Winter Grazing, Pig Tilling, Cozy Goats & Molting Chickens

The cattle get top billing this week, if only because we are proud and relieved to be in a much different situation than last year at this time, when we were dealing with the lasting effects of a persistent drought.

While there were dry periods throughout this summer and fall, it was a MUCH better year for hay, so we have a barn stocked with it and are able to bale graze the cattle while we wait for certain sections of cover crop to come up and to finish seeding other fields with rye grass.

Last year, we processed all the cattle we had throughout September, October November and December in order to not have the burden of feeding as much hay.

But then when we started buying steers and cows in January, February and March, we ran into the challenge of not having any trained animals (besides the donkey) on our rotational system, so we held them longer in our secure acre receiving paddock than we would have if we had some animals that knew the drill and could show the others the way.

So while we have processed some animals recently to keep up with beef demand, we’re happy to be able to do the processing and the buying in more gradually versus all at once this year!

And because there’s been more rain, there’s also more grass and forage growth this time of year than last. There’s certainly some lignified brown tall stuff in the mix, but the cattle are very adept at finding new growth where they can and that’s exactly what they’re doing after Grant moved them down the internal road last night.

They spent the majority of last week rotating through the field that has our house in it and eating a bunch of the hay bales the goats left behind!

The pigs are doing great, too. One sow in the breeding group did go into heat last week, so if she settles, we’ll expect piglets from her around April 4th. The other two we haven’t seen cycle yet. Last time, the same sow was first by a few days, then the red spotted one went next and then the red one two weeks later. We’ll see how they shake out this time with their new suitor.

The finisher group decimated the forage in their section this week (and the 3.5 inches of rain certainly helped with that). They also did a great shop of spreading out coffee grounds and hay and essentially lightly tilling that into the soil. We’ll be getting ready to move them to the next section this week.

With all the pumpkins still coming in as donations at the shop, we were able to spread the love and give the pigs some, too, not just saving them all for the goats as we often do!

And the goats are fully settled in their new home base at the hoophouse, where they kidded last January (and another group in April).

They were extremely cozy during the heavy rains and when the temperature dropped after that!

As the kids are already going on five weeks old, we will be able to start letting them graze adjacent fields soon, but be able to bring them back to the hoophouse if more heavy rains are forecasted.

And we did bring in all 20 market bucks to the processor last week and I am set to pick up the meat on Friday. So look for more goat chops, ground goat, roasts, stew meat, shanks, rib racks, organ meats and even some bulk goat meat bundles coming soon!

Last week, the oldest flock dropped off their egg production significantly, but I didn’t see signs of major molting and I just chalked it up to the low daylight. Now as of this week, it is beginning to look like a pillow fight took place near their coop and the molting really kicked into higher gear. So at least that explains the drop even more.

Molting is when hens lose their feathers and reserve their protein and other nutrient stores to regrow new feathers and they stop laying eggs for 4-8 weeks or more during this time.

Just a few other sights from around the farm this week — the best dog and barn kitty waiting for me on the footbridge, a gorgeous butterfly (red spotted purple admiral or Limenitis arthemis), another barn kitty who will always recline in your arms when you pick him up, a dog that needs to be carried through a wet field, beautiful Yaupon Holly still going off and a lovely evening stroll through the internal farm road.

We do now have a listing for private group tours on the platform Land Trust. Check that out here and stay tuned for open farm days and educational tours scheduled for 2025!