Sunday, January 11, 2009

70 Days 'Til Spring



Even though its winter we're still busy here on the farm. The cold weather can make animal care more challenging in many ways but the cold also offers some "pluses" that we appreciate. For one thing it assists
us with pasture management. Cold kills off a lot of parasites. It is a cleansing force for the pastures in this respect. We try and leave a couple of our smaller area pastures "open" or devoid of animals during the winter months. This allows the pasture to "cool off" and get ready for newly weaned kids and lambs come spring.

Our first kids are due mid-February. Lambs April 1st. They'll be ready for grazing just about the same time our pastures are really growing full out.

We do a lot of work in order to prepare for kidding season. We began last year after we moved the final group of our ewes and lambs out of the barn in late May. The barn floor had been built up with a layer of composting bedding, with always fresh, clean material on top. This allowed the warmth generated from below, to keep the kids and lambs comfortable during the cold months.
All this had to be removed or mucked out and scraped down to the concrete. We then use lime to neutralize the effects of manure. The kidding pens ( areas of the barn where we can isolate new mothers with their kids from the flock for "bonding" purposes) are treated in much the same way.
Then, during the summer the barn interior is whitewashed. It's an old practice that again uses a lime slurry to clean and disinfect the barn. Every reachable surface is sprayed and the inside of the barn is sparkling white. If we're lucky we can manage a day or two of sparkling white, but not too often. It's a good feeling though fleeting.
This time of year we're starting to build up the heating layer of the barn floor
so the bedding is thick and warm once again. Feed and water pails need to be inventoried and cleaned. Supplies need gathering. We try and intervene as little as possible and let the nannies "do their thing", but kidding in February in upstate NY can be chilly. The newbies need to get dry and warm - FAST. So we always have plenty of towels, a hand held blow dryer and a heat lamp available if the need arises. Barn checks are every couple of hours once the festivities begin and you can always count on a blizzard timed perfectly to occur at the first signs of a laboring nanny. The barn stays toasty warm though and we usually take the latest book being read with us to await the birth.
Its the circle of life on a small scale.

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