Time away is DAIRY good

Get off the farm. Especially right now, when being on the farm can feel really REALLY stressful.

We are stuck in this awkward stage with our farm where we milk enough to handle chores by ourselves but we aren't big enough to hire full time employees. This is all okay until farmer or I want to get away. We are very fortunate to have relief milkers who know our routine and know our cows and can fill our boots when we need them the most. We are aways off from taking a family vacation because our relief milkers.....they milk. And daily chores include feeding and hauling water and bedding barns and we just don't have the staff for all that. But it is good, we are doing what we love as a family so we get lots of bonding time together.
Lots. Of. Togetherness.
Lots!

A few weeks ago we took an afternoon off from chores to take the kids put put golfing and canoeing. Janiene and Mallory both arrived on time to keep our business running. It may not have seemed like a big deal to them but for my little family it was a much needed break. 

Once a year I get away for two days without my husband and children. I travel with my mom and sisters, the two little sisters who drove me crazy growing up are my very best friends today and I look forward to this little trip away more than anyone can imagine. This year we went to Detroit for a concert. Shut the front door! Our mother got us tickets to Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Jake Owen and Old Dominion. Did you see who the second artist was? Miranda Lambert. You can see why I've been belting out her songs all summer on the tractor... I've been prepping!! Mallory filled my boots for the weekend which included helping my farmer treat sick cows. 

Stepping off the farm reminds me of the blessings I have at home and I am incredibly grateful to those special people who help us.  I love the experience of seeing something new and meeting new people ...but I love my slow, dirt road life more.

And sometimes we call on our milker's for events that we just can't handle without them. Like tomorrow. When my oldest daughter will have her tonsils and adenoids removed. While it is so important for us to be parents I completely trust and depend on Janiene and Mallory to carry out the work on the farm.

For whatever reasons we leave the farm, when i come back I'm better... I'm in my farm girl mode. And this farm girl is not the easiest to work with all the time but to those who have helped me out in the past and in the future please know I am VERY grateful 💛

Just a little farm tour

It's pretty simple. If you want to visit a farm just ask a farmer. When Stephanie asked to bring her three beautiful girls to our farm...of course I agreed. But first I had to mow, and weed-wack, and pick up the toys and clean up my garden.... I wasn't worried about the animals or parlor because we keep that clean all the time.

I may or may not be the best tour guide, but I had ice cream and figured that would get me on everyone's good side :)  I also had two babies born less than 18 hours before they arrived SO I was feeling confident things would go well. AND it did!! Not only did the kids ask to come back but they left with poop splatter on them, which is a pretty good indication they were up close and personal with my favorite ladies.

It started with the usual "Oh! It stinks..." which makes me smile every time we have company. It means this is NEW for them, something small that I've become numb to. I was introduced to Madalyn, Emily and Lillian (...and I got their names wrong every time). We met twins who were born this morning, a heifer (girl) and bull (boy). They even got to feed the calves their very first bottle of colostrum. Names were chosen and we have a Rosie & Patches in our herd.

Of course on the day of our tour it was 92°F out so after we looked at the calves in the hutches and walked down to the dry lot there was drinking from the garden hose. (Something their mother did as a kid but they were skeptic about trying.) Not only was this tour a learning experience for them but it was a reminder to me that what I do daily is important and special and to enjoy it.        

 

By the time we made it to the parlor the cows were being milked. The girls were able to hand squirt milk from the cow and help bring cows in from the holding pen.

 

Below are some of the questions & answers we talked about today. If you'd like to see more of our every day farm life follow along on Facebook or Instagram @michiganfarmgirl.

Do calves have teeth?
Yes, calves are born with bottom teeth and develop more as they grow.

How long does a cow carry a calf?

9 months and they have heat cycles every 3 weeks until they are bred.

What do they eat?
Calves get milk, water and grain from birth to 2 months.
Heifers and dry cows get grain, dry hay and water.
Cows get "cow chow" or "casserole" or "TMR" (name depends on the tour guides vocabulary), a mix of haylage, grains, vitamins, soybean.

Does it hurt the cow to milk?
No, their bodies produce milk and if we don't express the milk they may feel more discomfort from that.

Why is your front door glass broken?
That is what happens when I mow grass :(

There were a lot more things discussed BUT I had two questions for my guest: 1) do the hutches look big enough for the calves to live in? 2) do the cows look happy? The answer to BOTH was yes.

At the end of two hours I was EXHAUSTED because I never talk that much, BUT I hope it was a good experience for them. And if it became a yearly thing that would be awesome, they would be able to see how things change; because every day here is different.

#happyfarmer

Making Farm Calls

Dr. Tom visits our farm every 8 weeks for herd health, the cows are generally not excited about this. I am usually pumped though because I want to see who is pregnant! For us herd health is mainly to check for reproductive problems and new pregnancies, but we also use this time to ask questions about animal health and treatment plans.

The day before the veterinarian arrives we make a list of fresh cows that need to be looked over and any that have been milking more than 90 days and have not yet been confirmed bred. We also do LTP checks (late term pregnancy) to confirm that their due date is still accurate and we can move them to the dry lot.

Herd health days bring good and bad news but this is the cycle of life on a dairy farm. Cattle do not start producing milk until they deliver their first calf. They produce more milk than the calf needs so we take the excess and provide it to the population. This is our business. Cows do not milk forever, if they did my farm would be home to geriatric cows who I could never part with. Older cows like Piglet who we've had since 2008 when we started milking. She has been milking for 10 months on this lactation and is not bred, in fact we've been told for the last 6 months she will not get pregnant. And I drag my feet on selling her because she is mine. Because she is a rotten little brat who kicks me in the chest when I go to milk her the first time after she delivers. She is my brat. Will Piglet be here forever, no. Will she be here for the next herd health, maybe. At some point we will have to decide if she is costing us more than she is making and when that day comes we will sell her.

For the cows who are confirmed bred I give them an estimated due date based on how far along Dr. Tom says they are at the visit (they are pregnant for 9 months). And for the cows who are not bred we watch to make sure they are cycling normally (every three weeks) and watch for any other signs of problem. Cows only deliver once a year and in our herd are bred by a bull when their bodies are ready.

We are so thankful to our large animal veterinarian! Without him the job of caring for our animals would be very difficult. If you'd like to see more about our dairy farm you can follow along on Facebook or Instagram @ michiganfarmgirl

Zucchini Chocolate Cake III

Zucchini. I don't plant zucchini in my garden because it seems like those who do ALWAYS have lots to share. And guess who got 3 large zucchini last week from a friend....this girl! All Recipes has a great chocolate zucchini cake recipe that was very easy to make and my kids liked it :) You can find the recipe here but I've also listed it below along with the cream cheese frosting I topped it with (dairy good!!).

Zucchini Chocolate Cake III
Visit allrecipes.com for more ideas

2 C. all-purpose Flour

2 C. white sugar

3/4 C. unsweetened cocoa powder

2tsp. baking soda

1tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

4 eggs

1 1/2 C. vegetable oil

3 C. grated zucchini

1 1/2 C. chopped walnuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees;  grease and flour a 9X13 inch baking pan. Mix first 7 ingredients well, add eggs and vegetable oil, fold in zucchini and nuts. Pour into pan and bake for 50-60 minutes.
Top with your favorite frosting.

The frosting I used calls for:

1/2 8oz cream cheese

1/4 C. butter, softened

1 C. powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 tsp. milk

Our Babies

This morning while I was finishing up feeding calves I noticed a small black and white spot across the farm. I got excited because I was pretty sure this meant we had a new baby last night. After sneaking past Parker (our pain in the ass bull who is still in the dry lot) I found that momma and baby were doing fine.

There has been a cow we have been watching closely for the last 2 weeks because something has seemed different about her attitude while dry. She has been off by herself a lot, unmotivated to get up and eat some days and appeared to be very "uncomfortable". Really though, who is 39 weeks pregnant and comfortable in July anyway? Well she is pregnant no longer and delivered a heifer calf. A super cute heifer calf who I feel inclined to call Dew. 

The routine with our calves varies by situation; it is very hot outside, the mother doesn't seem to have much strength and we don't want to put the added stress of moving on her or the calf. We have made a small pen in the dry lot and we have carried buckets of water and cow feed to her. The calf has been able to nurse so we are leaving them together for the day. Sometimes the calves are unable to nurse, and in those situations we would feed it the colostrum by bottle.

When we move the cow and calf they are both transported by cattle trailer together, the mother is moved into the free stall barn and the calf is moved into a hutch. At the cows first milking in the parlor we put red Velcro bands on each rear ankle so that whoever is milking knows to keep her milk separate from the milk we sell. Her milk will go directly to her calf for the first few days. Our hutches are cleaned and sanitized before each calf moves in and periodically over the two months they are in it. Our hutches are big enough for the calf to be covered inside and each includes a fenced in area for them to be outside. Once Dew is in her hutch she is given milk twice a day and water and grain are always available. She has three little visitors daily (my little ones) who give great head rubs and tell the best stories. She is given an ear tag that tells us her number #208, her date of birth 7.23.16 and her mother #86.

As a mother I can appreciate the concern people feel towards the cow and calf about separation. As a farmer all I can do is try to reassure you that both animals are well cared for and loved by the farmer...by me <3

If you have any questions please ask AND if you'd like to see more about our family dairy farm follow along on Facebook or Instagram.

why I am a small dairy

When we talked about starting our own dairy farm we never imagined milking 400 cows.  We currently milk 60 cows and that is definitely enough to keep my farmer and I busy.  I enjoy visiting bigger dairy farms and learning how they operate, but it just isn’t for me.  A lot of farms around us milk more than we do so the question of whether or not we will grow seems to come up. With the trend being to grow I wonder, can a small farm exist? I want to believe they can, that they also have a place in this business.  And for anyone who wants to know why I'm just not on the bandwagon to expand here are a handful of my reasons:

Our barn.  Our barn has 63 free stalls and narrow alleys so it comfortably holds 55 cows.  Cow comfort is an important part of good milk production and happy animals; our cows don’t excel when we have more than 65 head in there.  In the summer we do let the cows out onto a small pasture which helps but in the winter months we don’t have that option.  To expand our herd we would need to build an addition to the barn or (more preferably) build a new, more up to date barn.  At this time building a free stall barn is not a possibility.

We are only 1 family.  Many farms are still family owned, even if they milk a large number.  As the farm continues through generations there are more family members involved and the need to support those families grows.  My husband and I started our own dairy farm so at this time we only need to support one family of 5.  Also, I have three little kiddos who are young and need us a lot.  As our herd grows the labor involved to run the operation grows and I would rather spend more time in the house with   my kiddos than in the barn playing in cow poop.  Yes, I could hire a few employees to help with the workload but I'm not ready to go there.  

Available land.  The area in which our farm is located is populated by other dairy farmers, beef farmers and cash croppers.  As our herd increases we struggle to find more land so we can feed the animals.  We could grow and just purchase the feed we are unable to grow ourselves but that is an expense that needs to be considered as well.

We are young.  We started our farm when we were 23 & 24 and jumped in with both feet.  It seems crazy to think that we could sell  out and do something different but the option needs to be there.  I want to keep the farm small so that if one of us decided to try a new career or if we chose to stop milking cows it would be easy for someone to manage and grow as they desired.

I am tired of growing.  For almost eight years we have been building and growing this business and at some timed it has felt like we were sliding backwards.  Our herd grew from 6 cows to a total count of over 160.  We have  converted an old barn into a milking facility, then started over building a new parlor & milk house, we have built a house & pole barn, and we have built a cow barn.  We went from a newly married couple to a family of five in just 6 years which  is full of exhaustion! I am tired of growing and expanding and to be honest I just want a break.

If there is a farm that milks a few cows or a lot of cows they all have their own struggles and accomplishments, heartbreaks and road blocks. For us, for now; being a small farm that operates efficiently is the goal. 

Homemade Potato Soup

There are days when I just want comfort food. Something about a familiar food that calms me.  Whether it is the middle of July or a winter get together I go to my momma's homemade potato soup. 

Today I turned to this recipe in my cook book. The first bowl I ate was so hot that I followed with a second bowl just so I could enjoy all the different ingredients.  This homemade potato soup has potatoes, celery, bacon and ham. It is hearty and delicious & includes dairy.

Homemade Potato Soup

Ingredients:
2-3# potatoes (cubed)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
Milk
Bacon (cooked)
Ham (cubed)
Celery (optional)

Directions
Cut and boil potatoes for 30 minutes. Drain 3/4 of the water from pot when potatoes are soft. Add cream of mushroom soup and cream of chicken soup. Add one can of milk for each. Add remaining ingredients as desired. Cook on medium for 1 hour.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment. Or click on the share button to save it.

You can always follow along with my family on our dairy farm on Facebook and Instagram @michiganfarmgirl