The Laying Chickens
The girls are grand - they tell us every morning when we collect all the eggs they're happily giving us! Last week, we had 2 more losses to a hawk(s) so we acted fast. We got them moved another rotation away from the trees and placed some ropes/shade cloth within their portable fencing to help keep the hawks away. Since then, we've been in the clear! DID YOU KNOW? Our eggs are from pasture raised chicken fed SOY FREE/GMO Free Grain? They're living the best life on pasture, grabbing all that vitamin D and nutrients that are going right into their eggs. We have no order limit on eggs, so for all of our meet in person and on farm pickup orders, we've got you covered!
The Cow Crew
We currently have beef at the processor and hope to be back in stock within the next two weeks! We know it's seemed like a long wait - it has for us too! After this break, we should regularly have beef available, so hang in there. We appreciate it so much!
The Sheep
The male lambs we weaned and castrated a few weeks ago have really grown! There are five of them and they are thoroughly enjoying their rotations around the pasture in the mobile sheep pen. In a couple of weeks, we'll wean the females - all of our ewes had twins in male/female pairs. We left the females on their mammas so they grew a bit more - and so mom's milk could adjust gradually from feeding two lambs, to one lamb, to weaned completely. If you've been with us for the journey over the years, you know about ENOCH, the ram. He’s been with us for 5 years and we have some stories about that guy. But, as we transition into a new ram and hope to gain more parasite resistant genetics, it was time to let Enoch go. But it’s not a sad story as we kept reassuring the boys, who very well understand the lives of the animals we raise and most of their sole purposes here on the farm. Enoch went to another farm of friends of ours who are building their sheep herd. He will fit in wonderfully there and bring them many beautiful lambs, I have no doubt.
The Pigs
In 2023, we raised more pigs than we ever have and we're so grateful you gave us that opportunity! Most came in at the same time and went out around the same time. We had six come in later and they will be wrapping up their fantastic life with us in the coming week. They are what we call the last of the "2023 Batch". Two days later, the "2024 batch" of piglets will arrive and we'll do it all over again. The majority of the paddocks have been on rest and growing, just waiting on the new guys to have a go at it!
Meat Chickens
We’ll receive our first batch of '24 IN JUST A FEW WEEKS. The feeders have been washed and cleaned from last year and we've got a few things to do to the shelter to get it ready, but it will be here before you know it. We are currently working on getting the brooder tidied up and squared away from housing the latest laying chicks we hatched a few weeks ago. When the meat birds arrive, they'll stay in the brooder a couple of weeks (until they grow some feathers) and then out to pasture they’ll go for the rest of their time. We anticipate a restock in early May.
Honeybees
We were able to get a look at the bees last weekend and it was a great experience. As you can see from the picture above, Augustus was able to suit up with us and we were able to show him loads of things we've been teaching him and talking about over the months. We saw lots of Bee Larva and got our eyes on the queens as well, which is a fantastic feeling.
If we have a good honey flow this year, we'll be back in stock this fall. Our beehives are something we're slowly growing, and we just launched our honey line last fall so it's still pretty new. Thank you for being so supportive of us and selling us out as fast as you did! Beeswax candles and lotion are available now!
