charles.lafferty

Happy New Year

January 1, 2022

by charles.lafferty Uncategorized

Happy New Year!

As the New Year rolls in, We would again like to thank all of our friends, family, and customers for another successful year here on the farm. We cannot express our gratitude enough to all of you! YOU make this farm successful! YOU are the heart of our operation! YOU are the reason we do what we do! We honestly could not do it without all of your support, hard work, and your help here on the farm. From our hearts to yours: Thank you, and may the new year bring blessings to all of you!

This fall/winter, we are enjoying the slow pace of things. We have some downtime now that there are no cows, broilers, or pigs to care for. I am enjoying the fact that nothing has tried to attack me in the last few months, although it does provide much more exciting blog postings! Having more downtime does not mean that we are idle though!

We are using this time to prepare for the upcoming farming season. We plan to have two new cows, 10 pigs, our normal batches of broilers, turkeys, and to find a pasture buddy for Jasper. Lots of prep work and planning to be done! I am sure this will provide a host of exciting blog material to keep you entertained for the entire year! Especially the turkeys – they are absolutely going to try and eat me.

Jasper’s winter coat is coming in and he is enjoying his daily apple treats. He does miss the extra chicken feed treats he was able to nab when they were in his pasture! He is particular about which animals he shares his pasture with so we may try to add some sheep this year as pasture buddies. Hopefully he will accept them and enjoy their company.

The egg layers are doing great this winter! Earlier in the year we introduced two Brahma hens and one Brahma rooster to our flock. Brahma’s are a more winter hardy bird and prefer to lay eggs over the cooler months. We also hatched chicks from our flock this year, giving us some pure Brahma chicks and Brahma/Australorp mixed chicks. This has worked out well for us! Our Australorp hens started to slow down in the fall and were producing less and less eggs. The Brahma’s and Brahma mixes kicked in here recently and our egg tray is full again!

We would also like to introduce you to a new addition to the farm, as well as to new friends! There are now Ducks on the farm! These ducks do not belong to us however, but to two new friends we were blessed to meet this year, Darien and Trevor! Darien had reached out to the homesteading community on facebook, earlier this fall, looking for land to raise her young flock of 8 Cayuga ducks. As I read her post, I thought about how we have plenty of space here on the farm to accommodate them. I also thought about how many times I myself had reached out to that same community for help. If there is one thing I have learned about farming, it is that you are not alone. You do not work alone. You do not plan alone. You do not struggle alone and you certainly do not succeed alone. Farming is a community. That community is built on friends, family, customers, and complete strangers willing to go above and beyond to help others in their time of need. Farmers help others and our success depends on one another. We are so blessed to be a part of that community and were happy to reach out to Darien and Trevor and offer what help that we could!

Darien and Trevor worked hard to set up an enclosure in our woods for the ducks. They built duck houses, fencing, and set up lighting for them. Keeping everything mobile so that they can rotate them in the woods as they wear down an area, always providing them with a fresh paddock and allowing the land to heal once they move.

Their passion, goals for farming, and caring for their animals align perfectly with our values. They are just getting started in their journey and hope to raise their flock to breeding age. They hope to be able to hatch and sell ducklings in the future as well as providing meat birds and eggs as a business.

Darien and Trevor also raise Quail, although not here on the farm, and hope to get into the egg business as well as selling meat birds and providing quail for hunting lodges. They have provided us with plenty of Quail eggs and Tank especially loves them as a treat!

Tank and Vandal — Tank and his new buddy Vandal

They are always happy to help out around the farm. They have helped me chase escaped chickens, giving Jasper yummy treats, and Trevor is helping CJ to clear fence lines, which we learned this summer is hard work! They bring their adorable furbaby Vandal over and Tank is ecstatic to have a buddy to run and play with! We are looking forward to learning from them and helping them get started! Please join us in welcoming them to the farm and supporting them on their farming journey!

Pig Update!

May 26, 2021

by charles.lafferty Uncategorized

The pigs are doing great and growing fast!

They arrived on the farm on May 1st, as 1 month old piglets. CJ and a friend had worked hard to prepare the pigpen and the woodlot before they arrived. The pigpen was set up with 2 strands of hot wire on the inside and hog panels on the outside. The hog panels were needed since these piglets were not trained on hot wire. They had to be trained to respect the wire before letting them loose in the woodlot.

Duroc Pigs — Their Home Base has everything they need.

We released the pigs into the pigpen, and they explored their new environment. They made adorable little pig piles, all huddled up together. They panicked if you made any sudden movements, and it would send them all scattering. I wanted the pigs to be comfortable with me since I would be the one taking care of them during the day. I stayed in the pen with them for quite a while and was finally able to pet them provided I moved so incredibly slow that it was undetectable by human or pig eyesight. Anything faster and they would scatter in all directions screaming!

They learned that the hot wire meant business quickly and respected it from that moment forward. CJ and his father built an automatic feeder for them. It consists of a barrel filled with feed and a wooden bottom with two sides. There is a lid on each side that the pigs can lift with their noses and access the feed whenever they want and keep the feed dry when they are out foraging. CJ also made an automatic waterer, which is a barrel with 3 pig nipples attached, so that the pigs have access whenever they want, and the water stays contained. I thought it might take them a while to learn how to use them, but they figured it out the first day all on their own. CJ built them a shelter out of pallets, with the help of our daughters’ constant criticism. He then had to do a little more work to bring it up to the farm’s official Critic and Efficiency Expert’s (that is me) standards. I think the pigs might even be worse critics as it took them a couple of days before they would use it. They use it every night now, so they seem to be enjoying it!

The pigs spent about 8 days contained in the pigpen to train them to know where “home” was and get used to the new environment. During this time, I needed to train these little guys to come to me when I called them. First, they needed to be comfortable with me being near the pen. I pulled up a chair and just sat next to the pen for a while. I talked to them and just let them get used to my voice and my presence. I did this for at least a couple of days. Then it was time for the good stuff. A little positive training with treats! You will never meet a more food motivated animal than a pig! I also needed to use a certain call that the pigs would know meant “Come home now”! It could not be something they could possibly hear any other time. I struggled to think of a special pig call and finally settled on the tried and true “Sooey”. I called upon my good ole southern roots and let out a loud “Soooeeey” that would have made Uncle Shorty proud and threw some treats into the pen. This promptly scared the living daylights out of the pigs, and they went running wild. I am pretty sure in the excitement, that I hit one of the pigs in the forehead with a treat and it stuck there, sending him into even more of a panic. Eventually they calmed down and noticed the treats. We started off with less decibels after that and kept at it. I spent a good long while walking to different locations around the pen calling out and throwing more treats. They learned what the call meant, and, in the end, they would come running every time.

It was time to let them loose in the woodlot. The woodlot is about a quarter of an acre. It started off with two strands of hot wire surrounding the whole lot. However, my constant paranoia of them escaping finally infected CJ as well and he installed a third wire, just to be sure. The lot is full of trees for shade and rubbing, brush, greenery to forage on, and a natural spring for them to enjoy. We released them on the 8th day. I fully expected them to go running wild. However, they surprised me. They knew that the hot wire had been there previously and still respected that boundary. They had no interest in going any further than the wire had allowed. Eventually one of them began munching and accidently went further than where the wire had been. Gradually the others followed. Once they found the green stuff, they were off! They did not run wild though; they simply ate their way forward. Nothing green stood a chance! In about 20 minutes they had cleared/rooted up a considerable portion! They knew what the hot wire was and respected it well. We had no issues with them escaping.

Since then, they have explored the whole of the woodlot. A walk around will show signs of their rooting everywhere. They have found the natural spring and thoroughly enjoy playing in the mud. They love to run, play, and forage in the woods. Sometimes, they like to hide from us and make us panic just a little. They like to taunt Jasper by hanging out near his pasture. The pigs know Jasper is not fond of them and if they come near his pasture, he will bray very loudly at them. I do not think they care what Jasper thinks though and continue to taunt him. They are still sensitive to sudden movements. If you come up on them unexpectedly it will send them running. However, once they realize you are not harming them in any way they will relax. The pig call is working beautifully. They can be in the woods, hidden, and if they hear that “Sooey” call, they come running expecting treats.

There have not been any adventures so far with these guys and no one has tried to eat me, yet. They have bitten me a couple times, not aggressively though. Once was because I tried to pet them while my hands still smelled like treats (lesson learned). The second occurrence was the first time I went in the pen alone. I was filling up the waterer and they were curious. I admit to being a little worried at first when they all lined up and began slowly advancing towards me all at once. One sniffed my boot and tried to sample it (another lesson learned: always wear my farm boots in the pen). The panicked nature of these guys is a good thing however, and one loud sudden noise from me stopped them from biting my feet and sent them back into the woods.

All in all, they are doing so well and loving their new life here on the farm where they can free range, forage, play in the mud, taunt the donkey, and sleep peacefully in their adorable pig piles!

Posting Pictures of Our Animals

May 3, 2021

by charles.lafferty Uncategorized

We have had a few comments recently about some of the pictures we post on our Facebook/Instagram pages of the animals. It can be hard for animal lovers to view the pictures of our animals, knowing that we raise them for meat and not pets. Being an animal lover myself, I completely understand this and would like to explain why we continue to post the cute pictures of our animals.

Our desire to start this farm came from becoming aware of how our food was being delivered to us. We realized that the convenient options available to us for our meat came at a very high price. That price was not only unhealthy food that we were feeding our family, but often the animals themselves living in poor conditions and being raised unethically. We decided to stop being a part of the problem and offer a solution, for ourselves and others.

Skyline Pastures was born, and we began raising animals for meat. Our solution to the problems we saw with commercial meat production was to offer a different kind of product, a healthier product. Our plan to achieve this goal had two parts. The first part of our solution meant we had to feed our animals better quality food, a healthier food, as well as giving them the option of foraging for food that they would naturally eat in the wild. The second part was to raise our animals ethically and give them a good happy life here on the farm.

We take both parts very seriously. Each animal on our farm is free range to the best of our extent. They all have the option and space to forage for food. The cow has his own pasture and loves to graze and fill his belly on grass. The chickens are raised on pasture as well, with the ability to forage for fresh worms, insects, and green plants. The pigs are raised with a large area to roam in the woods, foraging for plant matter, worms, and insects. We make sure that in addition to foraging, our animals are given good quality, non-GMO feed. We raise our animals ethically and ensure that they are living a healthy, safe, peaceful life, in a more natural environment. We try to give our animals more than ample space to live. No one is ever crowded. We try to raise them in an area that is natural to them. We want our animals to live a happy life. Sometimes that means that the cow gets a beach ball to play with, or that we take treats out to the egg laying chickens just because. Sometimes that means doing whatever is possible for a sick animal to nurse it back to health. We spend time with our animals, getting to know them and they us. They get cuddles and pets. We love our animals. This love and care of our animals is our promise to our customers. A happy animal is a healthier animal, and we strive to achieve that with each animal raised on our farm.

Therefore, posting pictures on social media is important to us and our customers. We want to not only deliver a healthy product, but to show you how we are doing so. We want you to see how these animals are being raised. We want you to see that our animals are living a happy healthy life. We want to show that they are loved and cared for to the best of our ability. When something goes wrong, or we have a sick animal, we want you to see our dedication to the issue or animal and how we react to it. We want you to see the compassion and care that we provide for our animals every day. So, while it can be hard for animal lovers to see the cute pictures of our animals, knowing that we do raise them for meat, it is necessary for us to show that we are delivering on our promises.

We hope that even though it may be hard to see, for some, that you will stay and enjoy our journey along with us!

Blood Has Been Shed This Day!

January 26, 2021

by charles.lafferty Chickens

For once on this farm… this story is not about me. Today I tell the story of CJ, whose battle was brief, but shall live on forever…

(in the form of “I told you so’s)

Preface

Yesterday during lunch farm chores, I heard a very loud, unusual, peeping noise coming from the chicken coop. A chicken was in distress. I went up to the coop to investigate. I noticed one chicken huddled in the corner of the coop. She would not move other than to peck at the hanging waterer by her side. I step closer to get a better look and the rooster went crazy attacking the fence. He was in such a frenzy that he briefly got tangled up in the electric netting fence. I tried to lift the egg hatch to get a better view of inside the coop and the rooster attacked again, almost making it over the fence. It was clear he was in a mood on this day. After a couple more tries and him attacking, I was able to distract him with some treats and get the hen to move in the doorway.

The chicken in the coop was not well. Her whole body was puffed up. Swollen, to the point her neck had all but disappeared. I needed to get to her to look her over. I tried to trick him and trap him, but it was of no use. He is a smart, angry bird. He will not be tricked. I was left with no choice but to wait till CJ is home to help.

Attack of the bird

CJ does not fear the rooster. It is just a chicken after all. What harm can it do really? CJ thinks I exaggerate my fear of this bird. Unlike me, he is brave, he is fearless. This bird is no match for him!

CJ exclaims that he will catch this angry rooster for me so that I may enter the coop and rescue my sick hen. He exits the house with utter confidence. I await his efforts inside the house, where I am safe.

Mere moments go by and CJ reenters the house… limping, bleeding. A battle has ensued, and I fear my brave man did not fare well. He has been injured! He revealed that he would not in fact be catching the rooster for me as it had attacked him violently. The rooster’s beak or spur had pierced his flesh and drawn blood. Entering at the side of his knee and penetrating deeply behind the knee cap. A vicious wound indeed. He declared that the rooster must die. It had to be done. This battle was yet to be over.

He slings his weapon over his shoulder and limps back out the door. Softly groaning with each step. He will be victorious, I pray. I wish him luck and close the door as he limps away.

His shot rings out. I wonder if it is over, but another shot rings out. Fear grips me as I envision this bird, this miniature t-rex attacking him, as his shots go astray. I dare not run to him, less I be attacked as well. But, alas, my brave man comes back to me. The rooster is dead, and my sick hen has been rescued to be nursed back to health. My savior. My hero.

Epilogue

The rooster got CJ pretty good and is causing him quite a bit of discomfort. His knee is swollen, red, and painful. The wound is small but deep. Moving his leg even the slightest is causing him a good deal of pain. We cleaned the wound. Resting his leg makes it stiff and the pain worse, so he is trying to keep moving, though he is still limping a good bit.

CJ has a high tolerance of pain, so when he shows discomfort, I know that he is in pain. Hopefully, it improves, if not, he may need to have it looked at tomorrow.

There have been a many of “I told you so’s” today from me and reminders that I (his tiny little wife) have had to endure these attacks for quite some time. I have also been sure to remind him that “It was just a chicken”. He appreciates it when I remind him of those things.

The story to be learned here is that one should always listen to their wife regarding angry birds (or cows, or donkeys).

The sick hen was brought in and looked over. Her swelling had gone down significantly, and I can see no issues obviously wrong with her. I suspect she is egg bound, which means she is having a hard time passing her egg. I soaked her in warm water with Epsom salt and she did perk up and drink eagerly. She also escaped onto my counter causing a commotion with me screaming “There is a chicken loose on my counter!”. Tank freaked out; the cats freaked out. It was quite the ordeal. CJ had to come limping and save the day again. The only thing I can do at this point is apply some Vaseline to her vent and hope she is able to pass the egg. We got her dried off with the blow dryer and set her up in a crate in the basement. I will be checking on her and my injured husband often.

Never a dull moment on the farm!

Farm Gear – Baby it’s Cold Out!

January 23, 2021

by charles.lafferty Uncategorized

Those of you who know me well, know that I am not a fan of the cold weather. This poses a problem for me on the farm during winter. It is COLD outside. However, the chores must be done regardless of the weather out. Having family and friends in the south, I often get asked how I can stand being out in the cold. Well… to be honest, I do not handle it well and have learned the importance of good gear to stay warm and dry!

The other morning when preparing to do chores it was 20 degrees out. It was time to gear up and get the job done! This is how I roll in the cold:

#1 – Hands: when doing farm chores this is my number one concern. My hands get wet when dealing with waterers. Wet and cold hands are frozen hands. Frozen hands are not productive. My favorite gloves are these Kinco HydroFlector gloves. They are waterproof and thermal lined. They keep my hands dry and warm. They protect my hands very well whether I am digging out a crushed egg from my pocket, grabbing hay, or digging bedding out of the chicken waterer. They serve me well on the farm and I do not go out without them.

#2 – Feet: CJ has a saying that “Wet feet are not happy feet”, I would say wet or cold feet. My feet must be protected. Who knows what I will be walking through on the farm! I also empty waterers and deal with the hose quite a bit, so my feet occasionally get wet. My favorite boots are my Muck boots. They are simply the best. My feet stay dry and they are easily cleaned off with the hose if needed. I have owned this pair over a year – using them daily when I worked at the shelter and the past year here on the farm. They are still in great shape and hold up well! They are a tad big on my little feet as they did not offer half sizes when I bought them, so I had to go a size larger. A good thick pair of winter socks solves that problem though and helps to keep my feet warm as well.

On really cold days such as the 20 degree day, I employ my heated socks. These were a gift and I love them! You can feel the warmth as soon as you hit the button. They are quite comfortable! I thought the battery pack on the side would be uncomfortable, but I do not even notice it. The pocket holds it nicely and it does not move around or fall out. The muck boots have plenty of room so again, I do not notice it when walking around.

#3 Head – Long hair is a pain. It gets in my way and I cannot see if it is in my face. We all know how these animals like to come at me. I need to be prepared! A ponytail is a must on the farm. However, that does make keeping my head warm an issue. That is until I found this beanie hat with a hole in it for my ponytail. Seriously, love this thing! It is the small things that make me happy! I can wear my hair up and keep my head/ears warm. It is quite warm too. A must have in my book.

#4 Face – Typically I do not use anything for my face. On the snowy or windy days though, my chin will freeze solid and my nose will look like Rudolph so then I throw on my fleece lined face shield. It does a great job of keeping my face warm and thawed out! Sometimes I throw it on if I know I will be out longer than normal. I have recently learned that it helps with the dust from the hay as well so maybe I should wear it more!

#5 Body – I always throw on a pair of sweatpants over my leggings. I keep an old pair that I have deemed my farm britches in the closet for this purpose. Paired with the leggings they keep me warm and I do not have to worry if they get dirty.

My most favorite thing of all is my heated coat. This thing is worth its weight in gold to me. It is mine, and no one else can touch it – ever. HA! It has a battery pack that fits in an inner pocket that can be taken out and charged via USB. It warms up quickly and stays warm for quite a while. I have never had it lose power while wearing it. It has three heat settings, although I only ever use the warmest setting. Recently I learned that it washes well, after I accidently cracked an egg in the pocket. It also fits well under one of CJ’s large raincoats so I can still wear it if its rainy or snowy! It keeps me warm outside on the coldest of days!

These items are how I manage not to freeze to death outside while doing farm chores. They may be unnecessary or over the top for some, but I am warm and dry and that is what matters to me! I refuse to be cold or wet!

I Fought the Donkey and the Donkey Won

October 18, 2020

by charles.lafferty Getting Started with the Farm

Tanya vs farm animal… here we go again. Grab a blanket, get comfy, and enjoy the story.

I will preface this by saying that the donkey did not attack me. Jasper is a good donkey. He is very intelligent. He is also, so I learned yesterday, stubborn when he wants something. Jasper can be a bully.

Jasper has always been very docile. He is a great pet and loves to be near his people getting pet. There are times when he can be mouthy. He tries to grab things with his lips. Behind those lips are big ole donkey teeth so you must be careful in case he gets a little too excited.

We have the chicken tractors in Jasper’s pasture, and this has been working well. However, Jasper has been growing bolder as we go in and out of the pasture with feed and water for the chickens. Jasper likes chicken feed. He likes it a lot. Just recently while CJ was in the chicken tractor filling up waterers, Jasper snuck over to the trailer, lifted up the bucket full of chicken feed, set it on the ground, and proceeded to eat it all before CJ could stop him. Jasper now has a taste for chicken feed.

This is how things went down for me yesterday…

CJ is at work. Isn’t that how my stories all start? It is my job at lunch to check on the chickens and fill waterers. They typically do not need the feeders refilled until after CJ gets home. I load up the trailer with my water buckets and drive the mower/trailer out into the pasture. I take care of the waterers and notice that on this day, they do in fact need feed. I do have a bucket of feed, but its only enough to fill two tractors. I must go back for more. I will add here that Jasper stays away from me when I water, because I keep the mower running and the noise scares him. I am usually quick with my job whereas CJ has more to do so he takes longer. I finish up and drive back out of the pasture. Jasper does not come anywhere near me.

I grab more feed, but I only need a little bit, so I decide to walk it up. No need in driving the mower/trailer up there for just a couple of buckets. I need one bucket of feed and one bucket of grit. You must add grit to the chickens’ feed. I get to the gate and I see Jasper has moved closer to the chicken tractors. I second guess myself about walking up. It is a long way to the tractors, and I do not have the mower to keep him away from the feed. I decide that it is fine. This is Jasper. My sweet, docile, nice donkey. He will not be a problem. I walk to the chicken tractors.

All is well. I feed the chicks and emerge with one completely empty feed bucket and one bucket with just a tiny bit of dirt/grit. Jasper has arrived. I pet him for a little. I see him eying the buckets, so I hold them both up to him and let him see for himself that they are both empty. He confirms this and removes his head from the buckets. I start to walk off.

Now this is where things happen. I walk just a bit and Jasper trots up to me nudging the buckets. I tell him “Nothing in there buddy, I already showed you”, but I show him again anyway. He confirms yet again that they are indeed empty. I walk away again.

Jasper trots up and nudges the buckets. “Dude, there is nothing in there but dirt!”, I say sternly. He stands there offended while I walk away, again.

Here he comes again. I have made some distance this time and I notice Jasper is becoming more excited. He did not trot up to me. He ran. Jasper does not run often; he is a lazy donkey. This time, he is being mouthy. He is being very stubborn. I take note of his stubborn, excited behavior. Large, stubborn, excited, animals give me cause for concern after the cow attack. “Fine, you want the dirt? Here you can have the dirt bucket!” I place the dirt bucket on the ground. Jasper sticks his head in and examines the bucket. I walk quite a bit faster now.

Jasper does not like the bucket of dirt. This is unacceptable to him. I see him begin to run. Fine, I can run too. Jasper is a donkey. Jasper has four legs. I have two. At the end of those legs are big bulky Muck boots covered in a thick layer of chicken poop. Jasper accepts my running challenge and reminds me that while he may be miniature, he can still run like a big boy. He catches me quite easily. He wants my bucket. “Fine, you stubborn donkey, here, take the empty bucket”. I leave the bucket. I am now empty handed. I decide against running again but walk away quickly. No need to slip with my poop covered boots and get trampled by a donkey.

Jasper does not accept my offering. He refuses it quite quickly and comes up to me. Jasper is upset. Jasper wants a special treat, but I have nothing for him. Jasper is being an ass. He is very excited. He is tossing his head in frustration. He is huffing at me. He is being mouthy. Seeing as how I do not have any buckets for him to be mouthy with, he is nibbling at me. I do not like this. A frustrated, stubborn, mouthy, large, animal can be dangerous. I am out in the open. I do not have buckets to distract him with. If I try to pet him, he shakes his head and huffs at me more.

Ok, I go back for the buckets. I need the buckets. Jasper is with me the whole time being belligerent. I try being stern. I try being loud. This is all to no avail. I grab one bucket then two. I use them to kind of swing out, to shoo him away. This does not affect him in the least. Crap. How do I always manage to get myself into these situations? I do the only thing I can do.

I lock myself in the chicken tractor.

I figure he will mosey on after a few minutes, I can leave the buckets in the tractor, and he will not bother me on the way out. Wrong. Jasper does not leave. Jasper stands outside staring at me. He pushes on the wire (the only barrier between us). He huffs and shakes his head. Then, this incredibly intelligent animal grabs a rope attached to the tractor and starts jerking it! It is hanging right next to the door. It looks like part of the door. This donkey is TRYING TO OPEN THE DOOR! Yep, I am going to die.

I do have my phone with me (a big shout out to leggings with pockets). I call little CJ and tell him that I am stuck in a chicken tractor with an angry donkey trying to get at me. I ask him to bring some sweet feed from the barn and shake it down by the gate to distract Jasper while I escape. He does this but Jasper is to smart for this trick. Jasper does not budge. Jasper continues his antics. Little CJ dumps out some sweet feed and some chicken feed thinking that will help. Nope. Jasper has his eye on the prize. Crap. After a while I tell little CJ to give up and go inside, there is no use. I live in the chicken tractor now. I do the only thing left to do.

I call CJ at work.

“I need a little help here”

“What’s up”

“I am trapped in a chicken tractor and Jasper will not let me out”

Tanya in Tractor — Tanya is displeased with her location…

Laughter, I hear laughter.

“What?”

I explain the situation. CJ tells me to just be firm, show him the bucket, leave a bucket for him, etc.

“Yes, yes, I have tried all of these options. Do you not think that I considered all options available to me before locking myself in a stinking chicken tractor?”

“Tanya, I am a half hour away”

“Well, I am not going anywhere. I need you to come rescue me”

This is followed by more laughter, and his acceptance to come rescue me. I flip over a bucket and take a seat. This is what it has come too. Lord have mercy. My phone rings. It is my

Donkey looking into tractor — Jasper knows there is delicious chicken feed in there…

Aunt. I got nothing but time, so I sit and chat for a while. Jasper does not leave. He walks around the tractor, rubbing, testing areas, pulling on ropes occasionally, shaking his head at me. CJ calls again to check on me. “No, I haven’t made it out yet”, “Yes Jasper is still out there”, “Everything is fine, it’s fine, I’m just sitting on a bucket in a chicken tractor”.

After about an hour of sitting in the chicken tractor, I notice I do not see Jasper. I look out and he is down by the gate eating the chicken feed. I notice little CJ left the whole bag of sweet feed in the pasture. I call little CJ back out to grab it through the gate. That is too much for Jasper at one time. He comes out and retrieves the bag. He calls me. “Mom, book it! Jasper is distracted, go around the back of the tractor and sneak off”, “BOOK IT NOW, GO, GO”.

I unlatch the door and sneak around. I confirm that Jasper is happily eating and begin my escape. I do not run; I do not want to call attention to myself. Jasper starts to turn his head towards me and little CJ yells at him, “Hey Jasper, look at me, over here, don’t look there”. He shakes the feed to get his attention back. I love that kid. I continue walking and eventually make it to the side gate and I am out of the pasture. I am safe. I walk to the other gate and tell Jasper he was naughty. He continues eating without a care. He has what he wanted. He wins.

I have now been beaten by a cow, a rooster, and a donkey. I am seriously lacking in the farm-wife skill department. CJ arrives home moments later and laughs at me some more. I go in the house make myself a drink and contemplate my life choices.

Death on the Farm

October 2, 2020

by charles.lafferty Chickens Getting Started with the Farm

Last week was a hard week. We lost three animals in the same amount of days. So sad.

It all started on Tuesday night, when CJ went to put the egg laying chickens in the coop. We had been letting them free range around the yard for a while now and have had no issues. They loved wandering around the yard and making dust baths under the trees/bushes. They would follow you around if they thought you had treats. Occasionally the rooster would be a

little jerk and come at me, but I made sure to keep Tank near me to keep me safe from his shenanigans. Betsy the chicken, would get separated from the group often because she was not paying attention, or the other chickens would wander away. It was a little funny because she would start to panic. She would just stand there and scream for her friends. We would have to locate her and guide her back to the group.

The chickens always put themselves to bed at dusk and CJ goes out to close the coop once it is dark. However, that night, he could only find 5 chickens. One was missing. We all grabbed our flashlights and went out as a family to search for whom I was sure was Betsy the lost chicken. There was no sign of her though. We did see a fox run off into the woods. We were worried but could find no sign of her. We locked up the coop and just hoped she was sheltering down in the woods safely somewhere.

CJ saw no sign of her the next morning either. It was only later when I went looking for her again that we discovered the truth. Betsy had been murdered! On my walk, down by where we had seen the fox, I noticed a large swath of feathers. There had been a struggle here and Betsy had fought hard. Walking further down below Cow Cow’s pasture I noticed several more areas of feathers, in sections, quite far apart. One location was but a single feather and a small pool of blood. Oh… poor Betsy! She had wandered off by herself, with no protection, and had lost her life. She had put up one heck of a fight, but she was not strong enough to fight off her predator. It was a sad day.

We assumed it was the fox we saw. However, later that day I was making my rounds and noticed a HUGE vulture hanging out on our fence post. With my chickens very near. Mr. Rooster Gooster (that is his name) was being a lazy bum and not even paying attention! I ran up screaming to scare away the vulture. I will add here…. Those are big birds when they are on down on your level. Holy moly. His wingspan was just as long if not longer than Tank! Thankfully, he flew away. I would have had some serious issues if he had come after me! After saving my chickens lives, I stood there making sure I had all my girls accounted for. Rooster Gooster had been standing by me (with no issues) the whole time. Suddenly, he decides that he is jealous that I came in and did his job for him. He huffed up as big as he could, flapping his wings, and came straight for me! I kicked at him to back off, but he was truly offended this time and proceeded to try and kill me. I ran.

That mini velociraptor was hot on my tail. I ran faster. Tank could not see that I was in danger, and with my brain in full flight mode I forgot about him being outside. I remembered about halfway to the house and screamed for him. He cam running but was too far behind. I ran even faster. I was getting a side stitch. Evidently roosters do not get side stitches as he was never more than two feet behind me. I was close to the back door of the house but then realization hit! I will never get the screen door and the regular door open in time. He is going to catch me while I am trying to get the screen door open and I will die. I spot one of Tank’s toy balls on the ground and swoop down during my run to grab it and throw it at him. Rooster Gooster don’t care; Rooster Gooster ain’t scared of no ball. He never falters. Yep. I am going to die via chicken. Thankfully, right as I reach the screen door, Tank catches up and saves the day. He stands between me and Rooster Gooster daring him to come near his mama. That will teach you, stinking rooster!

We decided to put the chickens in the pasture with jasper and added the electric poultry net back up as well. I do feel bad that they do not get to wander now. I may go out and put some wire up on the gates so they can free range in the pasture with Jasper there to scare away any predators. On a good note, that darn rooster will not be able to come after me again!

Poultry on Pasture — They are now double-protected with the poultry netting and the donkey!

That same night, Lil CJ came down to tell me that he thought his guinea pig (named Rat) was not feeling well. I went up to check and it was obvious something was wrong with him. A quick google search of his symptoms made it clear he had an upper respiratory infection. We carried him into the bathroom, and I gave Alayna permission to take the longest, hottest shower ever while I sat with him in the steam hoping it would help him breath a little easier. It was almost 8pm so there was no option of a vet. I tried to look up anything I could to help him, but the only thing that could help him were antibiotics. We made him as comfortable as we could and let him sleep in the bathroom where it was still warm and steamy. Unfortunately, he did not make it through the night.

The next day I dug a small hole next to two doggie graves from the previous property owner and Lil CJ and I buried Rat the guinea pig. We lined his grave with bricks, just like the others and placed a small piece of split wood on top for added protection. It was very sad.

The Day after that, CJ announced that we had lost the 1^st meat bird from the brooder. We are not sure what happened. You always expect to lose some of the meat birds, but these were doing so well I had hoped all 100 would make it out to the pasture. It was so close too! We had planned to move them out the following week! Poor little thing. All the others were happy and healthy, so I am thankful we only lost one bird.

That is the hard part of owning so many animals. You always do your best to take care of them, but death is a part of life. We must learn to deal with it as best we can and keep moving forward.

RIP Betsy, Rat, and meat bird who had no name because I cannot name 100 birds.

Farm Update for September 11th, 2020

September 11, 2020

by charles.lafferty Uncategorized

The next batch of chickens have arrived! We picked up 100 new baby chicks! Thankfully, it is quite warmer than the last time we brought chicks home, so everything went smoothly, and it was easy to keep the temperature steady in the brooder. They are all cuddled up and cute as can be!

We will not be selling all the 100 birds this time, as we would like to keep some on hand for our personal use. We only plan to sell 80 out of this batch. So, if you are interested in purchasing a chicken, make sure to place your order soon! We have had orders coming in before the new chicks even arrived on the property, so I do not want anyone to miss out!

Chicks in the brooder — These guys are growing up fast!

I will oversee caring for the chicks in their first couple of weeks. CJ will be away for work. I think I have the hang of chicken rearing down so that no adventures occur, but they always seem to happen when I least expect it!

Some of you may have seen the post announcing the addition of the four new barn cats: Mable, Musketeer, Pat, & Dani. They are doing well! They are roaming freely inside the barn and have even begun to venture outside a little. Musketeer is very friendly and loves to be petted when we go in. He has even jumped up into my lap a time or two! Mable is a little wary of people but will come up to you if you sit still for a while. The kittens (4mo old), Pat & Dani, are skittish and love to run around the barn and play. Pat is warming up more to people and will occasionally allow himself to be pet, Dani is not quite there yet and is keeping her distance. They all come running in the morning for breakfast though! We are hoping that they help with any rodents in the barn.

We had only intended on getting ONE barn cat. Now most of you will think that I had something to do with bringing FOUR home, but I assure you this was all on CJ. He called the Animal Rescue League and spoke with them about their barn cat program. He was told that it really is better to get two cats, so they have some company and are not alone. Having worked there in the past, I knew this to be true and a good piece of advice. CJ agreed and set an appointment to go to the shelter. The next day the gentleman from the ARL called and said that he understood we had agreed on two cats, but would we be interested in one more cat that they had there. CJ agreed. The next day, we get another call. I

Cats on a chair — The kittens are slowly getting used to their new digs.

know we had agreed on THREE cats, but there was another cat there that had really bonded with the kittens and would be a great addition to our farm. At this point CJ was thinking “What’s one more” and agreed. Hence, the four cats we brought home.

I am not complaining, I love them all. I do feel, however, that CJ and I have reversed our roles. Normally it is me who brings animals home all

cat in barn — Mable is still a little shy.

the time and has no restraint. Here lately, it seems, that CJ is fulfilling that role while I am being the reasonable one saying, “No more animals”! I see now what he has put up with all these years! HA!

I read a quote the other day that I could really relate too. It said “Chickens… The Gateway Drug to Farming”. It is certainly true in our case! We started out with 7 chickens. We now have, 6 chickens for egg laying, 100 meat chickens, a donkey, a cow, 2 bunnies, and 4 barn cats, Oh… and a guinea pig! That is in addition to our 1 dog (really, we could count him as 2 or 3), 2 cats, & 2 turtles inside! I know in my heart if he sees another farm animal for sale, he will not be strong enough to resist. Maybe I finally broke him with all my past begging for more animals. I guess the old saying is true, be careful what you wish for!

On that note, Cow Cow is doing great. He is getting bigger and bigger! He is getting to be too much for even CJ to control inside the pasture at times. His Jersey breed means he is playful and has quite an attitude. Evidently God blessing us with a daughter abounding with attitude was not challenging enough, so he gave us a cow with an attitude to boot! I may need to search for a “Training Your Cow, for Dummies” book soon! Maybe there is a Cow Whisperer, that can help? That should totally be a thing, and I would pay top dollar for the service!

Overall, things are going well here on the farm. Things are running smoothly for once and I think we are getting the hang of this farming stuff down! Let us hope it stays that way!

Farm Update for August 18th, 2020

August 18, 2020

by charles.lafferty Cow Getting Started with the Farm

Things are moving right along here on the farm!

Jasper got a little attention here recently. We had the farrier out to take a look at his hooves and he got a nice new pedicure. He was not impressed. We haltered and tied him to the barn.

Jasper Investigating the Camera — Jasper was curious to see what I was doing in his grass.

CJ was at his head while the farrier handled his feet. I stood by feeding Jasper apples to try and calm him down and distract him. I am not sure how often he has had this done in the past. He certainly was not comfortable with it. He did behave well though. While he did not like anyone messing with his feet, no one was donkey-kicked in the face as I suspected would

happen. You could tell he was just trying to get away. I was impressed with the farrier’s complete lack of fear with Jasper. It was interesting to watch and he manhandled my donkey quite well. He would take hold of Jasper’s leg and would not let go of it until the job was done, even if it did cause him a few bloody knuckles.

Overall, Jasper’s hooves just needed a little trimming. He did have a slight case of thrush on one hoof that we are treating with peroxide. We will continue the treatment and keep an eye on it.

Cow Cow is doing well and getting bigger every day! I can tell he is lonely and wants to play so I got him a beach ball to play with. He absolutely loves it! I could not believe it! I have CJ go

Cow from the side — Cow Cow strikes a pose

in with me (just in case) and throw the ball around with him. He pushes it around with his head, gets excited, and starts bucking all around. Admittedly, I normally run away at that point and then go back when he is calmer. It is so cute to watch him play and it makes my heart happy.

We did set up a better system for delivering water to the pastures. We hooked up enough hoses to reach the pastures. This works much better than carrying multiple buckets. This sounds pretty simple but CJ was concerned that the water pressure would not be able to push the water that far and uphill. I think CJ just enjoys working hard. I however, really do not like carrying buckets, so I tested it out to see. Works like a charm and now is the go to method.

I think CJ and I will be setting up an electric fence in the pasture to where we can get in there and do what we need to while still being separated from Cow Cow. He wants to play and even went to the extent of jumping up while CJ was cleaning out his water trough. Cow Cow had both front hooves up on CJ’s shoulders! Not cool, Cow cow! Bad cow. He is getting big enough to push even CJ around. CJ was able to swat him off and no harm done. However, if that had been me, he would have knocked me down and trampled me to death. This is not acceptable.

Due to his loneliness and eagerness to play, we are discussing getting another cow for him. I am not sure how I feel about this. On one hand I know it would do Cow Cow so much good to have company and another animal to play with. On the other hand, this is more work, more feed, more issues, and I am just not sure we are ready to take that on. CJ is of the opinion that two cows would not make any more difference than one. He often reminds me of my “just do it” attitude. I do not think that he realizes how much that particular attitude has changed! I fear soon I will be the victim of a cow gang. We will discuss the issue further before we make a decision. While we have learned a lot, there is still more to learn and I want to do better than our first cow purchase experience.

We have found another resource with a gentleman that plowed our driveway last year. He is also a farmer, and has stated that he could provide us with hay this winter for the cow and donkey. He also has a connection with a Jersey cow farmer and she is willing to come out to our farm. She is happy to give us advice on what type of hay is best for the cow this winter and any other tips that she can give us. Hopefully she can come out next week. I am excited to meet and learn from her!

Chickens in Poultry Net — The Chickens are hunting for bugs.

The egg laying hens are doing well and back to laying eggs regularly now that the temperatures have calmed down. We did lose the one sick hen. We are still not sure what was wrong, but she continued to decline even though she was isolated from the others and had access to food and water. We are down to 5 hens now and the rooster. The rest of them seem to be healthy and doing well thankfully.

We are gearing up for the new meat birds coming in September and already have customers placing orders! So exciting! So proud of CJ and his crazy idea of farming. When he sets his mind to do something, nothing can stop him! He is achieving his dream! I love experiencing this new adventure with him, even if most of it is spent with me running from the cow!

Grass Fed vs Grain Fed

August 5, 2020

by charles.lafferty Uncategorized

Here on the farm we would like all of our animals to be fed in the most natural way. How they were intended to eat. What they were designed to eat. What is natural for them and in turn natural for us. This has been our principal since we started this adventure and it is very important to us.

However, we also assumed that would be an easy feat. Cows and donkeys eat grass, so stick them in the pasture and let them eat grass. We have large pastures, plenty of room for the animals we have, so we didn’t expect an issue with feeding in this fashion. Turns out, this has only worked well for Jasper the donkey.

We are learning that there is so much more involved with this method of feeding. It is definitely not as easy as we thought. There are many things that we did not take into consideration. Some of it was just us rushing into things, excited to begin our farming journey, not researching enough beforehand. We have taken the learn as you go route, which sometimes I feel is the best way. While research is helpful and informative, things often look easy in principle but the reality is things are often quite harder than you expected.

There has been such a learning curve with the cow. As you know, due to our inexperience and knowledge of cow breeds and feeding requirements of young calves, we almost lost Cow Cow in the beginning. We learned from that experience and got him healthy again. He is getting milk and grain due to his requirements for now but he will soon be off of the milk feedings. CJ would like him to then be grass fed at that point instead of grain fed. There are the problems with that though.

He is a Jersey breed, a dairy breed. It is just not in his genetics to get as big as a typical breed (say Holstein or Angus) used for beef. That is not to say you can’t feed a Jersey beef cow on grass, however, it will take much longer to achieve that goal than we were expecting. We would be looking more to 5 years or so with him being grass fed vs 18 months or so on grain.

Pasture quality is also an issue. While we have a large pasture (about 3 acres) just for him, it is the quality of that pasture that is important. All grass is not considered equal in the pasture. There are different types that are more beneficial to different animals. There are plant types that are poisonous. We are not sure what specific grass we do have in the pasture, so it’s hard to ensure he will get what he needs. We do know that the pasture is overrun with various types of weeds. We have an exorbitant amount of Milkweed, which is poisonous to cows. The height of the grass is also an issue. It is too much pasture for the cow to handle. He can’t possibly keep it down, so we must mow. This causes another issue. For one, we don’t have a mower that can handle the taller grasses. Typically in order for the grass to have as much possible nutrients for the cow, it must be kept in the vegitative state, where it is producing more energy to grow, thereby transferring that energy to the cow when he eats it. No more than about 6 inches high. If it gets too tall and goes to seed, it is no longer producing enough energy for the cow to convert when he eats it. Our mower only goes about 3 inches high, which may keep the grass too short for him. The taller grasses/weeds in our pasture have already gone to seed, which means it will do nothing for him nutritionally, and our mower can not handle it to mow it down.

I am still nowhere near an expert on cow nutrition, but what I have learned leads me to believe that we will not be able to feed him a grass fed diet alone. From more experienced farmers, we have been told that to eradicate the weeds that have taken over the pasture, we need to spray the field. This does not sit well with CJ, and his adamant choice to not use chemicals. Our only other option would be to continually mow the pasture and hope that over time we can control the weed growth while allowing more grass to grow. This option will take too long to prepare the pasture for feeding a cow that needs to eat now.

CJ has argued that in the wild, a cow would eat nothing but grass and thrive. The problem with this theory is that in the wild (and current grass fed farm practices), a calf would have been able to nurse from its mother for at least 6 months before grazing grass or turning out to pasture. This has not been the case with Cow Cow and we are not prepared to continue milk feedings for that long. Also, in the wild, cows were not limited in the area they would graze. They had unlimited access to search out the types of grasses that were best suited for their needs. Cow Cow does not have that option. He is confined to the pasture we have for him and the nutrients it provides.

For now I think that we will continue to feed the cow grain so that he is healthy and gains the appropriate amount in the time frame we were expecting. While this is not what we had hoped to do, there is still much we need to accomplish and learn before attempting a grass fed only beef cow. We will have to be content in the fact that we know where that feed comes from, what exactly is in it, that he is treated properly, and that he will live a life well taken care of.

I am currently enrolled in a Pasture Management course from Penn State to learn all that I can to prepare us for that future. We have a great resource in Oley Valley Feed Mill, and Brian there has been an amazing help to us. He is always willing to take the time to help us, educate us, and goes the extra mile for us whenever we visit.

I look forward to learning more so that in the future we can move towards grass fed only beef.