Old Red Barn

Every time we go to Bomgaars, Wyatt admires the fancy chicken "condos".  If he wasn't such a saver, he probably would have bought one for his chickens by now!  He has a Phoenix hen and just got 2 more hens and 2 roosters with his Christmas money.  He shows them for 4-H and wants their tails to get long.  A Phoenix rooster's tail can get up to like 20 feet long, but he has to be kept away from other bigger chickens and roosters to keep his feathers in good condition.  So, when we stopped at the farm store in Kearney to get ducklings and I saw the Old Red Barn chicken condo, I knew it would be perfect for him!!  And since his birthday is Thursday and he is so very hard to buy for it was a no-brainer.  :)  Yesterday the weather was gorgeous so we assembled it and now Tails is (unhappily) living in her condo.  (She doesn't like living by herself but the new chicks will join her in a couple weeks and all will be well - plus Wyatt gets in there and holds her so should be in chicken heaven!)

Fodder System DIY!

Between the drought and the price of feed, many people are learning to grow fodder.  I have dabbled in this in the past, but when I started to research how much money I could potentially be saving on feed (not to mention the health benefits to my animals, and indirectly, to my family)  I decided to jump in with both feet!!

So here is how I set up my DIY fodder growing system after researching online what worked best for others:

How It's Built:

The shelves are black wire shelving units (I got mine from Menards).  They are 3 feet wide and about 18 inches deep so my trays hang off the front and back.  I ended up buying 6 sets of shelves and combining them into one giant unit.  I put the shelves 8 high instead of 4 and then joined the middle unit to the outer units using the common legs in the center to make it fit into my tight space.  This takes up the west wall of my dining room with north facing windows beside it for a minimal amount of sunlight.  I put the lower shelves closer together to keep it darker and as I moved up I increased the space between shelves to provide more light and room for the upper trays where the fodder is green and growing.

The trays are the cheap black plastic seed starting trays - probably about 11" x 22".  I have 63 (plus 3 extras - see below) of them in my set up. There are 3 holes drilled in the bottom of one end of each tray and then alternated, so when they drip into the tray below the water has to run to the other end of the tray to drip down to the next tray. The trays or shelves are not sloped but most of the water does run out.

Above each tier of trays sits a 14 quart plastic tub with 3 holes drilled in the bottom.  I placed a canning jar ring under one end of the tub to create a slight slant so all the water drains out of them into the top tray.

Below each shelf are 2 large flat plastic 28 quart tubs that catch the used water.  The bottom center tray of each shelf has its holes drilled on the outer corners so it will hit the tubs.  I then set my regular 3 hole tray with fodder into this specially drilled tray and it remains on the bottom shelf.

How the System Works:

Morning: I pour 1 gallon of cold water with a little peroxide in it into each tub on the top shelf and it trickles through each tray until it ends up in the bottom tubs.  The peroxide helps with mold and smells.

I put 2 pounds of barley seeds into a small plastic tub and cover it with warm water.  I let the barley soak for 10-15 minutes and then pour off the water and any "floaters".  I put a lid on each little tub and let it sit all day.

Night: I empty the big drain tubs under the shelves.  

I move every tray up one level turning it end for end when I move it.  Turning the trays does 2 things:  it allows both ends of the tray to get light which especially helps in the last 2-3 days and it ensures that any low/high spots in the trays/shelves do not just sit with water in one spot all week long. 

I  again soak the barley in my little tubs for 10 minutes but this time in cold water.  After I pour off the excess water, I dump each tub of barley into a tray and place this tray on the lowest shelf.  After the new trays are in  place I again pour 1 gallon of water with a little peroxide in each of the top tubs to drain down through the trays.

Why fodder?

Fodder is a highly nutritious, highly digestible livestock feed (around 80% digestible compared with around 20% for dry grain).  I replace 1/2 pound of 16% grain with 3/4 pound of fodder grass, roots, & seeds.  I feed it to my milk cows, calves, rabbits, pigs, and chickens.  The cows took awhile to warm up to it, but now they all LOVE it!  My system is able to turn 2 pounds of barley into 5-8 pounds of fodder.  It takes 7 days to grow (1 day on each level).  I have 9 trays across so I feed 4 1/2 trays in the morning and 4 1/2 trays at night.  My fodder seems to vary a lot in how well it grows - sometimes I will have several great trays in one row and some that don't look so great, but I have been able to consistently grow between 50 and 80 pounds of fodder each day.  I am spending 60-70% LESS money on feed than feeding grain only.  I have also read that feeding fodder reduces hay intake (I haven't noticed this yet, but I have only been feeding fodder a short time and don't keep really close tabs on the amount of hay consumed as I offer it free choice in big round bales, so it will take time to notice a decrease in hay intake.) 

Here is what the fodder looks like each day.

Day 1

Day 2 

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Roots on Day 7 (they don't all look this great, but that's my goal!)

Best buddies!

 I purchased the calf coat from UdderTech so I didn't have to worry about the calf getting cold on days when it is nice enough to be outside, but still cold!  The lamb would stand in the barn crying at the door when the calf was out so we made him a coat from a fleece blanket and now they can play together in the snow without getting cold!  Too cute!!!

Blizzard 2013

I do love snow, I just don't prefer it in blizzard form.  Saturday night it started to snow and we woke Sunday morning to a full-fledged blizzard - huge drifts, strong winds, and snow still falling.  By Sunday night the paths we were digging for the cows to get to the barn were filling in faster than we could get the cows in and out for milking.  Monday dawned calm, sunny, and beautiful.  The snow was glistening and our paths were not refilling when we dug!  Here are some pictures after the storm.

Cows finally able to get to the hay feeder

Icicles down the garage

Driveway drifted in

Road drifted shut

3rd time we dug a path to the barn!

Montana sledding

Ally's baby bunnies - born Sunday morning

Wyatt on top of the drift over the fence, Wichita digging a tunnel

Montana & Wyatt sledding

Wichita's tunnel

Worst drift we had to dig through - to get the cows through the gate

More pictures - Blizzard 2013

Molly - due to calve Feb. 19

Sowie & Piglet - all snug in their shed, but they love to play in the snow!

Wichita on (and in) his tunnel

Drifts behind the trees

The pig shed - now known as the pigloo

Sowie

The kids on the snowdrift in the corral

Scarred for Life

I have a personal policy to never talk on my cell phone when I am at a checkout counter paying for my purchase.  I think it's rude and disrespectful and NOW I know why I will never again break that policy.

Tonight I stopped at Pump & Pantry for a snack after my church board meeting.  It was cold out and I was in a hurry and I was in the middle of a conversation with a friend about a calf.  (I love to talk cows so I didn't plan to end the conversation quickly.)

I continued talking on my phone as I grabbed my donut, walked up to the cash register, and paid the cashier.  She told me the total, I handed her my money and she handed me my change.  When I glanced up at her face to say thank you as I turned to go, she had a MORTIFIED expression on her face and her eyes were twice their normal size.

Upon seeing her face, I realized the sentence I had said to my friend as I checked out.  "If you could get her bred with sexed semen......" 

I am sure the poor woman had NO idea WHAT in the world I was talking about.  I mean after all it is not often that you say the words breed, sex, and semen in the same sentence in a public place................................

CALPC

Two years ago I got my first milk cow, Dixie - that I had been longing for. 
Two months later she had a heifer calf (Bessie) and I kept her, of course. 
The next year she had a heifer (Willow) that I sold to my friend and in January I bought some heifer calves to feed Dixie's extra milk to.
In February I found Molly - she was in bad shape and I bought her to bring her back into condition, breed her and sell her.  She helped feed my bottle calves.  Later, I got her bred and she is due in February.
A couple months later I took some calves to the sale barn (leaving Rachel, June, & Lizzie at home) and came home with Milky - a yearling jersey heifer.  I got her bred this summer and she will calve in April.
In March I sold Lizzie to a girl to use for a 4-H project and when the summer was over she called to ask if I would buy her back and of course I had to support her project!
When June came along and I found out Bessie had lost her calf and wasn't pregnant, I went to the sale barn and brought home Lady, who was currently milking, because my milk demand was high enough that I needed to milk 2 cows.
Dixie calved again in August and had a bull calf- Dixon.
Bessie had a heart attack and died, which broke my heart. 
Then, this week, I find out that a jersey dairy is going out of business and selling all their cows/calves.  The owner has a "favorite" cow that she doesn't want to take to the sale and is selling her at a STEAL so I jump at the chance to bring home ONE MORE COW (that just happens to be already milking).   So Mr. Tumnus joins the family tomorrow.
In case you've lost count that brings us to 3 cows in milk (Dixie, Lady, Mr. Tumnus), 2 cows bred for spring (Molly, Milky), 3 almost yearling heifers (June, Rachel, Lizzie), 3 bottle babies (Dixon, Cheddar, Butterfinger), 1 steer (Melvin) headed for freezer camp in December, and 1 heifer (Minnie)who will follow him next fall.
And in case you don't have it all figured out yet:
CALPC
Cows
Are
Like
Potato
Chips
(you can't have just one)

Brown County Fair 2012

The fair starts for us on Friday - entry day!  It took us 4 trips to get everything hauled up (thankfully we live close by or we may have tried harder to consolidate loads).  From noon until 8pm I am in charge of checking in the Housewife Division which includes all canned goods and baked goods.  I had to leave for a couple hours to do chores at home and at the fairgrounds.   After everything is checked in and judged I have to total the individual results so the fair board can write the checks.  I got to bed around midnight on Friday!
Saturday morning we got up at the crack of dawn (ok maybe 2 hours before the crack of dawn!) to get chores done at home and the fairgrounds so we could go tubing.  We got on the river around 11am and tubed until around 3pm.  It was fun!!  The kids really loved it!!  I managed to only get sunburned on the top part of my legs - apparently they haven't seen enough sun this summer.  Saturday night we enjoyed the free pork BBQ and watched the rodeo & wild pony races.
Sunday morning we went to church services in the grandstand and a free beef BBQ for lunch.  After lunch was the rodeo and another round of the wild pony races.  Sunday night we stayed home (in the air conditioning) and watched a movie.
Monday was the Labor Day parade.  Our 4-H club did a float with dogs on it - "Have a dog-gone good time in 4-H" and we won our division so we got a check for $65.  After the parade, was the last round of the rodeo and wild pony races.  Then I had to help people get their Housewife exhibits picked up and we had to load all of our exhibits and livestock up and haul them home.  It was fun but exhausting and I am glad to put another year in the books!

Montana got a red on her dairy calf, Lizzie; a red on her pig; and a blue on her dairy bottle calf, Dixon.  She also took canned goods, one baked item, and some corn.  She ended up with a check for $56.
Wyatt got a blue on his milk cow, Lady; a blue on his pig; and a blue on his dairy calf, Rachel.  He also had some canned goods and some tomatoes.  He ended up with a check for $62.
Wichita got a white on his dairy calf, June; a blue on his pig; and a blue on his beef bottle calf, Cheddar.  He also took some canned goods and a baked item.  He received $52.
As a family we received a $25 check for a purple ribbon on our pen of 3 dairy heifers.  I added some to each of the kids' totals and they will each get $65 total!

I already can't wait until next year!