Thursday 2 August 2018

Chooks and Cows


Our chicken supply in the freezers is running low, so Brian has separated the Cornish Game meat bird hens with their own rooster.
When collecting eggs for incubating, we need to know which eggs are the ones we want to breed. We will incubate a few eggs from the layers too, (Australorps, and crossbreeds of Sussex and Cornish Game) for restocking purposes, but most of the  incubator space will be filled with eggs from the big breasted and meaty Cornish Game.  Referred to as both Cornish or Indian Game which is confusing, they are distinctive looking birds with the thickest legs I've ever seen in any of the breeds.
Brian usually does a couple of incubations during spring to supply enough of our own chicken meat to feed us for the following year.
 
The mish mash breeds of laying hens in the foreground, with the Cornish Game birds in the yard to the rear. Both yards have a shed which the poultry are locked in every night,  and both have runs that allow access to separate paddocks for foraging during the day.

I wasn't going to mention the shortage of rain or the unseasonable warm spring days that we've had lately, but it's difficult not to.

We are mighty grateful that we have a bit of green pasture due to small rains in April and enough heavy dew to keep things alive.  Our 'made on farm' bio-dynamic sprays and natural fertilisers have played a positive part in keeping our soils in the correct condition to hold moisture to promote growth, but oh how dry the ground has become over the past week. If we don't get a few mls of rain in the next couple of days all this green grass will dry up and die.  This would be the first time we didn't have green grass through until November. The driest year we have ever seen since long before we lived here.
If we could cut a few bales of hay in September/October from our small crop we'd be thankful, but it's not looking very likely.   Hay is going to be very difficult to source this year, and we hope our small stockpile from last year will get us through.

 Our cows have access to hay every day. Some days they don't eat much of it because there's plenty of green feed in the paddocks, but they need dry hay for bulk every day to keep their rumen (and four stomachs) healthy and operating properly.

 So as not to waste hay, we use the tractor to bring a large bale from the storage shed on the other side of the property. Once the bale is opened it stays dry in this small shed that is close to the hay rack yards where the cows come to eat every day. Their main water trough is near the hay rack too, and our cows are used to coming to the same place each day so we can keep a regular check on them.
It's manageable for me to carry hay with the pitchfork from the little shed, a few steps to throw the hay over the fence to the hay rack.
The milking dairy is also attached to this main yard, for ease of walking the cows in to be milked.

When we're heading for a dry year and we know that feed will be scarce, wise farm managers and stock owners will always sell or butcher livestock (de-stock) and manage our breeding programs by choosing not to mate up our ewes. We know we won't have enough feed to keep our animals in top condition and we don't wait for our sheep and cows to become so thin and poorly that they are good for nothing... not to mention the discomfort to the animals.
We sold off some of our cows last year while prices were still high, to decrease the burden on our land. But then when our rainfall was below average this year during the months of April and May, we made the big decision to further down size our cattle numbers.
It was a sad day when we took Mulga Bill to market last month, but when a breeder out-bid the butchers we felt a small sense of relief to know he would be living happily for another few years.
Hard decisions have to be made and smart farmers will always under-stock rather than to keep more stock than their land can hold.
After we have shorn the sheep in  October, we will also need to sort out some of the older ewes and cut our numbers back, so some will be butchered for our use (mutton, sausages and mince) and some will go to market.  If we are required to buy hay, it won't be viable to feed anything except our best breeding animals. The rest will have to go.
Our young steer that we bought, hoping to make a profit after growing him on and re-selling him, will be valued at much less now that we're going into drought, so we will have him butchered early for our own consumption; paddock feed and hay will be too scarce to grow him for a longer period.  Our house cows, Lavender and Poppy will be the only ones staying with us at this rate.
We constantly keep an eye on our cows and measure their condition score. I am pedantic about their welfare and will not tolerate animals becoming thin.
When I see skinny cows on other properties my chest tightens!! It distresses me.  It's our duty as farmers, or backyard cow owners,  to keep them in good condition, especially if we expect them to raise a calf and produce milk for our consumption as well.
There are many reasons why a cow may be skinny, but usually the problem can be treated with the correct diet, access to minerals, good hay and proper management.

  Here is a link to Liz at Eight Acres' excellent post about cattle condition scoring. Her very informative eBook "Our Experience with House Cows"  is excellent value and available to buy here

We have to accept that livestock market prices will be a bit lower during times of drought; this is the cycle of farming life. We will occasionally have our bad years but we also have our really good ones. We are a resilient lot and we will get through.

My thoughts are with the drought stricken farmers in South Australia and in the north of our country, as we saw first hand the dryness as we passed through in May and June this year.
It has been interesting to watch on ABC TV  "The 7:30 Report" this week, stories of how some of the large landowners are managing and surviving this drought. Their grit and resilience is both admirable and extremely moving, and they are managing their stock in the best way they can with the resources they have. They have been through it all before and they will get through this one too.

The only thing that will help us is rain.






19 comments:

  1. It's pouring with rain in the northern suburbs of Adelaide as I read your post. I"m hoping that you're getting it too..... It's terrible to have to make those hard decisions about your livestock, but it's even worse to watch them suffer through lack of feed

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    1. This rain has put a smile on so many faces Keryn. :-) It's still raining as I write this.

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  2. I made lime marmalade from the recipe you posted the other day. Great recipe and great result as the lime marmalade is wonderful. That recipe of yours is a keeper. Thanks for posting it.

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    1. Fran thank you so much for your positive comment. It really is a very simple way to make a delicious marmalade. Mmmm.. lime is one of my favourites.

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  3. Sally, I’m always so inspired by the fierce love you have for land and your animals. I’m glad to hear mulga bill went to a good home to keep having dates with the ladies.

    It has been SUCH a dry winter. So much of the country is in such heartbreaking shape.

    So many farmers doing their best to keep their core genetics they have been building for generation upon generation whilst having to de-stock into a flooded market of people in the same position and not receiving the money they so desperately need to buy feed which is so expensive and often difficult to get. They are resourceful and resilient people which the whole of Australia should be both proud of and supportive of during this difficult time. Eat the Australian beef and lamb people! Whilst praying for rain and our damn government to support this vital industry which is farming in Australia.

    Like you my heart breaks with you for them.

    Xx

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    1. Thank you for such lovely words dear Emma. This morning we woke to rain, so there are smiles all round for awhile, and our wilting crop is revived.

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    2. We sold our entire herd in early Autumn. We were already feeding out and knew that to try to go through an entire winter and well into Spring before any growth happened was just too much for us, for the land and for the cattle as they would be sure to drop in condition. so we sold them in top condition and got good money. Not that the money was any consolation. We were, and still are, both extremely upset to see the herd go. Gorgeous and productive cows carefully selected over 25 years to be easy to handle in the yards, round the paddocks and to get onto trucks to move between farms and they produces calves easily and which grew out well. I'm crying even as I type this.

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    3. Fran I thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your circumstances with us. I think there could not be one single person who will read this and not have a tear or two for you. It's totally heartbreaking to read, and it brings this drought closer into our own hearts and minds. I understand the feelings of sadness and frustration to part with generations of breeding as we had to do it once too with our entire flock of ewes that we'd bred over the years. Although we re-stocked when we were in a position to do so, we'll never be able to replace them. Our thoughts are with you.

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    4. Thank you for your kind words Sally. I'm over my weep now. I'm glad that you were able to restock, but I suspect we are now too old and might not do so. Perhaps it's just the universe telling us it's time to reevaluate our lives. We're now got a roo problem as the poor things give up on the paddocks and move into my garden. I've worked hard on my garden too and although I can understand what they are going through, I'm not happy. Perhaps it's time to sell and move and start a new adventure. Luckily, we're a not couple prone to depression as otherwise, we both might have lost our sense of humour by now ;-)). Never mind. Each day without rain means we're closer to the day when we DO get good rain. Roll on that day and following good pasture growth.....

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  4. ohhh dear, no more Mulgore Bill, will miss the updates you used to do with him but can totally understand why, glad he went to a breeder & not the butcher, may they have many little Mulgore Bills
    good to hear you're finally getting some rain, we're all a bit dry here too waiting for much needed rain.
    i've grown to love marmalade in winter & my favourites are all with ginger, esp lime & ginger, fig & ginger & rhubarb & ginger; i just love ginger with everything!
    great post
    thanx for sharing

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    1. It's very quiet around here without the old boy Mulga. Lime and ginger sounds delicious Selina, I'll need to research that one and give it a try. I recently heard of putting rhubarb with ginger, so I'll try it when my rhubarb is cropping again.

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  5. We have had some decent rain today here. Hope you have a good lot near you.

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    1. Indeed we have Brigie. Weren't expecting more than a couple of mls but we're up to 24mls so far. Happy!!

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  6. Thanks for sharing my post Sally. We are waiting for rain here too. Its crept us on us a bit as were getting just enough to keep our grass green. We sold weaners in July as soon as the new financial year ticked over and we will sell more when they are big enough. In the meantime, we're feeding hay and hoping for some rain. You would think 250 acres would be enough for 16 cows and a bull! We need to work on our pasture...

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    1. Liz you're certainly not overstocked. I admire the way you manage your farming business with improving pastures and animal welfare on top of your priorities.

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  7. Such hard decisions, Sally. A sad day no doubt when you said goodbye to Mulga Bill. I'll miss reading about him here. I saw the 7:30 report stories and it's just heartbreaking, for farmers and their families so clearly distressed but soldiering on. That takes a lot of fortitude and grit. It is dry here, a very warm July and the season turning now well before it should be. Glad to read you've had some rain now, I bet you were rejoicing when it fell. Meg:)

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  8. We just came back from a trip to see family further out west in NSW and it's looking so very dry. Usually this time of year the winter crops are looking pretty green but it was just so much brown. But, like you say, farmers have been through this before and most plan and manage the best they can. They definitely breed them tough.
    Glad to hear in the comments above you've gotten some rain. hopefully August is a nice wet month around your parts.
    CHeers,
    Laura

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  9. It's been dry and unseasonably warm here too, Sally. My hope is that summer is unseasonably cool in equal proportions, lol. Don't like my chances. Good news is, my mums bum knee, predicts rain for us in the next few days. It's rarely wrong. But maybe that more for her parts, about an hour away. Golly, but our last tank, is looking sparse.

    Our poor rain supply, is part of the reason I haven't ventured past chickens as livestock. You can literally feed them scraps, and sprout their grains and it's worth it to get eggs. It's much harder growing feed for larger livestock, in consistent supply. I'm glad you guys have some pasture still flourishing though. :)

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