Homesteading Series Part 3: Animals

At this point, you may be ready to start planning for and thinking about animals.  (I probably start here rather than with plants, since animals are my profession and plants are my hobby).  You will ultimately assess your own needs, wants, desires and capabilities.  I will go through a few types common farm animals and give what I see as the pros and cons.  I will take this moment to push for heritage breed animals (see where the farm name is derived from?).  By using heritage breeds, you are able to preserve the past and also capitalize on some of their better traits, such as having dual purpose animals. Heritage breed animals may benefit you as well by being more likely to mother their young better than some of the more popular breeds on large farms nowadays.  For instance, a heritage chicken is much more likely to “go broody” than a factory leghorn would.

CHICKENS:  I have already written a post about why you should start with chickens, but I will lay out my thoughts again here.  First of all, Chickens are rather inexpensive to obtain.  We purchased our first six pullets (who were 17 weeks old and about to start laying) for $5 per bird.  So we were out about $30.  The second reason is that I feel chickens are very adaptable.  You can make a small chicken tractor or use an old outbuilding (like we did) and the chickens will do just fine.  Third, chickens are small.  This means that they don’t need a lot of space.  Fourth, chickens are easy to feed.  We feed our table scraps to the girls.  We are also fortunate to be able to purchase organic all mash at a local elevator fairly easily.  Fifth, Chickens provide a very nutritious product…..eggs.  Wait until you crack open your first farm fresh egg, especially if the chickens have access to grass and fields.   The yolk is almost orange, it is so dark.

Buff Orrpington (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The nutritional components of free range chicken eggs is incredible, nearly unbelievable in scope.  Sixth, chicken are fun to watch.  Seventh, you are unlikely to get hurt very badly by a chicken.  Eighth, a chicken that is no longer laying is still good for something……the pot.  You can make your own chicken stock, chicken foot broth, and many other stews and soups with the “retired” old girls.  (A side note:  we utilize Delaware Chickens as they are docile, go broody, produce eggs well, are dual purpose, and we think they are pretty)  (Other heritage breeds to consider are Buff Orrpingtons, Barred Plymouth Rock, Buckeyes, and many others)

Goats.  perhaps second on my list would be a dairy goat.  Though goats can be very frustrating because they do try to eat everything, goats are still rather small and readily available.

Nigerian Dwarf dairy goat, show clip, in milk (Photo credit: Wikipedia)e

A decent dairy goat will probably cost you between $75 and $200 depending on age, breed, and time of year.  A nice thing about dairy goats is that they can produce a decent amount of milk.  When allowed to go out on pasture, they are good at cleaning up brush and unwanted plants, since they are more of a foraging animal and less of a grazer.  A downside to this is that various weeds can change the flavor of the milk.  Another good reason to consider a dairy goat is that the milk tends to be easier for some people to digest.  I believe that this is because the fat droplets are smaller than that of a dairy cow (or is it the protein droplets, I can’t remember at the moment)  We do not currently have a goat, so I am uncertain of a specific breed recommendation.  (we like the San Clemente Island Goat, but simply because they are very rare and are very cute)

Pigs:  Again unchartered water for us at the moment.  We are considering pigs for their versatility.  We are looking into pastured pork, so out focus is on breeds that do well in a foraging and pasture based management system.  Once again, pigs are reasonably priced.  Another good argument for pigs is their varied diet.  These are yet another animal that you can feed table scraps.  My understanding is that fencing pigs is not to difficult.  They apparently train to electric fencing very easily.  I have read that pigs will train uickly to two hot wires.  One at about 9 inches off the ground and another at about 30 inches off the ground.  They will train so well in fact, that it is hard to get them to cross an area that previously had a fence across it.  Most articles I have found simply use polywire or another form of electrified temporary fencing like those used in rotational grazing systems.  (We like Tamworth and Gloucestershire Old Spots for pig breeds.  Red Wattles get an honorary mention)

Sheep:  I suppose sheep are in the fold here too.  Sheep are again easy to obtain and not too expensive.

High sheeps (Photo credit: Bertoz)

Uses for the sheep would be meat and wool.  We do not have sheep at the moment, as we do not see spinning our own wool.  Sheep are grazers, so now we are starting to look at more infrastructure.  They will likely need a barn, a yard and fencing.  This adds to the cost of them of course.  (We have yet to select a breed, though I am intrigued by the Romeldale breed.

Cattle:  I would recommend a good dual purpose breed, but you could have a dairy cow and beef cows.  Most true homesteads likely have a good old dairy cow on hand.  A dairy cow will likely cost about $1500 or so, depending on age, breed and quality.  Some decent cow can be purchase through sale barns for less money, but beware that the farmer is likely selling her through the sale barn for a reason.  Cattle require feed and infrastructure as well.  You will need a tie stall or other location for milking.  You will need fencing for the pasture, or else be ready to push a lot of hay and grain around.  (We think the the Red Poll cow is the perfect breed for this, as they are good foragers. grazers and they are dual purpose)  (Other breeds to consider would be Milking Devon, Shorthorn, Kerry, and Dexter)

I would once again recommend a good old farm dog.  They are great companions, good for security and even can help with some of the wound up of the critters if trained to do so.  They can also be helpful with pests, such as the infamous “whistle pig”  A.K.A. Groundhog.

Hopefully I have touched on the main animals for homesteading.  If I have left any pertinent ones out, please let me know.  I am sure that some are fond of Llamas for guard animals protecting their flock of sheep.  Some may like Alpacas for the hair production.  I suppose that I left turkeys out as well.  They have their place too, just not at the top of my list.  Their place, to me, is on the thanksgiving table.

Related articles

• Red Poll Cattle (The perfect breed) (heritagebreedfarms.wordpress.com)

Of Calving and video cameras

So the other night, we got to witness the birth of our first Red Poll calf here on the farm.  It all started at softball practice with a call from the neighbor.  He called to say that a heifer was in labor…with a bubble hanging out the back end.  We were just done with softball practice, so we quickly jumped into the van to head home for the show.
Upon arriving home, I noted that one of the girls was off on her own with her tail raised.  Indeed she was in labor.  So we set up near the barn to see how things would transpire.  We watched as she laid down to push, then stood up for a bit.  I was surprised to see her eat some grass in the midst of laboring.  We clearly saw her water break.  There was a lot of clear fluid the came out very fast at first and continued in small bursts as she pushed.  Finally she laid down for several contractions.  At this point, her tail and back end were facing away from us.
I decided to walk around to the corner of the filed where she was laying.  I stayed outside of the fence line, but got close enough to watch through the video camera.  I taped the whole event from this vantage point.  I watched as the calf appeared to be stuck.  I could only see one foot and a head.  My veterinary instincts started to kick in, but luckily I decided to wait a little while.  Upon zooming in, I could see both front legs and the head.  The legs were crossed in such a way that it appeared to be only one.  I was still a bit concerned as a few minutes passed without any progress.  I knew it was best to wait it out, but I was questioning this mantra in my head.  I waited a few more minutes and could see that the calf was shoulder locked.  As I was mulling over what to do inside my head, she began to make more progress.  The shoulders were starting to come through as her back end likely relaxed a bit more.  Finally,  the shoulder came through.  After many contractions over about 45 minutes the calf was about to be born.  Three or four final contractions and pushes and the calf was out.
We had a live bull calf.  I was amazed to watch him stand and nurse within 20 minutes.  This is so amazing to me.  We are excited that he was born without any problems and is doing very well.

And now the kicker……remember I stated that I was watching through the video camera?  Well, I was recording as well.  Apparently when I began to walk around for a better view I hit the record button.  Our video camera has a delay on the light enough that I messed the whole thing up.  Every time I thought I was recording, the camera was off.  When I thought it was of….it was on.  So when we went to view the video, there was nothing but grass.  The stinker is that I had a great video (Or so I thought).  O well Maybe next time.

Our baby

Newest Red Poll

We just got to witness the first ever calf born to our farm.  We have not gotten a chance to see if it is a bull or a heifer.  We are very excited.  He or she is standing after only 20 minutes.  Hopefully he or she will nurse soon.

Red poll pictures

Breeding tips for beef cows

Well let me start by stating that this is our first calving season, which will lead into our first breeding season.

We are evaluating which breeding program to go with.  We know of several potential programs.

The first is simply pasture bull breeding.  Due to the presence of young kids on the old homestead, we have not seriously considered this as an option.

The next method would be a timed breeding program , which would require hue use of prostaglandins and follicle stimulating hormones.  Seeing that we are trying to go with a hormone free program, this is off the table as well.  So what should we do?

The best breeding programs are reliant on heat detection.  This can be noted through observation or left to the bull if one is around.  The issue facing most farmers is that they are too busy to simply sit on the fence and watch for evidence of heat.  These behaviors include increased walking activity, mounting behavior, and willingness to be mounted.  Typically a cow that is willing to be mounted is ready to be bred, the cow doing the mounting is about 12 hours away.

I think that we are going to go with some kind of marker-type system.  This can be a simple as tail chalking.  This method uses chalk to mat the hair over the tailhead down.  Once the animal is mounted, the hair stands up, so that it is evident that she is in heat.  Another form of the marker system is called a Kamar pak.  This is a dye pack that is fixed to the tailhead region.  Once the animal is mounted, the dye pack is broken and changes color to alert you to the presence of a breedable heat.

After compiling the above from the vast knowledge contained within my head (Said with tongue in cheek sarcasm), I found the following website, which may be more helpful.

http://www.thebeefsite.com/articles/2362/estrus-detection-in-cattle

I found this to be a great resource.  It is organized well and goes through the possible management systems that are available.

Related articles

• Building Better Beef Replacement Heifers (heiferpro.wordpress.com)

Grass fed beef. Is there a demand?

Red Poll cow, Temple Newsam. Home Farm, Temple Newsam, is the largest Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) Approved Centre. Significant breeding groups of livestock from the RBST Watchlist are kept at Home Farm. This is one of a herd of Red Poll cattle, and there are 8 other breeds of cattle kept here. See http://www.leeds.gov.uk/templenewsam/farm/farm_live.html (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I was talking to a local farmer today about our small herd.  He asked if we were raising beef cattle or dairy.  My response to this is usually that we are raising Red Poll cattle.  The common retort from people is that we have Red Angus cattle with no horns.  I explain that the breed is called Red Poll.  That is the name of the breed and that my cattle are registered.  They then begin to ask about them, so I explain that they are a heritage breed of cattle that are very good at foraging.  They are known for good milk production and have been bred more for grass fed beef.

I then explain that we are believers in grass fed beef and are trying to capture like-minded people within our niche market.  To my surprise, this farmer began to tell me how his son is producing grass fed beef for a restaurant in Wisconsin, where he currently resides.  They are looking for any and all grass fed beef. This immediately gave me some hope for our products. Though I do not necessarily want to sell the grass fed beef to a distant market, it is nice to know that one exists.
So this got me to thinking: is there an increasing demand fir grass fed beef, or do I simply perceive an increased demand because I am a recent covert? So I began to look into it. I did the common research technique known as ” Google it.” Here is what I found with some links:

http://www.denverpost.com/food/ci_17186593

This article highlighted the growing demand for natural or sustainable beef production.  The author discusses that Walmart and McDonalds are even getting in on the movement.  She mentions that grass fed beef is no longer just offered in high end restaraunts.  In fact the trend has moved more and more mainstream.  She also mentions several books about the subject matter such as:  “Food, Inc.,” “Eating Animals,” “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” “Animal Factory” and “CAFO.”  Those are some titles that perhaps we will read and do a review at some point.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/switching-to-grass-fed-beef/

This article. blog talks about the benefits of grassfed beef.  These benefits include:

• Lower levels of unhealthy fats
• Higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids.
• Lower levels of dietary cholesterol
• Offers more vitamins A , Vitamin E and Antioxidants.
• Twice the levels of conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA, isomers, which may have cancer fighting properties and lower the risk of diabetes and other health problems.
• These statistics were gathered by the author from a report in the Nutrition Journal.

So in summary, there appears to be a greater awareness of the benefits of grass fed beef.  These benefits are nutritional, as can be noted above.  Other benefits that are linked to grass fed beef production include environmental benefits and humane benefits for the animals themselves.  Those are both a discussion for another time and place.

I added some additional articles that are related below.  One is one of our own posts, the others are from various authors.  It appears that the first one has some concerns about the sustainability of the grass fed industry due to the increased cost per pound for the meat itself.

Cover via Amazon

Related articles

• Why Grass-fed Beef Costs More and is worth it! (gauchoranchgrillboutique.wordpress.com)
• Red Poll Cattle (The perfect breed) (heritagebreedfarms.wordpress.com)
• Increased Demand for Grass-fed Beef (gauchoranchgrillboutique.wordpress.com)
• The Performance and Health Benefits of Grass-Fed Beef (stack.com)

Red Poll Cattle (The perfect breed)

 

Why choose the Red Poll as a breed?

Red Poll cattle are a dual purpose breed.  They are noted for easy calving and great mothering ability.  A study done in the late 1980′s showed that the Red Poll breed performed the best in 200 day calf weight per live birth.  This can be attributed to the ease of calving and the survivability of the calves.  It is also a reflection on the fact that Red Poll mothers are very efficient at producing milk, supplying their calves with plenty of nutrition.

History of the Red Poll Breed

The Red Poll is a dual purpose breed developed in England.  The breed was developed in the early 1800s as a cross between the Norfolk and Suffolk breeds.  As the name implies, Red Poll are Red and color and do not have horns.  They were imported to North America in the 1880s.  Red Poll cattle have been traditionally utilized for milk production, at one time being a popular cow for this purpose.  However, they were not quite able to keep up with the Holstein in terms of volume of milk produced.  Some Red Poll lines have been bred for the purpose of being grass fed.  The breed is highly beneficial when it comes to hybrid vigor, a condition that results when two purebred of different breeds are crossbred to one another.  This resulting vigor often capitalizes on the best traits of each specific breed.

Red Poll cattle are a fine boned breed, which means that they tend to carry a little less weight than some other breeds.  This also makes them very good at feed conversion, which is one reason why they have been selected as a grass fed breed.

Uses of Red Poll Cattle:

1)  Beef production.  As noted above, Red Poll have an excellent history of production, excelling at best weight at 200 days per live birth.

2)  Milk Production.  While not producing the total amount of a Holstein, the Red Poll breed is very capable of producing milk.  They are good for a pasture based operation.  (This may be an example of a niche market)

3)  Hybrid Vigor.  Due to their positive traits, they are an excellent choice for crossing to other breeds such as Angus, or Holstein.

4)  Show Cattle.  Red Poll are not the most common cow in the world (otherwise they would not be on ALBC’s threatened list), but they can produce excellent show cattle.  They have placed well at world shows in the past.  Red Poll also have their own show circuit.

5)  Homesteading:  Red Poll are a dual purpose breed, so fitting them into a homesteading lifestyle allows the homesteader to gain both milk production and beef production (through the rearing of young).

Heritage Breed Farms

Red Poll Pictures

CHICKEN PICTURES

A picture of our first Delaware Rooster with a few Delaware hens, a Black Astraporpe hen and a Rhode Island Red Hen

The girls roaming the yard

Our Aracuana Peeps.  Also known as Easter Egger Chickens.  These lay green eggs for us.

See a nice green egg, our first ever!