The Bovine Bugle

Not so happy a night at the chicken coop

After one of the long days spent at the boat workshop, we heard a commotion at the chicken coop housing the older hens just as we were going to bed. By the time we got out there whatever was bothering the hens had left but the girls were still pretty upset. The next morning we counted the hens and found that there were two missing and there were feathers scattered around outside the coop. We suspected a racoon since I had seen one around at night, and the opening that the culprit went through was a loose spot in the chicken wire under the peak of the roof.

We tightened up the wire and hung a light on the coop, and that evening waited to hear if the chickens would sound the alarm. The animal came back, but couldn't get into the older hens' coop. By the time Ben and I got out of the house, we heard noise in the young hens' coop. I shone the flashlight inside and the racoon was still there.
It had already killed two of the hens we had started this spring. So, unfortunately, Ben had to shoot the racoon to keep it from doing any more damage. The racoon had entered the coop after prying up the screen stapled over one of the windows.

I didn't know racoons would do this kind of thing. It reemphasied what wildlife professionals are always saying, that wild animals are not cuddly,cute pets, and that they are dangerous and could hurt you so give them their space. We have lost poultry to foxes and skunks, and now I know that racoons are capable of doing the same thing, too. Noah was pretty shook up, but was glad that his rooster, Rooster Cogburn Noah, was okay.

--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

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Hauling hay for the young stock still in the barn

Justin, Noah, and I headed over to Dennis' farm this afternoon to pick up some square bales. We had finished feeding the bales we had stored last summer, so we have been going to get a truck load about once a week to feed the young heifers and steers inside the young stock barn.

We backed up to the barn as close as we could. Justin climbed into the haymow to get the bales and throw them out to me, and I stacked them into the back of the pickup. It took us about twenty minutes to load 40 bales and tie them in with Noah's lariat. We've repeated this ritual for the last six or seven weeks. Once we get back to the barn, the bales get unloaded behind the feedbunk just outside a door leading into the young stock barn.

Before we left the farm with our load of hay, Dennis showed up. He said he hopes to start doing second cutting next week if the weather cooperates. The grass is growing really well, with enough rain and sunshine to make it a good crop. If we do get started next week it will be about 6 weeks ahead of when the second cutting was done last year. The quality should be great, and the better the quality of the forage the more we can save on our grain bill. And it would mean no more end of the day trips to Dennis' farm to get hay for the animals.

Got a question about hauling hay, or anything else on an organic dairy farm? Use the comment box below and I'll try to get you an answer here in the blog very soon.

--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

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Finding out what makes the grass grow

Last week I attended a pasture walk at Forgues family farm in Alburg, VT. The Forgues' have been working with Bill Murphy, author and professor emeritus of agronomy at UVM, on an organic fertilization and irrigation trial over the last three years. I've managed to make it to the walks the past two years, and didn't want to miss the one today. Their findings have been very interesting.

Of all the different soil amendments they have used during the field trial, compost has made the biggest difference in amount of feed produced per acre. Other amendments, such as fish/seaweed fertilizer, crab shell, and chilean nitrate, did not affect growth as well as the compost. This, of course, makes me feel pretty good considering our composting operation here on the farm. Instead of spending money buying fertilizers to put on our land, we can use what we produce right here on the farm to keep our soils and fields healthy and productive.

After walking the pastures and visiting the field trial site, it was time to share a meal, visit with old friends, and make some new aquaintences. It's always great to share with each other what's happening on each other's farms. You never know what tidbit of information you might hear that you can take back to your farm to make improvements in your operation. Too soon it was time to head back to the farm, but these pasture walks always seem to get you excited again about farming, grazing, and organic production.

Got a question about soil amendments, or anything else on an organic dairy farm? Use the comment box below and I'll try to get you an answer here in the blog very soon.

--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

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How much milk could a milk cow milk...

After the blog on the milking parlor, I had a couple of readers with questions about how much milk our cows give and how often do we milk them each day.

Here at Howmars Farm the average production for our Jersey cows is 40-45 pounds per cow. That's about 5 gallons a day per cow. We keep track of how many pounds of milk our Jerseys produce, rather than gallons, because we get paid X number of dollars for every hundred pounds of milk that is picked up from our bulk tank. Production per cow will vary with the season, with how good the feed is, and where the cow is in her lactation. Her production will peak at 90-100 days after calving, and tail off as she nears her dry period.

We milk our cows two times a day. We start the morning milking at 5:00 AM, and the afternoon milking at 3:30 PM. Some farmers who milk twice a day like to do the milkings twelve hours apart, but we have always done our milkings at 10 and 14 hour intervals. What's most important is to milk your cows the same times every day. Cows are very much creatures of habit, and they do best when the same schedule is kept every day. On many large dairies, with high producing animals, the milking is done 3 or even 4 times per day. I have herd of farmers who milk their cows once a day. One family keeps the calves with the cows until weaning, and the calves wait outside the milking facility until their mom comes out.

No matter what farm you go to, big or small, organic or conventional, everyone has their way they like to do things on their own place. When to milk the cows, and how much they produce, will be different on every farm you visit.

Got a question about milking, or anything else on an organic dairy farm? Use the comment box below and I'll try to get you an answer here in the blog very soon.

--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

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Turning over some old leaves, and lots of other stuff

While Ben was clipping some more paddocks this morning, I used the loader tractor to shape the compost windrows to get them ready to turn. During the past few weeks conditions had been dry enough to run the Sitler windrow turner over the compost, but I just hadn't found the time to get the windrows ready and turn them. Today was the day we were going to get things started!

It took me about 1 1/2 hours to shape the 700+ feet of windrows so that the seven-foot wide turner would travel easily over them. By the time I was done with this, Ben had come back to the barn with the other tractor which we use to run the windrow turner. This tractor, a Case-IH CX60, has a set of "creeper" gears that allows the tractor to travel very slowly while pulling the turner and allowing it to work the compost, add oxygen, and reshape the windrow. I thought I might get a chance to run the turner, for a change, but before I knew it Ben had the tractor hitched up to the turner and was off and running.

It took Ben a little longer to turn the windrows since it was the first time they were done. In about an hour and a half the rough, lumpy looking piles were turned into smooth, well-shaped, well-mixed rows of compost material. Soon the windrows would be heating up to 130-140 degrees, and as we turn them over the next several weeks the raw material will change magically into rich, dark compost.

P.S. I always like to mention that the Sitler windrow turner was paid for almost in full by a grant from Stonyfield Farm and I thank them for their support of all family farms, especially the CROPP/Organic Valley families that supply the milk for Stonyfield's yogurt production.

Got a question about composting, or anything else on an organic dairy farm? Use the comment box below and I'll try to get you an answer here in the blog very soon.

--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

ABOUT THE BOVINE BUGLE

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A note from the editors: Interesting article today by Ellen Simon of the Associated Press, about why organic food costs more. Check it out!

Migration of the humpback bales

Ben has been very busy clipping the pastures the past few weeks, often for hours in the hot, humid, sunny 90 degree weather. He started strapping our beach umbrella to the back of the tractor seat to have a little shade. Some of the pasture clippings were very thick, so Ben raked the clippings into windrows and we borrowed a baler to bale up the clippings.

While Ben baled, my brother-in-law, Marty, and I picked up the bales with the tractor and wagon. We took turns loading the wagon and driving the tractor. Kind of interesting that the 16-year old was running the baler, while the two forty-something guys loaded the odd shaped bales. But I must admit that Ben really struggled with the baler, having to stop and do repairs several times.

The bales of clippings, which we will use primarily to mix with manure for composting, were oddly shaped and hard to handle and stack. This was mostly due to the baler we were using. The baler was a "kicker" baler which means as the compacted bale comes out of the baler it is usually "kicked" up into a wagon being pulled behind the baler. We didn't have the right type of wagon to use, so the bales were shot out onto the ground causing them to contort into odd shapes. As we ran the bales up the hay conveyor into the barn, I thought of the phrase "humpback bales" as the bales rode the bumpy "migration" path from the wagon to the hay platform. I even took a picture of a pod of humpback bales on the platform. As hard as the bales were to handle, Marty and I managed to get almost all of them up the conveyor and into the barn.

Got a question about hay baling, or anything else on an organic dairy farm? Use the comment box below and I'll try to get you an answer here in the blog very soon.

--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

ABOUT THE BOVINE BUGLE

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When cows are pregnant, or not

The cows, coming home, through the deep green fields of Vermont.

The folks at Stonyfield had a question sent to them asking if the milk they use in their yogurt production comes from pregnant or non-pregnant cows. The answer to that question is, both. The cows we milk here at Howmars Farm can be not pregnant, because they probably just had their calf within the last two months, or pregnant.

This is usually how the cycle goes in a year of the life of a cow here at our farm. We begin milking the cow at the time she gives birth to her calf. The first three months after a cow calves is when her milk production is the highest. During these three months the cow is usually not pregnant, either. Somewhere between 60 and 90 days we will have the cow artificially inseminated, at the right time during estrus, to hopefully get her pregnant. We will continue to milk the cow, now pregnant, until 50 days before her due date for her next calf. At this time we stop milking the cow to give her body and mammary system a much needed break. Once the cow calves again, the whole cycle starts over again.

Ideally the whole cycle, or lactation, takes 12-14 months. The cow calves, produces milk for 10-12 months, and then is "dry" or not producing milk for about two months. This cycle works well to keep the cows producing at a good rate, to provide us with replacements for animals that have to leave the herd, and keeps a steady supply of milk for our cooperative, CROPP/Organic Valley. By feeding them well and taking good care of them, our cows are able to maintain this cycle and stay healthy and productive for up to 12 years here at our farm.

Got a question about pregnant cows, or anything else on an organic dairy farm? Use the comment box below and I'll try to get you an answer here in the blog very soon.

--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

ABOUT THE BOVINE BUGLE

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