Hi Yall!
We hope that you all have had a wonderful spring and a blessed Easter weekend reflecting and celebrating the hope we have in Christ. We have had a very busy month. Spring is in full swing (as we have mentioned in the last few newsletters). We have lots of babies right now that are needing daily care and we are grazing the herd early but quickly through the fields. With stockers and bison integrated into the South Poll herd now we have over 50 head grazing so we had to start rotational grazing a little earlier this spring. Well, lets begin…
Summary for April:
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Big herd for Spring
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Piggies BIG Move!
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Frisky Update
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Bison @ home on the range
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Pasture Raised Chickens!
The Herd
We finally integrated the bison and stockers cows in with the South Polls at the beginning of this month and it went very well. We were a little apprehensive because the bison were still a little flighty. But, the cows all excepted them. Even the calves would follow them everywhere and the bison want to stay with the herd. We are rotating the herd along with hay due to the sure size. With spring growth we are trying not to over graze and stunt the growth but thankfully we are getting spring rains and warm days which is what makes for perfect grass growing weather.
The Pigs
The piggies have had an exciting move. They have been in the barn since we got them which provides an easy way to train them to electric and protects them from winter cold. Now that we have nice spring growth and they are bigger they get to graduate to the field. They are loving it. They are foraging everything from plants to bugs and enjoying the wide open space.
Frisky Calf
Our little bottle calf Frisky is doing really well. He is growing like a weed and still doing well with the chickens. Little Farm Hand enjoys playing tag with him. It definitely provides a fun perspective for pictures.
The Bison
The Bison are grazing and doing well in the herd. They have settled down to the point that we can move in the field with them like the cattle and they are coming to the call to move to their new paddock every time. They still tend to bolt and move quickly but they are respecting the single strand wire and want to be with the cows!
Pastured Chicks on the Farm
The chicks are in the brooder soon to be on the field. We have had them for almost 3 weeks and they are growing fast. They are little sharks when it comes to feeding time so they are almost to a point that they are going out in the main coops because they are growing so fast!
That’s All Folks
Wow that was a rush! Lot’s of stuff happening and sometimes it’s hard to condense it down but that brings you up to date on everything. We hope that you all enjoyed the update and thank you for taking the time to visit. We look forward to visiting with you next month. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your day!
Your Ararat Farm