hi, i'm not really holding it up.
there are three doors
the other end before the loafing shed that we built today
the south end before the addition
after todays efforts
a nice big area for the cows to hang out.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
milking house -photos
hi, i'm not really holding it up.
there are three doors
the other end before the loafing shed that we built today
the south end before the addition
after todays efforts
a nice big area for the cows to hang out.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
we built a milking shed
over the weekend we built a portable milking shed. lance, niña's owner, made the steel square tube frame. the following two days were a flurry of he and i designing and building the milking shed. saturday and sunday were framing and putting on the siding. i did the roof yesterday. lance bought ondura roofing. it was very easy to install. i installed the purlines and the roof in just a few hours.
i still have to build the stanchion and install all the amenities. the milking shed will have lights and switched electricity for the vacuum pump. i also plan to plumb a vacuum line so the pump can be isolated and the milking process can be quieter.
lance and darla took photos of the entire process. i'll try to get copies tomorrow to flush out this post. otherwise a photo of the end result will have to suffice.
this is niña
tabitha has fallen for her. she is a great cow and is becoming a wonderful addition to the pile.
i still have to build the stanchion and install all the amenities. the milking shed will have lights and switched electricity for the vacuum pump. i also plan to plumb a vacuum line so the pump can be isolated and the milking process can be quieter.
lance and darla took photos of the entire process. i'll try to get copies tomorrow to flush out this post. otherwise a photo of the end result will have to suffice.
this is niña
tabitha has fallen for her. she is a great cow and is becoming a wonderful addition to the pile.
Monday, October 15, 2007
guess what? chicken butt..
tabitha said that yesterday during chicken butchering just as she flipped the chicken over exposing his butt. we laughed ourselves silly. there are two ways butchering leaves us. we either end up worn and achy or giddy. yesterday was one of those giddy after the gruesome days. we butchered eight chickens in two hours thirty minutes. lurlee watched the kids which was a godsend.
nimue is doing much better. although we had an entirely new close call with her. she somehow broke the ratcheting lock on the screw off lid to the chicken grain. she ate about 30 pounds of grain. that usually kills a cow. they need lots of hay to keep their stomach healthy. after we discovered that she broke and unscrewed the lid in less than an hour. tabitha called the vet and i came home from work. we rushed her in to get a mineral oil drench. they coated her stomach in a gallon of mineral oil and she has made it through the toughest part.
niña, the new cow, is doing well. rather, tabitha is milking her remarkably well. niña still isn't halter broke so leading her anywhere is impossible. tabitha bribes her into the stanchion. it can take several minutes before she'll go in. it is a pain in the guess what? chicken butt.. one interesting fact that we have just discovered is, niña has never been milked. tabitha is feeling wonderfully accomplished breaking a cow to milk.
rainy day today.
bathroom progress has screeched to a complete halt but we are enjoying it anyway.
toly has really taken to the whole bath thing. bathing is a family affair here at the pile.
generally all is well, just really crazy.
nimue is doing much better. although we had an entirely new close call with her. she somehow broke the ratcheting lock on the screw off lid to the chicken grain. she ate about 30 pounds of grain. that usually kills a cow. they need lots of hay to keep their stomach healthy. after we discovered that she broke and unscrewed the lid in less than an hour. tabitha called the vet and i came home from work. we rushed her in to get a mineral oil drench. they coated her stomach in a gallon of mineral oil and she has made it through the toughest part.
niña, the new cow, is doing well. rather, tabitha is milking her remarkably well. niña still isn't halter broke so leading her anywhere is impossible. tabitha bribes her into the stanchion. it can take several minutes before she'll go in. it is a pain in the guess what? chicken butt.. one interesting fact that we have just discovered is, niña has never been milked. tabitha is feeling wonderfully accomplished breaking a cow to milk.
rainy day today.
bathroom progress has screeched to a complete halt but we are enjoying it anyway.
toly has really taken to the whole bath thing. bathing is a family affair here at the pile.
generally all is well, just really crazy.
Monday, October 08, 2007
the game is afoot
niña arrived today. she is the five year old jersey we will attempt to milk. she has raised in pasture with her calf 400 pounds worth. we are not sure if she has ever been milked. tabitha is optimistic. things should get very interesting around here for the next little while.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
pasteurized homogenized
kassi is allergic to regular milk. she can't control her bladder properly when she drinks it. kassi loves milk. we have stumbled across a couple of solutions.
janet, our friend bought our goats back in partial trade for cows milk. i'll pick up milk on wednesdays and everything will be fine for a while. that should be enough for the kids and some of that delicious cream for tabithas and my coffee.
the second solution will be much more long term. our new friends darla and lance are buying the mother of their jersey heifer. they want tabitha to milk her after they take the calf away and share the milk. keeping our fingers crossed that it all works out. we don't know how she'll be to milk--tabitha is very optimistic.
bathroom progress as screeched to a halt. the vet bills took all of our money for the next while.
the root cellar has also stopped. my wine bottle source gave them all to their wine making friend. i might go to the local restaurant and bar to see if they have any jake bottles that they can spare.
i have monday off so a good garage cleaning might be in order.
janet, our friend bought our goats back in partial trade for cows milk. i'll pick up milk on wednesdays and everything will be fine for a while. that should be enough for the kids and some of that delicious cream for tabithas and my coffee.
the second solution will be much more long term. our new friends darla and lance are buying the mother of their jersey heifer. they want tabitha to milk her after they take the calf away and share the milk. keeping our fingers crossed that it all works out. we don't know how she'll be to milk--tabitha is very optimistic.
bathroom progress as screeched to a halt. the vet bills took all of our money for the next while.
the root cellar has also stopped. my wine bottle source gave them all to their wine making friend. i might go to the local restaurant and bar to see if they have any jake bottles that they can spare.
i have monday off so a good garage cleaning might be in order.
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