Choiniere Family Farm
Home of Hershey, Libby, Viper and Spiffy
That's me, Libby, in the barn. My friend Matt is brushing me down. Mmm, it feels good.
Here's a bunch of us enjoying a feeder bowl full of mineral mixture. Guy put the bowl inside that tractor tire because the bull had been knocking it over. That put an end to that bull's games! One of the girls here is either savoring the mineral mixture or sticking her tongue out at Guy's camera. I'm not sure which.
Two barn cats had kittens here last month, just a couple days apart. Both moms are in this shot with both litters—about ten kittens in all. Sometimes, one mom will nurse and mind all the kittens while the other mom roams off for a little me-time. It's a nice arrangement!
In our last update, Spiffy mentioned the six little pigs born on Christmas day. Well, those porkers have been eating waste milk, hay, food scraps and grain and now weigh more than a hundred pounds each! Guy says cleaning up after them is a lot of work.
It's me, Libby! We've had a great winter around here, but a little while ago I gave farmer Guy some concern. The milk I was giving was showing a higher than average bacteria count, which showed up in the regular testing Guy does to make sure we're all healthy and he's feeding us a proper diet. The bacteria count was a little sign of something wrong, but Guy wasn't sure just what—that is, until he felt a swelling in one of my udders. He got to thinking that maybe I just dined on a little too much at the "free choice" feeder he had filled with kelp, salt and fortified minerals.
We cows often know when our bodies are lacking a certain something and, if given a chance, will make up for it. We have the ability to correct our own systems. In my case, it may have been my pregnancy or a change in the weather, but what I felt I needed was the salt in that feeder!
Guy hadn't made the mineral mixture available to us for a while because he was having trouble with one of the dang bulls on the farm. Every time he put out the feeder bowl, the bull would think it was some kind of play toy and knock it over. Guy finally out-smarted him and added an old tractor tire to the bowl so it couldn't be knocked over. That showed the bull!
Eating too much salt can cause swelling, and swelling can cause milk to deteriorate inside my body, which made for the high bacteria count. After a few days I was right as rain. And the milk never was a danger to anybody. It just wouldn't have lasted as long on the store shelf if Guy had shipped it, which he didn't. Well, looks like I may have over-indulged that time. I'm just fine now and milking as well as ever. Guy always likes to point out that I'm the steadiest producer in the herd!
It was a mild winter here, like in a lot of places in the northeast, and we were just as happy not to have the ice and snow to contend with as we walked from the barn to the milking parlor.
Guy spent the late winter months attending farmer meetings in the area, a chance for everyone to learn from each other and from experts on such topics as herd health, calf care and healthy soils. He learned about preparing an even better feed for the herd that could produce even more energy and help him reduce his grain costs.
He also began the paperwork to be recertified as organic, something he has to do every year. In addition to the paperwork, there's a 5-hour farm inspection that will happen one day soon. Guy hopes to complete the paperwork before it's time for him to be out mending fences for our return to pasture. He's gotten some clover seed onto the ground (even though it was still a bit frozen) to increase the amount of clover where we graze. For my money, we can't get enough of that clover. It's really tasty and it helps us make the best milk!
He's also pretty excited about a new round bailer he bought for harvesting hay. It's interesting how farmer Guy even considers how his machines contribute to our milk production. This round bailer can cut long stalks of hay into small lengths if necessary, and that helps us put our energy into digesting the food, rather than chewing it. Plus, the round bailer packs a tighter bale, which helps preserve all the nutrients we get from the hay. Guy is always thinking about us!
Springtime means Guy's two teenagers, Hannah and Matt, are busy, as so many high school students are this time of year. Matt's narrowing down his college choices and is planning to learn small business management with an eye toward diversifying the family farm. Hannah is trying to keep up with community service work for her honor society and is learning about all kinds of career choices she might have.
The six pigs we have here on the farm, the ones that were born on Christmas Day 2011, already weigh 100 pounds each! They eat waste milk, hay, food scraps and grain, and Guy says they require a lot of maintenance! Somehow, nobody else in the family seems to want to clean out their stalls, so it's usually Guy doing that work.
Love,
Libby
