Terrabyte Farm

Mike and Jackson took a serious road-trip today, driving about four hours north to Newbury, Vermont.  They brought home our two Dexter heifers who are due mid-May from a breeding with a Belted Galloway bull.  [A little aside to define some cow-related terms.  A calf is a baby cow.  A heifer is a female cow who has not yet had a calf.  A cow is a female cow who has had a calf.  A steer is a neutered male cow and a bull is an intact male cow.]  We have a Hereford Steer who will go to the butcher this fall and now two Dexter heifers that we hope to milk after they have their calves.  We will raise their calves for beef, they will be ready in 18-24 months.

The ride was blissfully uneventful.  We managed to get the two heifers in the stall fairly easily.  Mike pulled the livestock trailer around using his tractor. These girls have horns (a polled cow is one with no horns, either from genetics or de-horning) and were not afraid to tell the steer who the new bosses were.  They were very friendly with us, eating right from our hand and curious about their new accommodations.  They will all stay in the barn for the next week or so, then we will let them into the pasture during the day, but back in the barn at night.  We will start working with the two girls, getting them used to being handled so when it comes time to milk them, it shouldn’t be too hard.

We are all very, very tired.  It has been an intense couple of weeks.  At this point, we have all of our major livestock in place.  We will be getting a new trio of pigs when our two boys go to the butcher later this spring, and maybe another trio of rabbits, but for now, we think we are set for animals.  In the next week or so, we will try to make a special post that lists all of what we have and what it is for.

Have a great weekend, and if possible, get out and visit a local farm or farmers market and support your local agriculture!