Flying Cattle

I've been trying to actually make the time to take some pictures this year!

 

What to Feed the Horses?

Five years ago we were giving each horse their own special grain mix, supplements, every shot the vet recommended and all the suggested chemical wormers. They were not very healthy, and as I began to do research, I gradually cut back on the vaccines, stopped the wormers and just had the horses checked for worms occasionally, and stopped giving grain and supplements entirely. The past three years, they have just been on pasture in the summer and chemical-free hay in the winter. Chance got some organic oats or sunflower seeds when he got too skinny, and I left Redmond salt, kelp and diatomaceous earth out free choice for them. They have been much healthier on that simple diet than they were before, but I still thought I could do better. I had taken the bad out, but I wanted to put some good in, so I started researching. This is a work in progress, but here it is what I have come up with:

Basic feed is still grass in summer and chemical-free grass hay or grass/alfalfa in winter, with free choice salt, kelp and diatomaceous earth. They get their "grain" mix once a day.

Chance: A 27 year old Thoroughbred cross, he is always skinny and needs some help keeping weight on.
1lb. organic oats (I get them from a co-op for around the same price conventional oats would be at the feed store)
1 1/2 cups chemical-free sunflower seeds
2 oz. Fertrell Horse Power (a blend of vitamins, minerals and probiotics)
1 T kelp
molasses for palatability

Shady, Phillip and Snickers: mid-aged horses that are easy keepers (don't have trouble keeping weight on), as you can see in the picture of Snickers
1 cup alfalfa pellets
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
2 oz. Fertrell Horse Power
1 T kelp
molasses for palatability

Migdalah: Two year old not being ridden yet.
1 cup oats
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
2 oz. Fertrell Horse Power
1 T kelp
molasses for palatability.

The horses were on this diet for about a month. Two weeks ago I stopped the "grain" temporarily since I have been busy and will be leaving town. I will definitely resume when I get back after the results I saw after just a few weeks on this diet. Wow! I've noticed the biggest change in Snickers; he is all glossy and dappled out.

Snickers in July, just before starting this diet

Snickers in August, after less than a month on the new diet

Life With a Cow

Life with Sassafras has definitely been an adventure. In the first week I was accidentally whacked with her horns as she tried to get flies (I'm glad they aren't sharp!), stomped on, temporarily blinded by her tail time and again, and squished underneath her before she realized she was on top of me. Oh, and I forgot to mention being chased across the pasture because she wanted to "play". The bucket was kicked over or she put her foot in it more often than not. Once she even managed to put both feet in it - that milk went to the chickens!

I've had to learn that cows are not horses. If she doesn't want to go, she will stop and will not budge until she decides to. If she wants to go a different direction, she is going that way and the only thing I can do is hang on to the rope for dear life and run (yes, run) after her until she decides to stop. I've come to appreciate her steadiness, though. At week three we had a big storm and it was pouring down rain. Deafening thunder and a bolt of lightning directly overhead made me jump out of my shoes and the horses scatter in all directions, but Sassafras calmly stood there like nothing had happened, wondering what was the matter with the rest of us.

My hands were taking seemingly forever to get used to milking, and after three weeks milking was still taking me 1-2 hours. Daddy bought a milking machine for when I leave town and I started using it part of the time. The break really helped my hands. I continue to milk by hand part of the time and I'll probably go back to milking completely by hand in the fall, but for now the machine has been a big blessing!

She is giving about 2 1/2 gallons a day now, half of what she was producing when I bought her, but that is all I can use anyway until I really get into cheese making. She will probably increase in production as I get better at milking and figure out the best diet for her.

After five months of looking, I finally found some Corriente steers. Sassafras has been easier to handle now that she has buddies to play with and is getting all that energy out of her system.

I had expected her to go into heat last Sunday and thought I had missed it, but last night I went out to milk and to my surprise she was in heat! I must have gotten the date wrong on the last one. The A.I. technician came out this morning and bred her to a Brown Swiss bull. If the breeding takes, we'll have a calf late June.

Spearmint the Mama Hen

This first-time mom hatched a dozen adorable chicks