July 9, 2009

It's TGITh here at Liberty Farm. I've been on a four 10-hour day work schedule for over a year now so our weekend begins on Thursday evening. I just got a $1500 quote to grind out the old mortar and tuck-point our chimney, including re-laying the part above the roof where much of the mortar is gone. So, I don't know if my cocktail should be for celebrating the arrival of the weekend or lamenting this home maintenance outlay. We hope to turn our old greenhouse into a garage this summer, complete with a concrete floor and new driveway, and this is going to break into our budget.

We're seeing Sugar let the new bull calf, Porter, nurse more and more. She won't stand there and chew her cud like she does for her own calf, Taffy, but if she's preoccupied she's not so quick to knock him into next week. I really hope she comes around soon. We're letting Porter nurse at milking time when she's in the stanchion and Taffy is learning to nurse about an hour beforehand, so we're doing good to get about one and a half gallons a day. That ain't gonna cut it for long. When (if) Porter begins nursing ad lib, Sugar's production will hopefully increase to match and we'll be able to separate the calves at night and milk once a day in the morning. If we don't get at least two and a half gallons at that milking, I'll be disappointed. Right now, she's eating about $6 a day worth of organic grain (corn, spelt and Fertrell dairy mineral). I hope to be able to cut that back but we want to see her gain a little weight.

I'm very pleased to be able to report that there are no signs of mastitis in the milk. We treated her with a second round of antibiotics and all is clear. Tomorrow is the first day we'll be able to drink it. We still have our herdshares until the end of the month, so I'm hoping to make some cheese this weekend.

All the pasture mowing is done and I'm hoping for rain. The lambs are growing like weeds and the mommas are in good condition and still making plenty of milk. This will be the third year we haven't used any deworming drugs. Right now, the sheep are limited to grazing on the hilltop, where they rarely go unless there's no grass down near the barn. I'm saving that lower part for Sugar and the calves. Since cows and sheep don't share internal parasites, this is a good way to break the host/parasite cycle.

I bought 10 bales of first-cutting alfalfa today to give Sugar. She needs some dry forage to firm up her poop. Cow poop is never really firm, but right now it's practically liquid. Sorry for the graphic description, but that's life at Liberty Farm. As my butcher told me, "beef cows burp and dairy cows fart. You need to encourage that."