeks of their lives. Acorn finished pork has a distinct taste unlike anything you will get at your grocery store. I have two Yorkshire females (Lucy and Ethel) ready for breeding that I raised from piglets, and I just purchased a Hampshire male as the proud man of the barn. His name is Dudley or the Dudster. I also have three barrows that are stocker pigs that should be ready in the next four months or so. I got dibs on one so I will have 2 ready to sell in Spring. Also in Spring, I hope to have two litters of pigs so we will take reservations for those when the time comes.

Chickens: I plan on producing about 300 chickens a year at this point but I know I will have some learning on broiler chickens. They take about 8-10 weeks to be ready to butcher so figuring out breed and feeding as well as having to build mobile houses will be high on the list of things to do.

Eggs: I love eating fresh eggs everyday and getting to gather them is very rewarding. It is the instant gratification product of farming. Cows take 12-14 months to butcher, pigs 7-8 months, chickens 8-10 weeks, but eggs, you get them everyday. I had about 115 chickens/chicks in fall so that by Spring they would be laying but there are things out there in the wild that sneak up on you and get you. First, I am rooster rich which cut my egg number down at least 30. Then came a hawk. That blasted thing killed about 25 of my chickens. And Rowdy my dog, he didn’t attack them but he chased 3 or 4 and gave them heart attacks. Along with some just dying I think I will end up with about 40-50 layers come Spring. However, we have a building that I am going to convert into a large hen house which can easily house about 300 birds, with electricity, lots of windows and doors so they can easily have access to the pastures around it. I am so excited about this one.

Garden: I enjoy to garden but my true passion is animals. However, I want to produce what I eat so it is vitally necessary. I am starting to get the ground ready in January so that I can have it good and ready by Spring. My hope is that we will have enough for approximately 10 families or so who can buy stock in the garden and have a fresh basket of vegetables in the Spring and Summer. We’ll see how that goes and I’ll let you know about a Fall garden.

These are a few of my thoughts right now for what I am planning in 2008. I want this to be what it says- a diary of my thoughts and days, so if they seem long and grammatically incorrect, so be it. I have a lot of stuff in my head and be glad you can just click your mouse to make it stop where as I have to listen to it all the time. Sometimes I wear myself out. Pathetic.