Our Favorite Winter Activity ⛸️

Green Grass, Grazing Pigs & Baby Lambs

By the middle of April, things are looking good around here.There's green grass everywhere, especially on the range. Cows are fat, baby calves are slick and healthy, and everything looks good. Did you know we turn all our cows out on the range BEFORE they calve? We do not watch our cows or heifers (first-time moms) calve. It's their job to go out and "get the job done." So in May, when we gather the range, there are baby calves EVERYWHERE! On the home place, the grass is about 4-6 inches tall and putting some serious weight on our cattle, which will be harvested in the next 1-3 months. At this time of year, our cattle can gain 2-3 lbs of weight PER DAY! That's some serious weight gain and delicious-tasting beef! Speaking of some serious weight gain, our pastured pigs are doing the same. We just harvested the first batch of pigs a few weeks ago, and they were PIGGY FAT. Pigs thrive in early spring due to cooler weather, which helps them gain weight. They crave fresh green grass in the springtime, going grazing for the new grass shoots. Although they mainly consume grains, they value the green grass to balance their diet. And finally, it's my favorite season of all... Lambing season. Over 50% of our sheep have had their lambs in the last week. Sheep typically lamb closely together, and quickly fill a pasture with bouncing baby lambs! It is always incredible to watch this frail baby lamb be born, struggle to get up to get their first drink of milk, and then, less than 24 hours later, bounce around and chase other lambs. We love the newness of spring with green grass, happily grazing pigs, and baby lambs.

Chickens On The Move

They say that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb...Well, here is the result of March... Our first lambs are on the ground! These happy, healthy babies are just one of the many signs that spring has arrived at the ranch, and once spring comes, there are many projects to be done! Over the past year, we've made the decision to reduce our sheep herd, but our hearts are still filled with joy when we see the adorable baby lambs being born. It's such a delightful sight to watch them bounce around happily with their fellow lambs just a few hours later!A key springtime activity is rounding up the calves and assisting our neighbors with branding them. Everyone pitches in, including the little ones. In this photo, my son aided our neighbor by keeping the fire roaring throughout the day, adding one stick of wood at a time! This is also when our horseback riding season begins. We need to be cautious as we bring our horses off winter pasture and saddle up again. The horses have become accustomed to not being ridden and are not always very excited the first time we throw a saddle on their back, so it's always best to let Sean hop on the horse and ride them around to ensure they are not interested in bucking! However, our good old faithful horses that our kids ride pose no problem and are ready for another couple of hundred miles under the saddle this season! In addition to the enjoyable spring activities, we welcomed a fresh group of pigs, which will be raised over the summer. These colorful little porkers are happily adjusting to their new environment as they explore and familiarize themselves with the surroundings. Our laying chickens transitioned from their winter pasture houses to their new springtime pasture area. My oldest daughter takes immense pride in raising delicious pasture-raised eggs. Throughout the winter, they remain in hoop houses to stay warm. As soon as the grass begins to grow, we load the chickens into their mobile trailer home and relocate them to a fresh patch of pasture, where they revel in the lush green grass and scratch the ground to their hearts' content. The picture below shows my daughter playing with the chickens just before we packed them up and moved to their new pasture for spring. Our laying hens weren't the only residents finding a new home. Brian, our meat chicken producer, has relocated from our ranch to the Marsing area to raise his chickens. Although we've thoroughly enjoyed having them on the ranch for the past three years, the daily commute from Nampa to the ranch has been quite lengthy for Brian. He located an excellent pasture in Marsing with a spray-free pasture and good well water for his chickens. Now, he can make a short drive to his location, ensuring the chickens thrive.However, moving eight chicken houses, each measuring 30 ft by 16 ft, is no small task! Fortunately, he found a moving company that assisted him in transporting all the chicken houses to their new location in Marsing. Brian currently has chicks in the brooder that are growing daily, and new chickens will arrive in a few weeks. However, we are nearing the end of our chicken inventory from 2024.Our chickens will be ready to harvest around the first week of June, so if you don't want to be out of chicken, then now is the time to buy!

Bird Flu Explained

Ask anyone who buys eggs regularly at the grocery store, and you'll be met with the question.Why are egg prices so high?!Basic conventional raised eggs at the grocery store have reached record-high prices, and most stores are limiting the number of eggs people can purchase.There is clearly a supply and demand issue at the moment, but what is causing such an egg shortage?This might surprise some of you, but the egg shortage is directly correlated with the governments policy of handling the outbreak of the avian bird flu.Bird flu isn't new; it has been present worldwide since the early 2000s, yet it has recently gained renewed attention.The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) policy regarding bird flu states that if your flock tests positive for the virus, all poultry on that farm will be "depopulated" (a euphemism for being killed). This means that if one bird shows signs of illness or dies and the USDA confirms it as bird flu, they will eliminate the entire flock of chickens or turkeys on the farm. The testing method used for bird flu is the PCR test, which gained notoriety during the COVID outbreak for its false positives.This isn't speculation. We witnessed this firsthand with our friends this fall when their turkey flock became sick and died. The USDA came and tested, confirming that it was indeed bird flu. They didn't have to kill any turkeys because their flock succumbed to the virus quickly. However, their small group of laying hens, which they kept for personal egg consumption and were healthy despite being exposed to the turkeys, had to be killed if they wanted any compensation from the USDA.Large confinement operations can house up to 250,000 chickens. Many of these farms have multiple houses, so if a large operation is confirmed to have bird flu, it is required to cull all the chickens on the farm; sometimes, this number well exceeds 250,000. In the last two years, over 160 million chickens and turkeys have been killed to "slow the spread." Yet, bird flu continues to spread.The USDA blames wild birds for carrying and transmitting the disease, yet I have yet to hear the USDA consider a widespread extermination plan for wild birds like starlings, pigeons, and chickadees, but only for the farmers who have chickens and turkeys?For a chicken to start laying eggs, they must be at least 5 months old before they begin to lay regularly. So if a laying operation has to depopulate their entire farm, they will have a minimum of 5 months before they have eggs again, and that's IF they can find chicks to restock their farm. There has been no discussion about breeding chickens that have contracted bird flu but survived the disease. What happened to the survival of the fittest?With millions of chickens being exterminated from the food supply, it's no wonder that egg prices are skyrocketing! Unless the USDA policy changes, it's unlikely we'll see a significant drop in egg prices, unless many new farmers enter the market willing to raise and sell eggs. In the meantime, we will continue to supply our customers with our small flock of laying hens that my daughter raises.

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Our Favorite Winter Activity ⛸️

More from the blog

Green Grass, Grazing Pigs & Baby Lambs

Chickens On The Move

Bird Flu Explained

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