Well how about that...

The Dexters were very cool. http://www.dextercattle.org/ has information on the breed. We'll still have to sort out if we're ready to be come mini-cattle people, but they were really neat looking critters. Nice folks raising them too.

We got the first spring pigs needled and notched. It was fun, there was a crew of us working together and I think we have a smoother process. Babies were annoyed, but none the worse for the wear, and the notches came out real clean. I did mismark one (kind of sleeping at the wheel) but that one will be destined for the fridge, so no bigge :)

Built another hut (another of the Mark III designs) for one of my two pregnant ladies to move into, which she should do this week. Almost all setup to farrow, now that I've been doing this over a year...sigh, no hurry right?

Grass is growing tall, almost 3 inches tall. I also got a barnburner of a deal on some first cut alfalfa from a guy down the road. Not that it matters much to me, but it does look like hay prices are on the way down. Since I buy from time to time and I don't sell any...it'll be hard for me to complain.

Dave

I think we may pull the trigger...

On a couple of Dexter mini cattle. Cow calf pair. What's a farm without a cow, right? 1-3 gallons of milk a day, gentle temperment and offspring that will make just enough beef for our mob of 8 people.

Grass fed beef on tap and milk for the family and the pigs sounds pretty good to me :)

Strange days...

It has been oddly warm all winter, though plenty wet. We had a spell of 60 degree days in January. I know in places there are folks buried in snow who wonder if I will have the gall to complain about hot days in January...well I won't :)

As far as I can tell it'll be plenty moist this spring, so the temps aren't going to hurt at all.

So what has been going on here on the Dalan Farm? Well, as noted earlier, the spring pigs are starting to arrive. I continue to work on figuring out what we have to sell and to whom. I'm also working on getting some new pig bloodlines for 2010, including two new Boar lines...the Defender and Big Buck. Working on a couple of sow lines, but for now I am not as certain about being able to get them as I am the Boars. We'll see how the "Black Hog Road Trip 2010" works out. Should be interesting.

We have alady Turkey who seems to be disappearing during the day and onlycoming back at night. We suspect she is fabricaitng anest somewhere...here's hoping. Chickens are producing eggs at an astounding rate (we have a liht on a timer in the hen house that allows thier internal clocks to stay on summer time...all the time).

Goats are bred and should have some new kids around the farm soon. I know, like the Dalan's need more Kids! (excuse the pun). We're also on the hunt for a dairy cow (Dexter mini actually) and we may have one in our sights...stay tuned!
Dave,

Updates

Piglets are hitting the ground. New farrowing setup is improving piglet survival significantly!!

Check the hompage http://www.dalanfarm.com/ for a tenative update on whate we will have available this spring.

No comment...just the work of my cousin's

News you can use

Another beef recall, affecting mostly western states. E. Coli is present in beef, but the particularly lethal strain only occures (in any amount) in beef who are fed grain enough to acidify (lowers the PH) the rumen. If they fed these cows grass for a couple of weeks (restoring the PH of the rumen) there'd be almost no lethal E. Coli in the cows at slaughter. Heck, it would probably would raise the price of the beef. Just too bad the CAFO owners wouldn't see that increase, only the folks at the end of the line (stores, distributors, etc.) CAFO owners would just see even smaller profits. Kind of hard to fix a system that bankrupts the producer for making a better or safe product.

On a cheerier note, a couple of more little ones went off to thier new home today. Yep, still doling out the fall litters (Big Momma had her babies much later than everyone elses). The older "babies" are touching 80#-100# now. Now that's a "BigLet" (piglet, biglet, get it?). The rest sould be homebound in the next week or so.

Just in time for the fisrt 2010 farrowing in the newly redesigned (10 pen) farrowing pens. WoHoo!

Dave,

Some stuff...

How about some memories of summer, fall and winter? Well I'm redesigning the pens for our January farrowing. They will farrow in huts outdoors, and I think all will be well. The very last of the (laready reserved) fall piglets will be leaving in the next few weeks, so we'll have smaller numbers on the farm for a couple of months.

Someday (maybe) I'll get these pigs on a breeding schedule. Probably next year, but no promises :)