We switched from Jerseys to Ayrshires in 2023 primarily because we struggled with low quality forage in our pastures, and Ayrshires were advertised as being tough cows who thrive even on sub-par forage. We first purchased two cows from Sunny Acres Farm in NY, and were pleased with our experience. A year later we bought …
Since the lambing went so smoothly this spring, the cows decided to step up to the plate and keep us stressed and busy. In early April, Clementine, who is our one Guernsey and our largest cow, was discovered during morning chores to be unable to stand. If you know anything about cows, that should strike …
In my last post, everything was mud. Not long after, we were able to get the animals out on grass, moving them through the pasture. There were a few more encounters with mud, since that is how the spring weather tends to go, but now we are dry and warm! We have been moving the …
We had a beautiful snowfall earlier this week, and Dan took the opportunity to take a video of our backyard and the newly renovated barn. We have installed raised beds for the cows and a manger for the sheep. Our goals with these improvements are cleanliness and waste reduction. So far, so good! The sheep …
Most of the winter is spent languishing in the barn, for the animals, at least. The sheep have a cozy pen with as much hay as they can eat, plus minerals and water they can partake in whenever they desire. The cows are tied in stalls to reduce their tendency to lie in their warm, …
Meet Bessie, our Jersey cow. She came from a herd dispersal auction, where the cows were being sold from a dairy farm that came on rough times. Dan thought it would be a good place to find a quality cow inexpensively. They ended up looking a lot rougher than we expected. They were almost all …