Sheep Milk

Posted on January 21, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

http://www.sheep101.info/dairy.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheep_milk

Puffy is doing well this morning, an FF milk has increased, she gave 1 an half cups at the last night milking and this morning she gave 2 an half cups. Puffy’s stomach lining will only take his momma’s antibodic’s for a limited time and its a battle of getting that much needed colostrum in and not overfeeding at the feedings so that we don’t have scours. By this afternoon, early evening, his tummy won’t be letting that required antibodics to pass though, and his mom milk will have changed as well..

I tried to take a photo of her first good milk out last night but its all blurry and bad, so you will just have to trust me, that it was dark yellow and thick like a really rich cream in texture. Last nights milk was a tiny bit thinner but otherwise very much the same.. but this morning, it was already looking more like milk.

Its been awhile since I have milked and there is always that first little bit while you and the teats find your way again, that the milk flows freely and that you can get that two hand milking going swish, swish as it hits the bowl, while you listen to the ewe, nanny or cow tummy going and the sound of her enjoying her nibbles.  FF has one side that is willing to let down and milk out very easily and one side that she is making me work for it more.. but it does come down, just takes a little longer.. There is no fooling me, I can feel if the bag is mainly drained and soft, or it there is milk just waiting there for me..

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First Lambs have arrived.

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

Well, its been a crazy busy day, the morning was very full, getting ready to head out to friends this evening, so we went to do barn chores in early afternoon, and Funny Face ewe was clearly in labour, she is a fully mature ewe, this would be her third year in breeding and she is a good mom, typically smaller active lambs with lots of milk. She was did very well until the lamb was coming out, it was in a good birthing position, head an front feet first, so at first I was not worried.. but then it just stayed that way and I was by myself trying to get her to hold still enough for me to get in and help, but she was having none of it, but was clearly in hard labour, finally she stopped long enough to really push again and I was able to break the sack and she was up and moving again, then pushed hard again (baby still not coming out) and I was able to get the little feet out.. and on the next strong push, I gave a helping hand with getting baby out and can see why she was having a issue, he is HUGE.. the biggest lamb I have ever had born and he is alive and kicking, but mom smell’s him and walks away.. this is not good..  I am calling her back and rubbing birthing fluid’s on her nose and she loves peaple time so would come to get pats but wanted nothing to do with that little big boy, who’s face is swelling from where momma clamped down on his little head..

So start working on him and trying to get him to nurse, check mom’s bag, its huge and so I strip the teats of the waxy plugs and get the milk flowing, get baby in again, get a little colostrum in his mouth, normally most lambs attach as soon as they get a taste of the milk, and they are off, not him.. he say’s no way man..

So the big issue appears to be that he is really tall and his momma has short legs with a nice big full bag and great milking teats but he say’s he was born knowing that he needs to stand, lift his head up and butt the bag and drink in a certain way, and he can’t do that with his momma, who still does not want him but also is such a good girl that if I am there, she is letting me put her in the stand and help the wee one..  Get him to latch on and finally here that wonderful suck sound but only for a second or two and he back’s right out..

ahhh, so make sure he is having a little milk put in his mouth ever time he stands up and goes looking but he is not really drinking and unless held, FF is having none of him, she will give him a good head thump unless I am there and then she sniff’s his rear and I swear roll’s her eyes and goes well if you are sure farmer ma and chew’s my hair.. sigh..

So after a good while, I finally give in.. Puffy Daddy (named by Dear Hubby because he is male and has a Puffy face) comes in the house, and I went back out to milk out FF on the milking stand, she is such a good girl, she has 3/4 cup on her first milk out, and that’s after what I had gotten out on the other milkings, I would guess another 1/4th cup

Got Puff Daddy in and warmed up, dried off and his first full feeding of 3 oz in him.. he is picky, he needs that bottle in JUST this way to work with, and he does not seem to smell milk like a normal baby lamb does, normally just the smell of milk will draw them to the teat but that is not the case here.. 

Now a few hours later, he is settling down and his swelling is much better, he has meet the hounds and of course got licked all over.. I am not quite willing to give up,  one he is going to be on his momma’s milk and two, I will bottle feed him as required but will keep trying to teach him to go on his momma, so that if needed, he can be a baby that goes out 4-6 times a day to nurse his momma to see if I can get that bond there.. otherwise, my first bottle baby of the year..  Don’t worry, I will get you cute lamb face photo tomorrow when I update on him.

On the other hand, my dear hubby was with Spot, a first time momma, who was also having a lamb, she had a little ewe, a picture perfect birth, a nice little but active baby, who was right up and nursing, mom and baby totally bonded already and doing well.

So our first lambings showed how its done, and what you hope won’t happen, but the end result, two mom’s that delivered safely, who are eating, drinking and acting at the moment just the way you want in terms of health, two live lamb’s..

So Spot and L1 are in a nice jug and settled in perfectly and FF in a different jug so that she is easy to catch in regards to leading her to the milking stand  an Puff Daddy is sleeping on a big old towel in a pen in the kitchen.. aw the joy’s of being a farmer ma 😉

Posted in Critters, Real Life, sheep | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Weigh in Week 3/11

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

It was a good week at the weigh in being down another pd, so down 45 pds in total, I am a bit surprised that it was not more but I am ok with it, slow and steady is not a bad thing.

Goals for this past week.

  • Food Journal and try and keep the food count down a 100 calories per day from last weeks general amount.- Yes, most days, I was down between 100 to 200 calories then last week.
  • Walk 3 X this week, weather permitting -Weather sucked on this, only got in one good long walk.
  • Train the baby Oxen 2x this week (trust me this is a workout) -Got one full workout done.
  • Worm and trim feet on the sheep in advance of their lambing (this is a workout an half, and it takes even more time now, as you have to be extra careful with them all waddling now) -Yup, all done and ready.
  • Do Wii Fitness trainer 3x this week -Got it done 4x
  • Use the home Body massage for sore muscles at least 3x -More like 5x
  • Do one fun but active off the farm thing this week -Nope, try this one again for this coming week.

Goals for this coming week

  • Food Journel Daily
  • Wii Fitness workout 3x a week
  • Kettle Bell- Basic Swing 2 sets of 30 swings total daily
  • Train the Baby Ox twice this week
  • Set up and prep two Jugs for new lambs
  • Get to one Aqua fit class
Posted in Goals | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Spice Rack Challenge-Rosemary

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

So this months spice is Rosemary and as it happens I didn’t find out about this challange for a bit, so the deadline is on friday, and Thursday’s evening dinner is planned and made and so needed to come up with something quick that Rosemary was central.. Might I recommend you also have a peek at this recipe that use’s rosemary

Already made supper for tonight, which is a chicken barley soup, but didn’t have a dessert.. awesome.. so made Rosemary pudding, basic but so tasty.

  • 1 cup whole milk (one half cup pudding for DH an I)
  • 1/8th cup of sugar
  • 1 tbsp of homegrown dried rosemary

This is as easy as can be, I put the rosemary in the grinder and ground it to a fine powder, added the three above to the steel pot and let it get hot, I mixed 1 tsp of corn starch with 2 Tbsp of water and poured in to thickin the pudding, whisked it well for 30 second’s as got nice and thick, pour into two little glass bowls and into the fridge to get nice an set for dinner.

Posted in Spice Rack | 2 Comments

Canning Pinapple

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

So the store has a very good sale on pinapples at a flat dollar rate, each pinapple after being peeled, and cored (which will go to Miss Piggy) gave 1 Qaurt of chunked pinapple tidbit, these were packed in as light of syrup as possable for safety.

So these were extra sweet Del-Monte Pinapples, and they are good tasting, so I looked at the store and right now a 14 oz can of the same brand is currently 2 dollars plus tax, where as no tax on the fresh fruit.

So a Quart is just a little bit more then the two cans, so pinapple in can’s x 2 is 4 dollars plus 26 cents in tax, vs $1, plus the cost of syrup, which works out to 24 cents for the batch, which is enough for 4 quart Jars, so 6 cents there, plus power, which I figured out to be a total of 10 more cents, the jar’s cost has been paid for as have the ring/lid.  The quart Jar has 32 oz, vs the can’s having 28, so if a can is 14oz at 2.13 with Tax, then that extra 4 oz is worth another 50 cents.

So grand total 1.04 vs 4.76, thats a good savings for sure, if you were buying it at full price but lets face it, pinapple goes on sale, and its common to get a can for 1.00 plus tax. Cheap no-name pinapple might even be gotten for .50 cents a can.

So top of the line pinapple 1.04 vs 4.76, on sale Top Qaulity Pinapple 1.04 vs 2.41 cents, as cheap as you can get on sale, it would be 1.04 vs 1.25

Anyway you cut it, its frugal..and the quality can’t be beat, this is a clear win-win in my book. I made the batch requirements for 4 quarts of pinnaple but I mixed up the size’s of my jars and did one pinapple into 5 8 oz Jars for sweet and sour type sauces, 2 pinapple into 4 half pint jar’s as they seemed the right size for sharing a dessert between DH and me, and then one into the Quart to prove that they were right that it be one pinapple a jar.

Posted in Canning, food, Food Production and Recipes, frugal | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Pea Soup

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

Do you like Pea Soup, some folks do, and some folks dont, I have figured out a few tricks to making my pea soup better, and that is soaking and extra boiling/water exchanges, this really helps keep the gas down, which for me is the bad side effect of pea soup.

So take out your Split pea’s and pour them into a large glass jar the night before, cover them with cold tap water and let them sit till the next morning, drain them and put in a steel pot covered with water at least a inch over and bring to boil, the first boil will have a smell to it and lots of foam, as soon as you hit that.. drain and rince the pea’s and repeat the step above, fresh hot water and back for boil number two.. most of the times that will be enough, but if you get that smell again or lots of foam, please consider rinsing a second time..

Let them stay at a slow simmer for a good while till they are tender when tried.. drain again, you can save this water to be used in bread making, poured over the hounds food or given to the chickens as treat. Don’t worry, there will lots of that wonderful Pea Soup taste.

Now take a large onion and a couple cloves of garlic, and peel, dice and cook them up with a little oil or fat, then crack open a jar of homemade stock, your choice on what kind, I like white bone broth (chicken/rabbit) and put the pea’s back in.. bring back to a simmer to allow the flavors to meld, then either blend it in blender or hit it with the blending stick.

Give it a taste, if you want it tradional, consider salt/pepper,  or consider trying Salt/Pepper/Maple Syrup or get bold with Salt/Pepper Mild or Hot Curry Powder.

If you like it thinner, its ready.. if you like really thick Pea Soup, you can simmer till it gets as thick as you like.. some folks love it with a bit of cream or sour cream or a pat of butter with or without Croutons.

Now clearly you can add meat to this soup if you want to, and the sky is the limit on the different choices available in this regards.. but do consider going beyond the tradional of ham and give sausages a try, as well as tiny pork or lamb meatballs

Posted in food, Food Production and Recipes, frugal | 1 Comment

Winter Challange DD Meal # 7

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

Dark Day’s Meal #7 was a delight, This weeks offical food is Carrots

  • Carrot/Tomato Soup
  • Grilled Cheese Barley Sandwhich

Dessert – Hot Rasberries (frozen this fall) with a touch of honey and ginger.

Soup Recipe (if you call this a recipe LOL)

  • Carrots-Peeled, cut up and cooked in veggie broth
  • One jar of homemade (homegrown) Tomato Soup
  • Salt/Pepper/Fennel/Basil to taste
  • Pat of St. Albert Butter, with cracked black pepper on top(as the soup was made with no fats, I wanted to add a little richness to the soup at the end)

Grill Cheese Barley Sandwhich

  • Two slices fresh Barley Bread
  • St Albert Butter
  • St Albert Cheese
Posted in 100 mile diet, food, gardens, Winter Eating Challange | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Memories of the Sealift Order

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

So I have been busy reading a new blog that I am liking alot, I like commenting but this one had so many different interesting posts and thoughts on it, that I might have posted a few to many all in one day.. hopefully not..

I don’t know about you but once you find a blog you like, you are drawn to check out the blogs on their blog role, and I was not dissappointed, lots of interesting ones in regards to getting ready for the coming difficults’s in regards to the oil crunch, food prices rising etc

One of the things I did find interesting was the sites that had plug in the numbers for what you need, I can’t say I agree with alot of the results that I got back, but I hope that it helps some even if it just gets them thinking.

What it did for me was remind me of my day’s in the artic when you ordered your whole households needs in one go on the sealift, for five years, I figured out and ordered a year’s supply of food and household needs once a year, and I can tell you that my order’s didn’t match what those sites said 🙂

Now in Iqaluit, I was able to buy local meat/seafood at the local hunters butcher shop and I was able to get local wild char bought directly from the Inuit, and our shed made a perfect freezer for most of the year.. it was interesting figuring out how to store that much in our house, if there was one thing I learned for a tip.. it was use a clip board, and print out what you have, and at least once a month or two.. go though your supplies and figure out how to spread your supplies out, because it does no good to eat something up in a few short months, when there won’t be more for another 8 months, makes more sense to spread the wealth so to speak and boy do you figure out how to plan meals..

Somewhere, I have a photo of a sealift order, pallet after pallet, it filled my whole kitchen/living room and hallway.. I remember us just laughing the first time and going.. were does it all go!

On the farm, I would guess that if I had to only eat out of the house and the farm, I would have about a five to six month supply at the moment, but spring would arrive before that time is up and wild crafting and gardening would be producing to refill some of the gaps.

Posted in frugal, Real Life | Tagged | 3 Comments

Barley Bread

Posted on January 18, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=127

I like Barley, maybe even adore Barley, use it in soups, stews, breakfast.. but there is one thing about Barley that makes me get a little snarl, and that is how come you can buy 1kg of pot Barley for 1.99, but you have to pay 3 4x times more for Barley flour

http://www.lesliebeck.com/ingredient_index.php?featured_food=64

Barley flour is made of Ground Pot Barley, seems a little huh to me that the grinding should cost that much, so I have a trick up my shelve.. make Barley porridge, and then throw it in the blender with a bit of extra warm water and grind till its a smooth paste, and use it in your bread recipes.

It will add up to quite a savings, and if you cook a pot of barley up, it can be used in many different ways over the rest of the week..

I use a cup of cooked Barley per recipe for bread, take your basic recipe an replace 20 to 30 percent of your regular flour with the cooked/ground barley, depending on how hearty you like your bread.

Posted in food, Food Production and Recipes, frugal, Life moves on daily | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Storage of Root Veggies-Carrots

Posted on January 18, 2011 by Just another day on the farm

Well, Its one of those days, morning chores, basic housework and laundry all on the go, the hounds breakfast made and served.. dish’s and more dish’s, made 3 loaves of bread, and wanted to get some things up from the cellar, and while down there, thought, I should take  a few min and check out the root veggies, most things are holding their own.. but the carrots were not doing as well, after giving them a bit of a check over.. I sighed and brought the whole box upstairs and started sorting, compost pile, Piggy Pile and our pile.. I have canned carrots and frozen carrots but it was a bit of a sad moment to realize that my own homegrown carrots in my soups and stews are going to be a thing of the past..

I winter-sowned carrots in the garden and have those little babies all covered in straw and hope to have fresh baby carrots in april/may to enjoy, till then if I want fresh, I will have to get locally grown carrots.

So I am making a wonderful carrot soup with the ones that were good, and will serve it up with some fresh bread out of the oven..

Basic Carrot Soup

  • Carrots -Peeled and cut up
  • Onion-Peeled and Cut up
  • Salt/Pepper/Fennel
  • Veggie stock four cups worth

Cook till the veggies are soft and done.. blend, taste and add more salt/pepper if needed, can also serve with a dollup of sour cream or a swirl of whipping cream but as I am working to lose a few pds, mine was plain served with slice of fresh just cooled Barley Bread, which was perfect, crust on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside..

Posted in 100 mile diet, farm, food, gardening, gardens, local food | Tagged , , | 1 Comment