Hard to say goodbye….

When Neel and I started talking about farming, and specifically raising meat animals, one of our bigger concerns was if we would be able to emotionally handle raising these animals and then bringing them to slaughter, or, in the case of the chickens, slaughtering them ourselves.  It turned out that it wasn't as bad as we thought; we knew our animals had a great life, we bring them to the butcher ourselves, they walk calmly off the trailer and start munching on hay.  Our butcher only takes a few animals at a time.  When its time, the animal is calmly led into the slaughter room, and instantly killed.  We know exactly what happens in the life of these animals, the whole process, from birth to death.  And we ensure that they get the best care throughout.
On Sunday, we sold a few of our cows.  We have another that is scheduled to be picked up next weekend.  This was a carefully planned out decision; we know that in order to get the most out of our land and our grazing animals that we cannot continue to grow our cattle herd indefinitely.  We have spoken to the new owner's-talked about their farms, or similar interests, etc.  They all seem to be decent and like-minded people.  However, watching the trailer pull away on Sunday was one of the most difficult times for us since we started farming.  Because we can no longer guarantee that they will continue to get the same care and respect.
Mahatma Gandhi said, "“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”  
If that is how we can predict the fate of our cattle, then we are right to worry.  Any google search will yield thousands of images of animals in the U.S. being mistreated and abused, of the horrors of industrialized farming and feedlots.
Is that what our sold animals have in store for them?  Probably not.  The people who are buying our cows are people who also have small farms, who also believe in sustainability, who respect animals for what they provide for us and treat them accordingly.
So we do what we can:  continue to run our farm, to talk to people about farming, to support other farms and businesses.  To hope to effect change and be part of the bigger movement against industrialized farming, that will some day allow us to sell an animal without the fear that it could end up on a feedlot.

Summer's New Calf

We were pleasantly surprised on Thursday to come home for work and find Summer and her new bull calf resting in the woods.  The little guy was all cleaned up, had nursed, and was already jumping around and giving his mother a hard time!  Unlike her last calf with our Scottish highland bull, who is solid black, this calf is a beautifully marked reddish-brown.  Just look at those eyelashes!

Cows for Sale

HFF is selling some of our awesome breeding stock-click here for the ad

Clementine at 10 Months

A comparison of our little bottle calf at a few days and 10 months old.  She is now weaned and on forage, and fully integrated into the herd….but she hasn't forgotten her friends!

Updates Coming Soon!

We are hoping this winter ends soon-we will be coming out of hibernation soon and will have updates posted on pricing and availability.  Only 2 1/2 weeks left until SPRING!

I'm posting a picture of Neel sharing some leftover corn and pumpkin with the herd from last fall-look at all that GREEN GRASS!  This snow can't go away fast enough!

Clementine

We have been so busy this summer, I just realized that our bottle calf, Clementine, never got a proper introduction.  

She was born on May 30th to a first time mother.  The birth went well and she was a healthy little heifer, but when she got up and attempted to nurse, her mother would not allow her.  This does sometimes happen with a first calf-it is always heartbreaking.  After unsuccessful attempts to get one of the other cows to "adopt" her, we made the decision to bottle feed her.  It is essential that calves get an adequate supply of colostrum (a nutrient and antibody rich substance that cows produce for only about 12 hours after delivering) in the first 2 hours after birth, and we were running out of time.  We always TRY and keep a supply of powdered colostrum on hand, but on this day, it was a frantic race to the feed store to get more.

Clementine moved into our backyard where she would be safe from predators and/or other cows that normally her mother would have protected her from.  She had a great appetite and quickly learned how to use the bottle.  She spent her first 2 months camping out under our deck, where she had a fan to keep her cool and keep the bugs away, regular grooming, a straw house with an extra soft bed, and our three dogs as her playmates.  She imprinted on Neel very quickly and would follow him around every morning and afternoon as we did the other chores.  Regular calf stuff.

When we felt she was big enough to hold her own with the hard, we slowly re-integrated her.  The other calves welcomed her immediately and Wallace the Bull was very protective of his little girl.  She is living with them full time now and remains happy and healthy.  She still gets bottled milk replacer 3 times daily but will be weaned in a few months along with the rest of the other calves.

Clementine will remain with us and become one of our breeding cows.  Although I would always prefer that the animals are raised by their mothers in as natural an environment as possible, it has been a wonderful experience caring for her and getting to know her.

Pork is Ready!

There is still plenty of summer left-pick up some bacon and enjoy a great BLT with some ripe tomatoes, grill up some chops and sweet corn, or BBQ a roast for some great pulled pork.  Check out the price list for availability and call or email an order!