This time of year, everyone's a spring chicken

Pedro posing for the camera. In just a few weeks, the grass popped green with grass - it must have been that very last snowfall.

Some brand new Jumbo Cornish cross chicks. They grow very quickly, and will be ready to slaughter at about 6-10 weeks of age. Our chickens go fast, so stop by the farmstand and get 'em while you can!

Fast growing mallard ducklings - they fill the barnyard & ponds with what we like to call a "joyful noise"!

Newton, Veronica, Contessa, and their lambs Violette and Cecelia.

Ma mère magnifique and a very vivacious Violette!

Chauntel + Linda

A mini-album for everyone

These are pictures Quint and I took last summer of the back forty. They give some hope that summer will be here...eventually. It did, after all, snow two inches on Tuesday.






Oh, and one more thing - Mom sent this picture to my e-mail, it looks like one of the first calves of the year? I'm not sure. She can fill you in. All I can say is that it looks like either the fuzzy one is a hefty baby or Dad wasn't expecting his picture being taken.



Enjoy!
Chauntel

Agricurious, Starmers, and other trendy Farm terms February 2010

Thanks! Again Jackie in Wisconsin brought to my attention that December is the last time we posted. Lots going on here that is for sure. I turned 50 on Valentine's Day and it wasn't painful. Chauntel came home from St.Lawrence University and helped Big Daddy with all the preparations. Quentin was unable to attend the festivities here in the Adirondacks but he did manage celebrate Chinese New Year (Tiger) with his Chinese Club at Norwich University.
To get me out of the way, I attended a small animal clinic on poultry and rabbits with a group of 4-H members. When I came home I was suspicious because my farm work clothes were hung up and Big Daddy wanted to take me out for a "drink" when I was in the middle of my chores. Now if you know me, going out for a "drink" would not be on my top gazillion things to do especially when I was in the middle of a farm stomp.
Getting back to the poultry thing, I learned some pretty neat stuff at the clinic especially about Russian Ortloff bantams. I actually connected with someone who wanted to go in and buy Call Ducklings. Call Ducks are minature but quite vocal. I have heard that ducks hunters bred them to be small enough to be put in their pocket and noisy enough to call wild ducks to a pond. They are difficult to come by. These little birds go in the pet/show category as I officially become a "poultry fancier"
Lily and Jasmine the Jerseys are due to freshen in March. They will have Half Scottish Highland calves. Shaun talked me into this. I wanted to AI with a Jersey sire but Pico looked lonely in the Bull Run and so. . . anyway with us being Empty Nesters, 2 family milk cows are 1 too many. Jasmine will be "farmed" out to a farm family down the road to be spoiled. I will keep old Lil here and use my new EZ Milker on her. I think the EZ milkers are dreadfully expensive but I am willing to skip the hand milking and definitely don't want the maintenance of machine milking. I will keep you posted on my product review. I've heard folks either love them or hate them. I would like to use it on the sheep herd of 3 as well just in case.
The chickens and ducks are laying like crazy again. Ponies are fatter than they were 2 months ago except for Palma who always remain Throughbred Thin (runway models of the horse world). Spring is just around the corner.
I recently attempted a roundup of farm cats & dogs to bring to the vets for shots. I thought I was up for the challenge. But someone forgot to give the farm cats the memo and they had other ideas. Dogs enjoyed the whole idea of an outing except Rueben the Cattle Dog. I'm afraid he is an agoraphobic. He hates to leave the farm. But the cats did not enjoy the event so much. . . So if you can imagine the Great Kitty Cat Round Up of 2010. I can tell you herding cats is an exercise in futility. I still have 4 that have to be wrangled.
For the Agricurious, I dread every fall when summer people throw their pet cats out at the farm thinking the cats will love it before the people go back to the city. I can tell you pet cats last about 48 hours before being hit by a car or eaten or beaten up by the half feral cat colony. Its cruel. The cats that tend to survive are "wild" with skills. Hence the cat herding fun I recently enjoyed.

Hola muchachos

Chauntel, back again. Let's see - it's December in the North Country, prime season for the natives. This week the locals were able to peddle around in our shorts and tee-shirts, blow up a bridge, AND got thick powder snow, which, as you know, is the best kind of snow. Unless you're on snowshoes. Or cross-country skis. But that's besides the point.

Christmas was pretty fantastic. My friends dropped me texts about the sweet iPods and snowboarding paraphenalia and pearl necklaces their parents gave them. What did I get for Christmas? The 1,022-page tome Lameness: Recognizing and Treating the Horse's Most Common Ailment from Daddy (to add to my already voluminous collection of equine science manuals) and a semi-automatic rifle from Domina (to start my own personal arsenal of freedom). The sad thing is that I was actually overjoyed and delighted to recieve such presents. You can take the girl out of the North Country...you can finish that sentence, it's a little painful for me.

The cattle are missing their grass, but dutifully eat everything put in front of them. Twosday is cold and grumpy and lets me know it whenever I'm around. It's funny how much the cows love Dad. They love him more in the summer when they know it's about time to be rotated into the next pasture, but they're still pretty excited to see his tractor rolling down the hill with a big fat round bale on the back. Dad also has a trio of bulls on the hill - Pico, his black Highland son, and a robust red Angus. Whenever I'm riding my horse Isidor around them, he gets all snorty and tries to challenge them while I'm reining him back and praying the bulls won't take up the offer and charge (Isidor's a little guy, and Pico and son are horned). But they always just stand there, chew their cud, and give me a look like "Hey, lady, your donkey there is an idiot". Thanks, guys. So much for the "noble steed".

Chickens are cold and are holding back on the eggs. I'm sure we'll be back in full swing soon enough. Our three Shetland sheep - Newton, Veronica and Contessa - refuse to learn how to be pets like I was hoping. I just can't wait 'til we can shear them and I somehow find time to learn how to knit. They're due to have lambs, as well.

Hm. That's about all. Mom can give you the full scoop later. Paix!

Chauntel

Veteran's Day

We plan on taking this day to give thanks to our friends and neighbors who served their Country. We are blessed to know quite a few unsung heroes. We will celebrate the service and sacrifice of our veterans the Willsboro Methodist Church. This is a small town affair at its finest.
Shaun is in the process of weaning this year's calf crop. We try to plan this "event" when his Mom & Dad leave the farm for a few days. If you have never experienced this drama fest - try not to!
Here's how it goes. We wave bye-bye to Tommy & Cory, as they head on down to New York City. Then Shaun calls the mamas and their babies to the barn yard. The mamas are turned back out to pasture. And the calves remain in the barnyard. Presto, job done!
But wait there's more. After a couple of hours the calves realize that the cows are not coming back to them. And the cacophony begins. The noise they make is incredible and deafening. Of course they can be heard for literally miles.
Frantic and sleep deprived Neighbors call here at the farm and at the 4-H office. They are concerned that we have "gone on vacation" (huh! what's that!) or that we forgot to milk the cows (they are beef -we don't milk) or coyotes, wolves, or panthers are killing the cows. As a side note: Everyone here still remembers the Ice Storm 10 years ago when dairy farmers couldn't get to their cows to milk and it was a horrible disaster. Do you see everyone with in 5 miles is affected but its the in laws we worry about. They like a pastoral farm not the true nitty gritty farm.
Back to the story - Moms and babies can see each other but the babies can't nurse. This isn't such a big issue for the moms because at this point the babies can physically lift their moms off their feet when they try to suckle. Some cows are already dried off (no more milk) and their babies go to another cow to nurse. Its amazing to see three 600 pound calves fixed to some poor cow's udders. As you can imagine this is stressful for the few cows that have milk.
When the calves are born they weigh about 85 pounds but by fall they weigh between 400-800 pounds. The moms have bred back so they need their calorie intake to fatten themselves for the winter and provide nourishment for next Spring's baby. So the crying goes on for 3 days and then stops like someone turned a switch.
We have one baby left to wean. This is going to be the hardest for the dad. Yes, I have talked Shaun into letting His Baby join the other calves and learn to be a cow. "Twosday" have been in my front yard to greet all visitors since she was born. But it is time. This her opportunity to learn with the other youngsters and form bonds. There may be crying and not from Twosday.

October...Already!!

Tonight we will likely have a hard frost. Definitely the signal to shift out of Summer mode. Need to put up all the hay equipment, figure out the best strategy to graze off the remaining pastures and extend the grazing season, send steers to the Vermont Beef Producers sale (this weekend), get ready to provide our customers with delicious free range turkeys, butcher off a couple of hogs, and post the land against the hunters that don't bother to ask.
We are experiencing the empty nest farm this Fall. Chauntel comes home now and again to give riding lessons to her students. Quentin rarely gets out off campus from Norwich. Actually Linda and I are enjoying the new "nest" farm..... seems easier now. At least when a gate or door is left open we know who did it.

Porcine Plowboy: this hog and others like him are used around the farm to uncover metal or sharp objects that cattle may ingest or our horses decide to injure themselves on. The pigs will clear the areas that all others fear to tread, including farmers due to poison ivy, nettles, burdocks, et al.