New News!!

It's about time for an update, as I have been pretty lax on keeping the blog current over the winter !  We had a pretty uneventfully winter up until the heifers calved.

Woodpecker that comes around once and a while.

At the end of January, Whisper and Willow calved.  Both of them had little bull calves! It's so nice to have babies on the farm and what an experience for the kids and for us. I have seen many a cow birth but for my husband and kids, this was their first. We don't have names yet and I will have to get on that soon!

Pretty foggy morning,

Whisper had hers first. We knew she was going soon and I had to work at 4pm, but I figured she would go in the middle of the night so I wasn't so worried as I knew I'd be home.  Well we had gone in for lunch and a bit of a rest after working outside most of the morning.  We finally decided to get back to work but I was delayed in getting out there, so my DH went out and thought he would go check the girls for me.  I'm about to come downstairs when I hear the door crash open and DH yelling, "Where's the camera...she's having her calf, I see feet!!".  I rush to get out there to check on her....this is my first calf on my own as I hadn't done this since I was a teen, and I was just praying that the feet are the right way!!  Luckily they were, so now it was to wait and pray everything else went right.  DH got the kids and they came and went, as they are kids, and nothing was happening, but they came back in time to see it all happen!!  Everything went fine and she was an awesome mama!  Started licking him vigorously right away to get him clean and moving.  He was a little slow in standing but in about 1/2 hour in he was licked clean and standing trying to suck.  She was a little unsure and wasn't standing to let him suck but by this time I had to get ready to go to work.  I figured I'd let them get use to each other and left them alone.  After work I headed out to the barn and gave her a little grain as she still wasn't standing still for him, but it seemed to do the trick and I was able to see him suck! 

Whisper's calf.  He is 2 months old.

When it was Willow's turn.  She calved a couple of days later and I knew she was going to calve that day, so I kept checking every couple of hours...and nothing.  My last check was when I went to get the kids off the bus and to have supper.  I went in to check at around 6pm and heading out to the barn one of them was bawling and bawling....I get in there and it's Whisper and there was a calf in Willow pen...so I thought her calf got in with Willow.  Looked in Whisper's pen and her calf is sucking away!!!  Well sneaky Willow had her calf when I wasn't looking.  It took him a little longer and was a little disorientated at first...ie trying to milk mom's neck... but we got him sorted out and he's doing well!!

Willow's calf.  He is about 2 months old here.

We are also waiting on our Charolais heifer to calve.  We didn't think our Dexter bull did anything but apparently he managed to breed her!!  So one more calf to go and we will be done for this year!  I am thinking in the next couple of weeks as she is just starting to show signs.

We also took on a bottle calf to feed.  This is a new experience for us and it is going really well, so we will probably pick up a couple more!!

The little starter greenhouse I have in the house is now full of little sprouts and new seeds.  Hopefully the nights get a little warmer as I need to move some out to it so I can get more started!!  This year we are going to try and do 3 Farmers' Markets.  Renfrew, Eganville and Deep River.  I am still unsure of Deep River as I still have to work out the logistics of it. But I am sure we will get everything figured out.

This is Baby....I am sure he won't be that for long.  He is
our bottle calf.

Chatting Up Dexters

This past Monday I had a visit by some nice people from Barry's Bay.  They said they have passed by numerous times on the way to Ottawa and saw someone home (I was feeding the chicks out front) so they stopped in.  They had seen the 'little cows' in the field and wanted to know more.  So we had a nice little chat about Dexters!!  I find I like talking about them, which is odd as I never before liked talking about cattle.  I have definitely fallen for the breed that's for sure.  We have 3 Registered Dexters, Whisper, Willow and Xander.  I hope they learned something new that day!

Xander in new pasture this in May

I got to chat more about my Dexters and the breed the next day too!  I had a local farmer stop by and asked if my bull was forsale or if he could lease him.  I know there are not many Dexter owners around these parts and thought it was kind of odd for a local beef farmer asking about my bull.  I must of had a bit of a confused look and he ask if I was all right.  At this point I had to ask him if he realized that my bull was not a black angus but a Dexter.  Well was he kind of surprised and said he thought he was just a small angus bull as he was looking for something that would give low birth weight calves but have good growth.  Well Xander would definitely give low birth weight calves!  We had a good chat about the breed though.  I think he was just being nice.

Rain, Rain, and more Rain

No I'm not going to complain about the rain (as much as I want to) as there are places that are worse off than we are.  I just can't get into my gardens, unfortunately.  We get nice weather for couple of days and as soon as it dries out enough to get on with the machinery...it rains again.  We are on clay loam soil with old drainage that is starting to fail so when it is time to go we have to get going.  So today (as it is raining) I thought I would bring you all up to speed as to the goings on around here.  We finally made a mini greenhouse to get the indoor seedlings outside and I have had to start more in pots so they will be along far enough to plant when I can get into the gardens.

My 4 yr old broke his collarbone at the beginning of May and that has been quite an adventure for us and him.  For us it is a new experience as we have never had to deal with broken bones till now!  For the 4 yr old, learning how to manage with something that is so painful but there is little they can do for you.  It's like breaking your toe...not much they can do.  He is in a light brace to keep everything aligned while it heals and that's it.  He is almost back to normal and giving his mom, me, and dad constant anxiety.  We go next week to see the doctor and x-rays and hopefully get the brace off!

The Dexters out on a newly opened pasture enjoying the fresh grass.

I'm thinking Xander, our Dexter bull, did he job as Willow and Whisper haven't shown being in heat lately, so hopefully they are bred and will have our first calves next spring.  I can't wait!!  I hope everything goes well and we have some happy health calves!

Hey any bugs on here!! One of the layers checking out the newly planted  Red Pines.

We have gotten our meat chickens for the year.  We are doing the White Rock Broiler and Bonnie's Meaty Reds (I think that's what they are called).  We are using Bonnie's Hatchery this year to give them a try!  The chicks are doing well and the Reds have moved to the outside run to get the fresh grass and bugs.  Once they get a little bigger they will be let out to graze freely for a couple hours each day.  We were disappointed in the weights of our meat birds last year and we are thinking that they were allowed to free range a little too much thus getting too much exercise!  So this year we are going to try controlled free range.  The Chicken Tractors get moved daily and near the end of the day they will be let out to go about freely but not walk miles and miles like they did last year!  The White Rocks are about a week behind the Reds but they should finish at the same time by the end of June!!

Layer and Rooster enjoying the outdoors!  Yum Yum Bugs.

Also in May we had the 1rst Renfrew Scouting Troop out to plant 200 Red Pines.  The Beaver came here and Cubs and Scouts did another property.  It was a really good day!!  Although it pretty much rain the week prior it was an absolutely gorgeous day.  Bubble, one of the Beaver leaders, showed up in shorts!!  She was heckled a little bit in the morning as it was cloudy but 1/2 later was laughing at all us hecklers as the sun came out to stay!!  We hosted the lunch afterward and a good time had by all.  Most of the Beavers got to check out the new baby chicks and some got to check out the Dexters!

Our littlest beside one of the new plantings.

Well I see the clouds are starting to break up a little so maybe there will be a break in the rain and I can get the rest of the chores done!!

Welcome Xander (aka XXX or Triple X)

Xander in the barn

Whisper hearing Xander bawling in the barn

Whisper at the barn trying to figure out who is in there!

Boy what a beautiful day for March Break and exciting news.  We have a new addition to our Dexter herd...a wonderful bull named Xander (aka XXX).  I like his real name Xander but DH thinks it should be XXX like after Xander Cage in the movie XXX. It is his turn to do the naming so I can't complain as I got the name I liked for his registered name.  His father is Saturn's Galaxy and his mother is Royle Nora.  He will be our herd sire for the next couple of years!  We hope he will produce some great offspring in the future.   We picked him up yesterday in Alfred, Ontario. It's a 2 hour trip when we have to pull a trailer behind our van with kids in tow.  All went well though and we had a good trip home.  Xander is adjusting to his new home very well and even let me give him a rub this afternoon!  He has such a docile temperment for a bull it still quite amazes me.  I had to keep the girls out in the field yesterday as we had to open the gates so that we could get Xander in the barn.  So this morning I let them up to the barn for water and a treat of grain, when Xander bawled!  Well our herd boss ,Whisper, heard this she was quite concerned and ran to the barn doors and started bawling back.  They won't get introduced right away as I like to quarantine new animals and get them use to me before they get out with the herd.  Well after the bawl fest, which means Whisper is satisfied for now, thing went back to normal for the rest of the day.

I took the boys to the library to learn about the Science of Flight and a Magic Show using Chemistry!  They sure had a lot of fun!  As they were doing this I was entertaining our youngest so that he would not be tempted to take all the books off all the shelves!!  This is a favourite pastime of his at home and it is one that he itches to do every time we go to the Library.  The rest of the afternoon they played outside making a rocket that the "magicians"  showed them how to do at the Magic Show.  They took a film canister put some baking powder in it, then added a bit of water, put the cap on, turned it upside down and then waited for the gas to expand and then shoots the canister up in the air!  I kept an eye on them while they did that and I finally managed to get some of the maple trees taped.  Nothing is running yet, so I will try and head up to the bush to get the couple of trees tapped up there before it starts to rain!!

Warm Days and Cool Nights

Here they come! The nights are cool and the days are warm...time for the sap to run. I haven't done maple syrup in two years as we had such a surplus. Well I finally ran out just before Christmas...I guess we had too many Pancake Tuesdays! Well it will be fun as I now have 2 kids old enough to help a little more. I love getting them to help and Ethan, who is 4, is super excited as he thinks its his first time. Little does he know that I would put him in the backpack and trudge through the snow in the bush to collect the sap. That's quite a work out that's for sure.

I am also getting a pen ready for the new bull we are getting. I will post some pictures when we actually get him home.

We had a really nice day and I let the roosters out and took the little one out to meet the Dexters and roosters.  He looked at them and they looked at him, neither of them impressed with each other. The cows were more concerned with the roosters as they were eating the leftover grain that they like to spill on the ground.

On the seedling front, my onions, lettuces, and tomatoes have sprouted...just waiting on the spinach and the peppers!!  I found out our market starts at the beginning of May so I will have to get working on that green house soon so I can plant out the lettuces, spinach, radishes, chard and beets so I can hopefully have something by then!!

Whisper and Willow...My Sweet Little Dexters

I was just looking back on here and realized that I don't have any pictures up of my 2 dexters!!  We got our 2 girls from Dan and Ellen Riopelle in the Ottawa Valley about one and a half years ago.  I wasn't really into the cattle as I grew up with Shorthorns but I needed nourishment for my gardens and these came up so my cattle herd began.  As we have 3 young boys and a city slicker husband, we were looking for a breed that wasn't high strung and large like some I have been around.  We did some research and realized that some of these mini breeds might be good for us.  I knew after seeing the Dexter breed at a local farm that if I was going to have cattle again, then this is exactly what we were looking for. In a couple of weeks we will have a new addition, a bull, to help get us on the way to expand the herd and I am looking forward to trying to milk the one dexter I have been conditioning to do so.  I am also looking forward to having our own meat, but that will be a couple of years for that!  For now we will enjoy them as they are!  The top picture is of Whisper and the bottom picture is Willow. 

The Newest Addition!!

Happy Belated New Year Everyone!  It has been a while but we have been busy getting everything else done.  The picture to my right is of our new charolais heifer.  We don't have a name for her yet but Ethan seems to like to call her Olivia??? She is suppose to have a name beginning with 'X' but Ethan doesn't know any 'X' names and to be truthful, neither do I.  The baby book that my husband wishes that I throw out doesn't have much either.  I wish it was a lot warmer out as you can see she is quite dirty and I would like to hose her off but that will have to wait till it warms up.  In the meantime, we are still getting to know her and she us.  She has a fairly quite temperment but will let you know right away if you are doing something she doesn't like.  Unlike my Dexters, she eats and drinks twice as much but she is also a larger breed and has a whole other purpose than the Dexters.  Willow and Whisper are still letting her know that she is last in line for everything, especially when it comes to grain time!!