I am going to keep this short and sweet in case it does not post, but this morning, Miss Piggy was laying down quietly when I arrived, something that never happens, and there was momma with eight live little Large Black piglets nursing away! Way to go Miss Piggy!
They are so little! but already so piggy in all their actions and behaviour, its just so cute!
Wish I was going to be there on the weekend at the party when a number of you celebrate your birthdays! Can’t believe you turned the big 65! this year, where has all the time flown by.. May you enjoy the weekend filled with your son’s, and grandbabies, I hope you and Dh get to spend some good quality time on the farm (enjoy the quading time!)
We may be different, but in many ways we are the same, but know this.. I love you and wish you the best always!!
Wow, I lost a whole lot of that post, and I don’t know why..hmm, sorry the jump in it, i had a intro.. I swear.. let see if I can track it down or re-write it.. odd..
Can’t even sell them to you to have you butcher him at home, because legally you need to keep all new livestock on your property for a full 30 days before self-butcher is legal.
So where does that leave me, it leaves me self-butchering high quality meat and not being able to share or sell my chickens, ducks, rabbits or turkeys with anyone..
It took me hours on the phone and traveling to different sites to see them with my own eyes to find my local butcher that will do my sheep/goats/pigs and beef, and I know that wonderful family run butcher is in fact looking to sell, as none of his boys want to take over the family business, so its only a matter of time before either a) it sells b) he retires c) one of the boys changes their mind.
I can’t be the only one that has hit these road blocks time and time again.. how many others are there like myself, where we realize that its easier to just keep different breeding programs at the self only stage..
I have more then enjoy room to raise an extra 5 turkeys or geese or ducks for friends and I know I have the market to do so, but I can’t find the butcher to make it happen in a legal manner and I won’t take risks, if I am going to do farm sales, it will be done following the law period.
So I know that when I see those “small” farms locally talking about raising bronze turkeys, I know a few things, a) they had to have ordered them and got the correct paperwork b) they sent them to butcher at one of the two huge butcher plants that will take them, only one would fit into the 100 mile rule and let me tell you I have gone and looked at it, and there is nothing small or family run about it.
So perhaps its true that the birds had a great life on the farm and the person paid though the nose per pd for that pasture raised bird, but the buyer still helped support the large hatcheries and the large butchering plants..
Still better then buying from the store right? I agree, it is! But there is so much more to it.. how was the feed grown, how was the bedding harvested or grown, is it covered in sprays? How was the wee ones hatched, where they debeaked? Where they allowed to eat normal amount or were they feed 24 hours a day to have them grow as fast as possable? How was they transported to the butcher themselves, have you seen those bird crates? and the list goes on..
How many birds does a farmer need to raise before you don’t consider them “small or family” in ontario we have a few laws that can help in this way, you are allowed to raise up to 300 hens in ontario or up to 50 turkeys without needing qouta’s, fair enough but did you know that in alberta, you can raise and sell up to 2000 birds.. still think both of those are in the same small farm areana?
So I guess I will leave it at that.. what defines your own veiw of small farm..
Have to admit that I am torn on this one, I am in fact pro treatment, I do vaccine for a few things on my farm and for different critters, their health has to come first and given that my land has been used for farming for many, many years I need to treat for thing that could effect the health of my adult breeding animals, I also believe in vaccines for my hounds and purrpots, I don’t believe that they need everything every single year but a full treatment of baby vaccines, long term use of the three year rabies and two or three year ones for the regular ones after they have their full set of baby and first year old..
I still remember the pain and shock at the age of 12 when I brought my puppy home and within weeks it needed to be put down by the vet because it had not been given a vaccine yet, and to see it again in Iqaluit, we took in a rescue puppy and despite flying it to yellowknife for medical care (I knew the vet, and the prices were alot better then sending it to ottawa) only to have to put him down because of parvo.
When I first got Girl, she scoured on me, well more like she came with scours (which is why the farmer who sold her to me would not take any money for weeks, he swore she was fine when he called me but she clearly had it when we went to pick her up, and he would not take payment for a good while as he didn’t want to refund me if she didn’t make it)
Yes, I treated her the old fashion way, super clean bedding, tons of bedding, the best milk replacer I could buy, moved her to many small meals per day, used grandpa’s treatment of beating in a egg into the milk mixture to slow her down, made sure she was totally draft free but also had lots of good fresh air and I also treated her daily with the recommended meds for her age and weight
Would she have pulled though without them, most likely, but I personally think its foolish to have only gone with the home done things and have a harder/slower/longer recovery period, instead I used everything! I could to make sure she recovered as fast as reasonable.
So when we are faced with the latest heavy duty beef recall, and there is a clear vaccine that appears ? to have the studies to back it in terms of being able to reduce this, why is it not being used.
I will be honest here, given my very! small herd, and the fact that I perfectly comfortable using a year or two to compost out my manure, I don’t see any reason to use this on my own cattle, having said that, looking at it from the idea of a feedlot, would it not make sense to just demand that the beef produces that want to move their cattle into those feedlots have to have vaccine done before they are sold into that, and the feedlots do their second ones before they go to slaughter..
If the vaccine can truly reduce the numbers this heavily and then the federal plants process don’t or won’t have “high level days”
or is this just the fact that folks have also truly gotten slack on the required cooking and cleaning process in regards to food safety in the kitchen.. When I was a child, no one would have thought to serve steaks raw or pork still lightly pink or a number of other things I see folks doing now without a thought..
Bioniche E. coli O157:H7 Cattle Vaccine Authorized for Field Use in Canada
22/12/06
BELLEVILLE, ON, December 22, 2006 – Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. (TSX: BNC), a research-based, technology-driven Canadian biopharmaceutical company, today received authorization from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to distribute its E. coli O157:H7 cattle vaccine to Canadian veterinarians under a Permit to Release Veterinary Biologics as specified in the Canadian Health of Animal Regulations. This authorization equates to what is referred to as a “conditional license” in the U.S. This is the first vaccine technology for control of E. coli O157:H7 to be authorized for field use by a regulator globally. The vaccine is indicated for the reduction of shedding of E. coli O157:H7 bacteria in cattle.
“The Bioniche E. coli O157:H7 vaccine, developed through a partnership with the University of British Columbia, the Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Organization (VIDO) at the University of Saskatchewan and the Alberta Research Council, is a world’s first,” said Graeme McRae, President & CEO of Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. “Bioniche believes that this vaccine will be an important factor in helping to reduce the prevalence of this toxic bacterium, first implicated in meat contamination and now being increasingly identified as a contaminant of produce. CFIA’s approval gives the Company a clear and manageable pathway to full licensure.”
In order to progress from a Permit to Release Veterinary Biologics to a full license, the CFIA indicated that Bioniche must provide additional data confirming reduction in E. coli O157:H7 shedding by vaccinated animals. The Company believes that this requirement will be met in 2007.
“This vaccine will ensure that Canadian cattle producers continue to provide a safe product for Canadian consumers,” said Dr. Lorne Babiuk, Director of the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) and Canada Research Chair in Vaccinology and Biotechnology in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. “More importantly, the reduction of E. coli shedding into the environment will have far-reaching consequences regarding environmental contamination. The recent outbreaks of E. coli infection from consumption of vegetables is an example of additional benefits of such a vaccine. The key discovery to making this vaccine a reality was made by Dr. Brett Finlay at the University of British Columbia, when he deciphered the mechanisms by which E. coli attaches to and infects animals. Using this knowledge, it was possible to target the specific proteins of the bacterium for use in the vaccine.”
Recent outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 affecting spinach and other produce in North America have highlighted the fact that this is an increasingly serious human health threat that goes beyond meat (the first major foodborne outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 occurred in 1982 and was associated with ground beef). Human exposure to E. coli O157:H7 is being increasingly associated with contaminated fruit, vegetables, unpasteurized milk and fruit juice, potable and recreational water, and from direct contact with animals at fairs and petting zoos.
Clinical trials have been conducted with the Company’s vaccine over the past four years involving more than 30,000 cattle. Studies have consistently shown a significant decrease in the number of cattle shedding these deadly bacteria in their manure. In a controlled experiment conducted at VIDO, vaccinated cattle were challenged with a very large dose of bacteria, and there was a reduction in the magnitude of shedding by 99.47%. In clinical trials conducted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in commercial feedlot settings (where vaccinates and non-vaccinates were mixed), there was a 75% lower prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in cattle vaccinated with two doses of the Bioniche vaccine. Another three-dose vaccination study was performed by the university, which showed that vaccinated cattle were 98.3% less likely to colonize the bacteria in their intestine.
Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria are normal organisms found in the intestinal track of all animals and humans. Most E. coli are non-pathogenic (non-disease-causing) to their host, however certain strains can cause intestinal disease and, occasionally, other significant systemic disease. The E. coli O157:H7 bacterium, which was first identified in South America in the late 1970s and drifted northward, produces a powerful toxin (shiga/vero toxin) that can cause severe illness in humans and often result from consumption of contaminated food or water. Today, the bacteria can be found in most cattle herds in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Ruminant livestock (e.g. cattle) are considered the major reservoir of E. coli O157:H7 worldwide. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the incidence of E. coli O157:H7 in beef and dairy cattle is widespread and that the organism is found in, on, and around cattle in all parts of the world. Use of manure as fertilizer for crop production and run-off from beef and dairy cattle operations are a source of contamination for the general environment, as well as surface and ground water. E. coli O157:H7 contamination of food and water as a result of fecal shedding by livestock is a well-recognized and documented threat to human health.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that E. coli O157:H7 infection affects some 73,000 people per year in the United States, and that 2% to 7% of those people develop hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a disease characterized by kidney failure (in recent outbreaks, this percentage has risen to as high as 16%). Five percent of HUS patients die, many of them children and senior citizens, whose kidneys are more sensitive to damage. The annual cost in the United States is estimated at more than $650 million due to medical expenses, lost productivity and death
“If the definition of shortage is that you can’t find it on the shelves, then no, the concern is not valid. If the concern is higher cost for it, then yes.”
I read this quote yesterday on the news feed and I clipped it out and knew that I would want to write a post about it.. What a interesting point, I swear someone needs a bit more media training..
This lovely qoute was in regards to news and blogs posts in regards to the pig and pork issues that have been talked about over the past while due to the insane rising feed costs, here is the first post I did in this regards..
So is that going to be the future in the big food policy.. shortage, well if you can’t afford it, sure, there will be a shortage of it, but if you got the money honey, don’t worry the store itself will be full, the food is there, but only for those that can afford to take hike after hike after hike in price..
Don’t like it, well that’s ok, we are meeting the market need, the product is available, can’t afford it, O we are so sorry, maybe you should just make a little more, spend a little more on food or just buy a premade product in the freezer section that is cheaper but don’t look at what else we put in that food.
I am really starting to wonder if in the future, we will see the same issues I often saw in the north, that the crap food was cheaper to buy then the whole food is, that buying a instant meal is cheaper then buying the parts that make the meal..
Cuz if that is the future for many, let me tell you having lived in the artic and having seen if first hand, the health of everyone suffers in a big way!
What do you think, do you think that we are going to see more and more of the idea that the single or family portion sizes are going to be cheaper then buying the whole items and creating your own meals at home?
Today they are heading up to this amazing area, I understand that its shrunk a great deal since the last time we have been there.
Ok, so I spoke to my momma this morning and asked her to pick a number between a set of numbers I gave her so congrats to Doomer on winning..
My mom still does not yet know why she was picking a number but I figured that was about as random of a pick as I could get.. As DH’s ma was to be coming out and Dh and her going on a holiday but he changed it all about three weeks before the trip and decided on a mountain holiday instead so she was not hear to do the paper live picking, I needed to find a way to get a picker and that is what I went with.
Thank you to those that entered!
Some interesting facts from this overview site..
Pre 1840s Although there is no record of it, the Aboriginal Canadians bathed in the hot springs water and believed they were a source of rejuvenation and healing.
1841 Sir George Simpson, the governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company, made the first recorded visit to the springs. He bathed in a gravel pool just big enough for one person.
Late 1800s The first permanent settlers came to the area and the springs became more popular.
1890 Roland Stuart, an Englishman, purchased the springs for $160.
1914 Construction of a concrete bathing pool, log bathhouse, small store and a home for the caretaker.
1922 Stuart’s property was expropiated and the springs were included in a new national park ,called Kootenay National Park.
1927 Construction of a new bathhouse and expansion of the pool. The building is a Classified Federal Heritage Building because of the shift away from the rustic aesthetic that had characterized National Park architecture in the first half of the 20th century.
1948 The bathhouse was burnt down by a fire. And constuction of a new bathhouse was completed by 1951.
1949 Construction of the Aquacourt begins. Completed in 1951, the new facility cost $958,653.
1968 A new hot pool replaced the original 1914 pool and a collection system for all the hot springs sources was installed.
1997 Major renovations begin with new reception area, gift shop, upgraded change rooms, and hot/cold plunge pool.
2001 Radium Hot Springs celebrated the 50th anniversary of the building of the Aquacourt with special events all summer long!
Morning Folks,
Boy does it need to be a nice heavy duty working monday, I am planning on having a “kicked” week around here and getting lots done.
So this morning, I had a pd of meat that I had taken out yesterday and put in the cold room to thaw, and then with everything else that was going on I forgot about it till I saw it this morning, while I went to get Purrpot food to fill the morning bowls and darn, I needed to cook it up right away, it was still cool to the touch and so I cooked it up, as I was doing other things I looked the bowl of really ready tomato’s and washed, trimmed and cut them up and threw then in after the meat had been well cooked and put it all to a simmer, figured it was the start of any good soup/stew base.. In and out of the house, this chore and that chore and boy did the house smell good, looked at it and hmmm, grabbed a jar of baked beans, and dumped some chili powder in and let it simmer for another 20 and voila, the most tasty healthy hot breakfast you can get..
Yesterday we had a total of about 24 hours of light and med rain, and they say we have lots more coming later this week, we can use it all! Its not great for the fall havesting but I still need the rain and will not complain about it in any way.
Yesterday they had a short notice sale that was going to have lots of horse stuff including wagons and single horse drawn horse equipment, a friend was willing to come and off we headed, thinking very wrongly that given the rain, given the short notice and given that there lots! of other sales locally that we would have the ability to get a few new good deals.
Well, the good news is that I was able to get a good deal on two heavy duty tree branch trimmers for less then the cost of the new one we got on sale eariler this year and broke last week.. so that was excellent.
The rest of the sale, not so much, first a ton of folks showed up, much more then I expected, second they had no canteen, so despite the cold, damp and the rain, there was no chance for a hot anything to warm you up, and despite a number of layers ,that damp just seeped into us as we were standing around..
Then my friend got a call to come home as she was needed, and so I quickly paid and we booted it home, so I don’t know what the different things went for but as they say, life happens and we roll with it.
Had a lovely early supper with friends and then got a helping hand fixing my big round bale feeder, I could not figure out how to do it myself but with a extra pair of hands, we were able to get it done within a short time.. many hands make light work as they say.
Did the rest of the required evening chores, heard from DH for less then a min and will catch up with him today as they were very busy, which is fair enough and feel asleep within a matter of moments after my head hit the pillow but alas it did not last, purrpots woke me up needing loving, and cool hound noses snuggled into me, I have a king size bed, and I swear that I woke up at least three times not just hugging the edge of my bed but not able to move as the critters where all crowded round needing to touch me while we slept..
Then at three, I heard a beep sound, woke me straight up, and I got up and checked the house, nothing.. went back, finally drifted off and it went again, still don’t know what it was but finally dropped off hard at about four am but the critters got me up like clockwork at 5, so its already been a long morning, and I am hoping for a either a nap this afternoon or a early evening 🙂
How is your monday going..
Just another Day on the Farm 