(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)
Meat, Dairy, and Eggs
My first cow to calve this year is due in a couple of weeks, and being that she is a first time heifer, she could calve any time now. So, I’m trying to finish up house projects, cleaning the farmhouse top to bottom. and get the garden going before I need to ensure a healthy calf, and train its mother to the milking machine. I’ll be honest. I’m apprehensive about training this particular heifer. She’s a big Guernsey, taller than me, and has long “kickers”/legs, and she’s a little skittish. Some heifers settle right in, and some want to kill you. LOL. So far, there’s not been a cow I’ve failed to train to the milker, but there’s always a first. Maybe she will extend mercy to me. If not, I will turn her out with her calf, until such time as she is over her first calf hormonal insanity. I’m not in the mood to fight with a heifer this year.
I train all my cows to come in by their names, and also to a feed bucket, so there’s an incentive for her to allow me to milk her, but she has to decide. I’m not the kind of person who will truss up a dairy cow and force her to comply. It goes so much better when she realizes it’s a good experience and wants to come in to be milked. There will be milk (cheeses, yogurt, butter, etc.) I’m just not sure yet who is going to get it – me or the calf or both. This heifer was bred to sexed semen and should produce a full-blooded Guernsey heifer (a calf for future milk or to be sold).
Nothing ever goes as planned! I have another pure Guernsey heifer who would not breed back via artificial insemination last year. She recently spent time, for two cycles, with a neighbor’s bull. I am watching her closely to see if she is going to retain a pregnancy. I will cry a bucket of tears if she does not. If she does not, there are still things I can do before sending her off to Freezer Camp. I can have the vet come out and examine her for ovarian/uterine cysts (not likely since she regularly cycles). I can have the vet draw blood to send out to the lab, checking her for certain diseases that can cause early miscarriage, and get her treated (not likely). Otherwise, she is on a good mineral program and in great condition, so there is no reason for her not to be able to carry a pregnancy. I am praying she can produce calves. She will calve in October if all things are positive. She has been bred to a beef breed (for future meat).
Two other cows will calve here this summer, one in June and one in August, both are fully milk trained. One of them I can count on to do anything I ask of her, and the other one is great as long as I don’t fool with her calf. LOL. There should be a lot of milk this year. My plan, other than fresh drinking and sharing with family, is to run the fresh milk through a cream separator and freeze the cream. I discovered this past year, that if you freeze fresh cream, you can defrost it when you want and make butter or whip it up with sugar for whipped cream, or make lots of delicious ice cream. It’s a wonderful time saver to be able to freeze cream when dealing with large volumes of milk.
The skim milk goes to the dogs, chickens, and cats — or it is used in cooking. Pigs would love it, but I don’t have pigs this year. My favorite thing is to pour fresh cream into my coffee in the mornings, or pour fresh cream over a slice of berry pie. And yes, fruit pie is a breakfast food! LOL. The milk volume this year could be in the range of 15-20 gallons a day, for a period of time, if I decide to milk all 4 cows. One cow is bred to a beef breed (for future meat), and one cow is bred to a dairy breed (if a bull, he’s beef, if a heifer, she will be sold). I like to sell a couple of calves each year because it covers the cost of hay for the year, and I like to retain a couple to grow out for beef.
Remember that a cow’s gestation period (pregnancy) is approximately 283 days, whereas a human’s gestation period is about 280 days. Some cow breeds go longer, and some go shorter. Once a calf is born, you generally have to grow it out for a year or two, depending upon breed, before it is ready to butcher. It’s not a “one and done” kind of thing. It takes multi-year planning. For instance, if you purchased a bottle calf to raise as a future milk cow, you must wait until she is 13-15 months old before breeding her, then you must wait 283 days for her to calve, then you must wait another year or two before harvesting the offspring. It has taken me many years to get the hang of raising both dairy and beef on this small farm. With the current beef prices, and young steers going for crazy high prices, it is cost-effective for me to raise my own. I checked in with a friend who follows similar organic practices as myself, and she is selling half and whole beef at market prices. Which means, it would cost me ~$6,000 to purchase a whole beef from her. I used to pay half that. Whew!
The bottle calves (3 this year) are all growing out nicely, long off the bottle now, and one steer is scheduled for Freezer Camp in the Fall. I may retain the two heifer calves, but we’ll see how it goes. I had wanted to send 2 animals to Freezer Camp due to my large family all wanting beef again this year, but it seems a shame to butcher a healthy heifer who can produce a calf year after year. Especially in light of the current beef shortages/prices. I honestly do not have enough land to support as many cows as I have, so that requires me to spend good money on good hay to supplement their grass consumption. So, it is not without expense if I retain calves. I tend to see the benefit of it, rather than the cost. But practically speaking, I will have to make some decisions about who to retain, who to sell, and who goes into the freezer. In any case, there will be plenty of beef and plenty of dairy.
In other protein endeavors, I have ordered production white turkey poults (on sale!) but I selected a July hatching date because I don’t want to worry about them getting cold. I’ve heard turkeys are hard to raise, and yet I was astounded by the prices of pasture raised turkey in my area. One family was asking $174 per processed bird! We had homegrown Prime Rib for the holidays rather than turkey – not a bad trade. My friend and neighbor will assist me in harvesting the turkeys in November/December in exchange for a couple of birds.
I may try hatching eggs from my layer hens this year to grow my flock as the hens start aging out, but that is at the bottom of the priority list. Currently, my hens lay about 1-2 dozen eggs a day and probably have a couple more years to go before they stop laying. From the chick stage to the laying age, you have to wait 5-6 months, so a little planning is required. I have one particularly large rooster who is just begging me to put him in the pot. The other rooster has had enough of his bad attitude, so thankfully, he is managing the situation with the hens. But, I have to be extremely careful when I go into the chicken run. He’s mean. I may or may not grow out meat birds again this year. Last year’s meat birds are absolutely delicious! And I still have quite a few chicken paws in the freezer that need to be cooked down for broth. In fact, I still have cow and pig fat in the freezers that need to be turned into tallow and lard.
Conclusion
It’s fun growing food, but hard to keep up. Multi-year planning for animals is something I’ve had to learn, mostly the hard way. In previous updates, I shared that I had tried to raise goats, sheep, rabbits, and pigs. I decided after much trial and error to focus on the beef, dairy, poultry, eggs, along with fresh vegetables and fruit. It’s simpler for me and provides the basics. I still purchase staples in bulk (flour/wheat berries, sugar, spices, salt, coffee, etc.), but as it stands I am growing probably 60-70% of what my family needs. When the fruit and nut trees, along with the berries, hit their prime, it will be closer to 80-90%. Relationships with neighbors offers the opportunity to barter for things I can’t grow and I am grateful. Success! For the first time since starting the farm, I can say “Success!”
Success, even despite a health scare last Spring that put me in the hospital. I had a lot of help managing the farm until I could manage by myself again. I dried cows off early so I didn’t have to milk them. I stopped tending the garden. I spent months just taking care of myself. I am feeling really good now even though I have chronic anemia, and I am slower than I used to be.
When I get really tired, I remind myself of the successes. I also remind myself that I don’t have to garden. I don’t have to raise animals. It is not a matter of life and death. I think what spurs me is the idea that one day it might become critically important to know how to do these things, and already be doing them. And if not for me, for my children and grandchildren to learn. I really hope that when I’m gone, someone in the family will want to keep this beautiful farm. What a tremendous blessing.