Lip Flappin' Good
Coby the horse has a personality. This won't surprise any of you who have been around horses. I generally avoid her due to my intense horse allergy; I can't spend more than a couple minutes around her without running for my athsma meds and antihistamines. But once in a while I have a one-way conversation with her and give some pats on the head.
Often when I'm haying the sheep (who, incidentally, have NO personality) Coby lets me know that she would like a snack too. This video captures how she tried to get my attention as I tried to sneak by her stall with a few chips of hay. Turn your volume up.
From Brewhouse Efficiency to Feed Efficiency #brewday
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Powerful Animation and Company Endorsement
Anne and I went to Chipotle on our California road trip last year. We ate there to support Joel Salatin and other producers who naturally raise animals that Chipotle buys. I'm not one to normally endorse fast food chains . . . but check out their fine print (they want you to read it) and this fantastic animated short film:
When we Spray Painted Our Pig
Something wasn't right as I fed our pigs last night. There seemed to be more room at the trough. I was just feeding them some of last season's apples which our friend Ken has generously stored and shared. Near the corner of their house laid the pig who was conspicuously absent from his supper.
He was just lying there. Breathing but not moving. I threw various twigs and pebbles on him and he hardly flinched. I knew what this meant . . . I was about to get poopy! I quickly changed into some overalls and snapped on the only rubber glove I could find. I herded out the other healthy pigs (they can be mean to a lame pig) and zoomed in for a primary survey. Broken leg? Seizures? All the pigs had appeared normal that morning! Anne joined me and we had a good session probing, prodding, slipping and dragging the poor beast while his squeals echoed off the trees around us. He was heavy, probably 180 pounds. This pig raising is a feculant affair. We couldn't find anything physically wrong, and he wasn't able to stand; he staggered as if drunk and dizzy aboard a rolling ship in a storm. He never gained his feet before splatting back in the black mud. We felt horrible for him. We kept the healthy four separated overnight and phoned the abatoire early the next morning. After a brief miscommunication between the slaughterhouse staff ("lame pig" was spoken with a thick German accent and misunderstood as a "lamb-pig") they agreed to meat him, provided that he wasn't sick. Any illness or disease would have been found by the inspector, even post mortem. After sorting out the details of processing this poor lamb-pig I phoned my friend who was willing to help me heave him into our truck. He asked what condition the pig was in after a night in the mud. "Right... let me go check!" I had forgotten to check the patient's vitals. I walked down through the barn and saw the pig actually spring to his feet and trot over to me. After confirming this was indeed our lamb-pig I gave him some food and tried to push him off balance. He was sturdy as a big stump and didn't even budge. I watched him for a while longer and decided we should wait to put him into the food chain. Cancel the abatoire appointment, cancel the heaving help. We watched him all day and he looked healthy as ever. As we continue reading our pig manuals, we'll keep an eye on him. For his own identification he now wears a white badge on his neck thanks to some spray paint. The guys at the paint store were interested in my painting "project" and suggested I paint numbers on all the pigs and race them.
Chicken Moving Day
We moved our two-week-old chicks from their brooding room to the spacious barn where they will have free access to the outside world. They're always a little stunned after being moved but by the time I left them they were happily scratching and sprinting from wall to wall. The females, or pullets, are visibly smaller at this point. The males, or cockerels, are larger and are acting, well.. cocky.
I find the chicks to be incredibly cute during their first week-- they're bright yellow and fluffy, plump and round. Around two weeks of age they appear gangly and sharp with a haggard assortment of plumage. Their breasts and bottom end are completely devoid of feathers. Regardless of their appearance, we raise them for your table and not for show!
We roll pretty low tech here at Simms Creek Farm. To move the chicks this morning we used eight trips with a wheelbarrow. Five weeks from now and these chicken will be ready for your families!
/mm
Early Summer on the Farm
We're in full-on farm mode this summer, even if the weather is more like spring. We have added five pigs, 150 chickens, and a blooming orchard and veggie garden.
Our barn was built with old Douglas Fir which was cut from the property. It's really tight grain lumber, and the board-and-batten fir siding was in need of some sprucing up. The former owners used an orange, semi-transparent stain but we decided to go with a more traditional red with white trim. We were able to apply the first coat in four hours (thanks to a rented sprayer). Jeff and I used to consistently underestimate the length of time farm projects would take. These days it seems we're always done in less time than we expected. I think this is because we're more comfortable with routine maintenance and building projects, but as the photo shows, it could be that our quality standard is slipping... I will post a photo of the finished barn.Big Egg
Charcutepalooza
We've connected with Charcutepalooza (click link above). Many other food bloggers will be taking charcuterie challenges. One per month, posting on the 15th. March's challenge is brining. I'll be doing a corned beef and posting about it.
Some of you have asked about the pork... yes, it's fantastic. I brined some pork chops and browned them in a skillet. Served with crispy potatoes and peas. Yum!
Sausage Equity
The time has come.
This is the last photo taken of our pigs. As we were getting the trailer ready earlier today, the sun broke out from the clouds and I was thankful they had one last chance to soak in some sunlight. They won't see the sun rise tomorrow.
6:00pm December 26th: The pigs have been safely and efficiently dropped off at Gunter Brothers, an abatoir near us that does "hairy pigs"
I had been fretting about this moment... I had read many reports of brutal experiences people have had while trying to load their pigs into a trailer. After discussing and thinking about a variety of strategies, (some of which included inviting a dozen friends and having all of us up to our waist in mud) the very simplest plan worked the best. There were no shenanigans. No funny video was made.
I will post a video later, but here's the gist of it: we backed Douglas' modified utility trailer up to the gate of the pig's enclosure. This kept it on high ground and out of the muck in their pasture. We added a rubberized ramp fashioned from an old bed frame, and began feeding them in the trailer a couple days go. This afternoon we fed them in the trailer, removed the ramp, and screwed in a wood pallet so they wouldn't jump out on the highway. Since it was so ridiculously muddy from all the rains, and the combined weight of the pigs were too much to rotate the trailer by hand, we needed a tractor. But we didn't have a tractor. So Jeff used his electric utility winch to pull the trailer tongue (which rested on two tires) across some plywood on the ground. The mud acted like lube and she was turned the right way in a matter of minutes.
It was very easy, and both of us were as happy as pigs in . . . well, a trailer. And they were indeed happy to munch on their food as we bumped along the road. When we arrived at Gunter Brothers our friend Ken helped us walk them into their overnight accommodations. They walked down the dark corridors, past other pink pigsI'm overjoyed to have been able to provide our pigs with a really piggy life. They have been happy and healthy, and now they will give back to us a great deal of flavourful food which we can bless others with.
Ah yes, the food chain. Today the view from the top is a fair one, but not with a sense of pride or power. Rather I feel a deep thankfulness to the pigs, and to our God who has given us the opportunity to care for and raise these animals.
