News and blog

9/25/11      my  first  year of farrowing pigs has been quite a learning experience! one bad mom and one mom with an bad start but good finish . i now have two healthy piglets born right here to start my organic hog operation. i am using a heritedge breed hog called large black . we have had good rains this year and alot of new customers wanting to know where their food  is raised. i have a nice batch of thankgiving turkeys on pasture  get yours ordered soon  they go fast.  i hosted a class from university of toledo this week on agri- ecologly , always good to see young people interested in safe farming practices. Stop out for a vist when you get time

Hey we are staring  at august and all i did was blink. what is happening at the farm? well buelah is going to give birth in about a week , hopefully 8-10 healthy pigs . i have turkeys on feed now , for thanksgiving birds. i have added some new products to the order page please check that out . i have had a blad eagle getting my laying hens this summer, i love raptors but dont really like to feed them. the Bowling Green buyers club is going well. been having some freezer trouble. and i guesss that will have to do for now.

Well it has been a clod wet spring , resulting in a late turn out for the beef and hogs out on grass, and a small average weight on my first batch of meat chickens. the day i dressed my birds I left the house at 7 am and pluged my freezer in and got home at 4;45  with 765 lbs of fresh chicken  to a freezer that was 47 degrees , luckily i called st marys meat locker and they let me use their freezer until mine got fixed.Good to see the sunshine finnaly in full production. now this is a happy hog ( the one without the hat )

Well it is march 23 and 32 degrees and raining with a low of 26 tonight and tomorrow night it is supposed to be 17 degrees as a low. Does that sound like a weatherman or a farmer that has 3 week old meat chickens out on grass and trying to keep them warm/ alive .  i had to move them from the brooder because they are ready and it was getting too crowded in the brooder. Today i will have to string electric out to them and put heat lamps on them tonight. Hopefully it quits raining  long enough so i can do chores in the dry. O.K. so enough of the belly aching, soon i will be moving my hogs to my new rented farm in whitehouse ohio, and i will put the hens out on pasture. The cattle are doing good. The to do list this spring is;  build fence, haul manure, clean up barn, clean up barn yard. get ready for new hens , get ready for turkeys, and my new heritage breed gilts, and of course do chores and market my products. Hey  thanks for stopping by and have a blast and keep your powder dry.  lindsay 

Well we we see if i can teach this old dog a new trick , blogging. Many customers have asked how my animals ( which are actually their animals later) are doing with this rough winter he have had. So lets take a look at what it takes  keeping your animals thriving in winter conditions. The beef cattle  hardly notice the cold weather and many nights have slept outside, they can go in the barn anytime the choose to get  out of the worst of it. They walk around with snow on the backs , a true testament to how well they are insulated they are. they eat a combination of wet and dry hay, and drink plenty of water, which some cold mornings i have had to break the ice  for them. 

The hogs are right with the cattle and they really like the wet hay  ( haylage) . They  get certified org. feed  and i keep their feeder in a spot that the hogs can get under but the taller cattle cannot. They mostly sleep in the barn at night and are out with the cattle during the day and at times pester the cattle like a puppy would pester other critters. 

 The laying hens are moved to the garden for the winter and i stretch white plastic over the portable huts to give them almost a greenhouse affect. they get their feed and water hauled to them  by yours truly . The water will freeze in the hut  if the temp at night gets below about  22 degrees. the hens have cut back on production in this cold weather. The trick is for all critters is to allow them to get out of the worst weather and make sure they fresh unfrozen water thanks  lindsay