Monday, May 25, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
First Chicken Slaughter
On Wednesday, May 20th we had our first chicken slaughter of the season. This year we have a paid crew and a fancy mobile processing unit. We can now scald and pluck 4 chickens at once, making things move much more quickly. It took a while to get used to the new equipment, but we pretty much figured it out. The bottleneck occurs at the evisceration station which is still done by hand and requires a bit of time and attention to detail.
In the end we got all 119 birds processed. We then bagged them in our new heat shrink bags and labeled them with our fabulous new stickers. Folks across the Hudson Valley are beginning to enjoy the juicy, delicious taste of these pastured birds.
We have some chickens left and they are being frozen. If anyone wants one, please let us know and we will get it to you.
Special thanks to our awesome slaughter crew: Craig, Dana, Tracy and Anne!
In the end we got all 119 birds processed. We then bagged them in our new heat shrink bags and labeled them with our fabulous new stickers. Folks across the Hudson Valley are beginning to enjoy the juicy, delicious taste of these pastured birds.
We have some chickens left and they are being frozen. If anyone wants one, please let us know and we will get it to you.
Special thanks to our awesome slaughter crew: Craig, Dana, Tracy and Anne!
Lamb Count
We are up to 114 lambs! Things are seriously slowing down in the lambing department, so we don't expect many more, but I am sure a few more will surprise us.
Moving the sheep and all the lambs is definitely a challenge. The lambs don't really get the idea of moving on to greener pastures. They seem to prefer to hang out where they last were. The lambs don't really respond to being herded. The only way to get the stragglers is to have them follow an adult sheep. Yesterday we moved the flock from one side of the farm to the other. Owen and I acted as sheep dogs and completely exhausted ourselves.
Moving the sheep and all the lambs is definitely a challenge. The lambs don't really get the idea of moving on to greener pastures. They seem to prefer to hang out where they last were. The lambs don't really respond to being herded. The only way to get the stragglers is to have them follow an adult sheep. Yesterday we moved the flock from one side of the farm to the other. Owen and I acted as sheep dogs and completely exhausted ourselves.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
And we are still counting
As of this morning, we had officially checked in 88 lambs! After the lambs are born and have been cleaned up by their mom, we give them a little check up. We record the ewe's number and then record the date the lamb was born, the sex and weight of the lamb, and it's ear tag number. We give each lamb a shot of Selenium and Vitamin B, cut the umbilical cord if need be, weigh the lamb, and tag its ear. Within about five minutes the lamb is back with momma.
It is pretty wild in the pasture with all of these lambs. There is so much communicating going on, between the adult sheep and especially between the lambs and their moms. Some of the lambs are getting big enough that they travel in little lamb packs and run and jump and play in a big group. It is quite a scene.
One of the Icelandic sheep had two lambs and must have rejected one of them. When we arrived at the farm the other morning, Owen and I were surprised to see a black lamb with one of the Dorset/Polypay ewes. We couldn't imagine that she had given birth to a black lamb, so we went in for closer inspection. Somehow the Dorset momma adopted the Icelandic lamb and added it to her brood. The lamb she herself had and the adopted lamb both seem to be doing well and everyone involved seems happy.
It is pretty wild in the pasture with all of these lambs. There is so much communicating going on, between the adult sheep and especially between the lambs and their moms. Some of the lambs are getting big enough that they travel in little lamb packs and run and jump and play in a big group. It is quite a scene.
One of the Icelandic sheep had two lambs and must have rejected one of them. When we arrived at the farm the other morning, Owen and I were surprised to see a black lamb with one of the Dorset/Polypay ewes. We couldn't imagine that she had given birth to a black lamb, so we went in for closer inspection. Somehow the Dorset momma adopted the Icelandic lamb and added it to her brood. The lamb she herself had and the adopted lamb both seem to be doing well and everyone involved seems happy.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Can you take it?
This sheep has triplets! At first I was concerned about her parenting choices. The lambs often seemed to be strewn about all over the pasture and the smallest lamb (weighing 3 pounds at birth) was often kicked off the teat. But now she really impresses us. The three lambs are always right around the momma and all lambs seem to be nursing equally. When the family relaxes, there is usually a lamb on the mama's right, left, and at her feet. Pretty awesome.
