A frosty start to the day.......

We had a few inches of snow overnight and this morning the wind started to blow. The snow was heavy and the trees were completely coated. It was a beautiful sight as the sun started to rise. As the day progressed the wind increased and by afternoon the temperature had dropped 20 degrees. It's supposed to drop to zero tonight with a -30 windchill.

The weather folks are predicting a Nor'easter for us starting late Thursday. So far the predictions are that we will be measuring the snow in feet, not inches. The snow is supposed to last into Sunday with blizzard conditions predicted anytime during the storm. Of course, much could change between now and then but being prepared is a good thing.

We headed for chores this morning, making a list as we went of all the things we needed to check and accomplish prior to the storm. We spent the day making sure all the barns are nicely bedded, clearing anything in the snow blower's path, cleaned the chicken house, etc.

We will make trip to town tomorrow to stock up on low supplies and fuel. Border's Bookstore is a definite stop as we all received gift cards for Christmas. May need a good book for the weekend :)

Looking back and moving forward.......

{ My new Sheep Christmas stocking - hubby found it at Tractor supply...I love that store}

As the Christmas holiday winds down, I am always happy for a few "slow" days to relax a little, knit a little by the fire (finishing gifts that didn't get done on time ) and spend some time reflecting on the year that we are about to bring to a close and the new year ahead. It's hard to believe 2009 is almost over. Where did a year go?!

2009 brought about several changes for us on the farm. Our blessings have been many and I never take that for granted. The opening of our farm shop has been a terrific outlet for our farm goods and also for meeting many of our neighbors and making new friends. A big "Thank you" to everyone who shops with us. Your support is so appreciated. Because the shop isn't heated this winter, I am going to create a page for the shop and link to it from the blog. I hope to have that done in the next week or so. I have several new items along with our normally stocked goods. We are happy to ship anything mail order other than eggs and milk. Delivery arrangements are also available.

Another beef recall by National Steak and Poultry has solidified our decision to try our hand raising Heritage breed turkeys this coming year. We will start small with just a dozen and go from there. We have yet to decide which particular breed or breeds we will introduce to the farm. Hubby is leaning toward the Bourbon Reds. We saw these big birds up close and personal at a friends farm a few years back. The Tom was impressive and friendly! Visit Robin's blog for great info on raising these birds.



I love the look of the Narragansett. There are several more Heritage breeds and the American Livestock Breed Conservancy (http://www.albc-usa.org/) is a great website full of information on these turkeys.

I have read that the heritage breeds need a longer life span to achieve the same weight gain as the big white turkeys that commercial breeders raise but the final product is 100% better and well worth the wait. Our turkeys will be able to free range on the farm daily and have a varied natural diet as well as free choice supplements. Hopefully we will have varied weights that will be processed in November to suit our all our customers. We are anxious to get started once we iron out all the final details :)

I hope you are all having the chance to relax a bit with your loved ones and continue to enjoy the time of year :)

Merry Christmas to you.....

~All of us at Tylerfarm wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas ~

An enormous Equine post.....literally!

This is my Dad, Dave, and his new working partner, Zues. Just a little fella isn't he? !! My Dad is a teamster. A real one. He comes from a long line of teamsters and horse people. He started driving team in the woods when he was a young lad and has worked with horses his entire life. Their isn't much has hasn't done with a horse and there have been many of them in and out of his life just since I can remember. Some have left a lasting impression, others not so much. This guy we certainly won't forget!

Dad drive's a team of beautiful draft horses giving carriage rides in picturesque Acadia National Park in Maine in the summer and is giving sleigh rides at the Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, NH this winter. Zues is used in a one horse sleigh and obviously has no trouble pulling it around. Imagine the look on the faces of the guests waiting for a ride when this giant comes walking out of the barn. I know I just stared at the photo for 6o seconds.....it's almost unbelievable for a split second.

Zues weighs approximately 3100 lbs. He is 7 years old and approximately 96" tall at the top of his withers (shoulders). He is very gentle and loves people. He's calm and easy to work with. It's a darn good thing - imagine trying to change this guys mind?! According to the people in the know, he is the biggest horse in the USA at the moment. He had his front feet trimmed and new shoes put on yesterday and will have his back ones done the end of the week. His shoes must weigh 5lbs a piece. I know his feet are the size of dinner plates.

I haven't had the pleasure of meeting him in person yet, but the family has plans to take a trip to the mountain and enjoy a sleigh ride. If you get the opportunity to visit beautiful NH, plan a trip to take a sleigh ride and meet this team, you won't be disappointed :)

Farm kid brag post....

As I mentioned in my photo op post, our youngest farm kid, Tyler, has been studying Karate for a couple of years now. Last night he tested for and achieved the rank of advanced green belt. This is a big step and he was nervous and excited. This advancement means he goes from a non-contact sport to full contact.

He has been sparring in full gear with a partner in class for sometime now. The Sensai would stand between them and give points for moves and make sure contact did not happen. That will all be different now. He is really looking forward to being able to practice what he has learned so far and continuing his karate education. Tyler has worked very hard and we are very PROUD of him.

Tyler and his Sensai after achieving the rank of Green Belt

CONGRATULATIONS TYLER on a job well done!

Back in business.....

Our newborn calf, Coal, is thriving thanks to his fantastic Mom. He's round and perky and quite sassy. I was cleaning out their stall this morning, working around him and he tried to kick me! He's very inquisitive and he met the dogs today. Dan didn't pay much attention. Otis, our new pup, wasn't sure what to make of him. Both were quite wary of each other.


We are thankful to be back in the milking business. The 65 days our cow is dry before giving birth is difficult on our family. We are used to fresh, pure, raw whole milk. We are big milk drinkers but that changes for those 65 days. I do buy milk at the grocery store but we consume much less until miking begins again. As always, Jan has plenty of milk for Coal and our family.




I use an old fashioned surge milking machine to milk my cow. All of my equiptment sits on the end of my kitchen island after being washed in between milkings. As much as I would love to milk by hand, my thumbs do not work well enough to allow me to. When I first got a my cow, I did milk by hand. I loved setting on my little wooden milking stool that my Dad made for me, listening to the milk hit the bucket. Plink, plink. Plink, plink. Once you get the rhythm, it's almost mesmerizing. Cows smell good and they are always warm. I would lean my head against her flank and get quite comfortable. Unfortunately I couldn't get my thumbs in shape and it was taking me way to long to milk her out. The milking machine takes about 5 minutes and we have a routine that we strictly adhere to and it works well for both the cow and I.

I carry my machine and a bucket of warm, wash water to the barn at chore time each day. I give her milk bag a nice warm water bath, dry her off and put on the machine. It's all a piece of cake for her. I pour my milk into my milk can when finished. Share what milk is leftover with Charlotte and the chickens and then come in to get that milk strained and into the refrigerator. Then it's time to do milk dishes again. Hot, steamy water and a special dairy soap to cleanse and disinfect. It air dries on a clean towel, ready for the next chore time.

It won't be long now before we will be making butter and Ice cream again and my favorite, fresh whipped cream :)

A Christmas photo op........

I wanted to do a photo card to send this year, especially for friends and family that we catch up with once a year. I take so many photos of the farm and the animals and I was having a difficult time trying to decide on just the right one.

Our youngest son Ty is a freshman and spends most of his off school time doing homework. He is an honor student and enjoys school but doing well requires much of his time. He is also studying Karate and has to practice everyday after school. He doesn't often come to the barn during the week unless he has a specific purpose. One day last week he visited the animals and spent a little quality time with the donkey. Donkey was more than happy to "chat" awhile and he's ALWAYS happy to pose for the camera :) I was going through the photos the next day and found the perfect photo:

We don't realize how much he has grown and changed in a year but other's that haven't seen him certainly will. He's very fond of Donkey. When I think about it I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't love that darn Donkey :)

~Happy Holidays~

It's a Boy!!

Our sweet milk cow delivered this healthy little bull calf around 5:30 a.m. "Jan's Christmas Coal" was up and eating when I arrived in the barn. What an awesome little fellow he is. Healthy, fat and sassy. I checked on her last night about 9:30 p.m. before bed and she was uncomfortable and her breathing was labored. I was still delightedly surprised when I opened the door. It never gets old - being greeted buy a sweet, adorable face like his :)

This is the most awesome, dependable cow. She has the sweetest disposition and passes this on to her offspring She's wonderfully attentive to her calf and had him cleaned up and he was nursing by the time I arrived in the barn. For the past three years she has delivered beautiful heifers. This year I really wanted a bull. I want to raise him, monitoring his growth monthly to see what his gain is each month until he reaches two years old. The heifers grow nicely. I think this guy will do even better as we will castrate him and raise him as a steer. This year I have two cows to breed and next year we will have two babies on the farm :) Life is good!

Winter on the farm..........

This is the view from my kitchen window. I personally think it's gorgeous. Winter in New England. I wait all year for this! Our first big storm roared in about 7 this morning and it's been blowing and snowing ever since. We have about 8 inches and it's supposed to change to freezing rain later this afternoon.

All the animals that want to be are tucked in the barn, all cozy and dry. Jan, our pregnant cow, is relaxing in her stall, chewing her cud and showing small signs of labor. Hopefully tonight we will have a new baby calf :)

Of course there are always that few who defy logic and stand out in the storm. Not sure why but these gals either really, really love snow or are just being the defiant bunch.

The junco have arrived and seem to be the only birds at the feeders today. They hide under the evergreens and then make a run for the feeder on my Mom's porch when they think no one is watching.

Otis has never seen snow before. We had an inch or so the other day and he had a grand time learning what to do with that powdery white stuff! Rolling in it seems to be the best. Today he is really overwhelmed. It's as deep as his legs are long.

It's a good life!

It won't be long now.......

Jan's milk bag is filling up quickly - baby any day now!

December snow..........finally :)

I am one happy gal! We are getting our first real snowfall of the season. About 3 inches have accumulated so far. Everything looks beautiful and it feels more like December than June. Thursday is was 67 degrees here! The weather is as crazy as is the rest of the world.

It was snowing steadily while we did evening chores. The sheep were romping and jumping and having a great time. The dogs were doing the same. This is the first time Otis has seen snow. He really didn't know quite what to make of it. He and Danny were chasing a stick and he couldn't keep his feet underneath him :) It was lots of fun to watch them.

I know this snow won't last but it's much easier to get into the Christmas spirit with snow on the ground! Besides..........I simply like it :)

Another blow for America's small farms........

We are considered a "small" farm. It used to be that there were thousands of small farms in this country that provided tons of essential and valuable products to the people in this country. It's no secret that the small farmers are being forced out of business at an alarming rate.

We have three generations that live and work on this farm. We strive to provide the best product that we can on a small scale to the public. We are diversified in our offerings and with just two of us working full time on the farm, we put in long days and love it. We stand behind everything we sell and keep it affordable so our neighbors can support our business as we support our neighbors. We are always willing to barter and feel that keeping our money in our own state benefits all of us.

Obviously this is not the case by the folks with investment capital and "important status" in our fair state. In the Sunday paper, a large company had a three page layout dedicated to their newest venture. They have decided that they would like to sell woolen long underwear. Nothing wrong with that right? They are not sheep farmers or farmers at all so they had to hire someone to find them a farm. Not one but two farms purchased in one of the most expensive towns in the state. Next they needed sheep. So they hired someone to manage their new sheep farm and find them the right breed of sheep. None of the needed breed raised here so they had to be imported. Many of them - a herd of close to 500 before they are through. The sheep manager will care for them. That herd will not provide enough wool for this venture so they hired a buyer to find them wool which will be purchased out of state for a total of somewhere around 200,000 lbs! This wool will be processed in South Carolina. It will be made into fabric in Massachusetts. The long underwear tops and pants will run your average, everyday working man between $45 and $90 per piece. Affordable right? WRONG!!! At least not on my meager budget.

I cannot be the only one who finds something terribly wrong with this scenario. There are hundreds of small sheep farms in this state struggling to make a living, cutting corners and costs everywhere they can just to stay afloat. This company could have made woolen underwear from wool grown in this state, processed in this state and sold at a "reasonable" price so people in this state could afford to purchase it! I know why this didn't happen, they simply wouldn't make as much money and it would have cost them more. It's always about the money isn't it?

Hooray for folks with a million dollars to invest in a "I'm not ready to retire" project. It just seems like with the state of our economy they could have done something more to help support the state and the folks that live here and supported their first fledgling business all these years.

I'm going out to shovel what I read in the paper.....

Happy December....

December is normally a good month for us on the farm. I'm hoping this year will be no exception. The weather definitely has been in our favor! We always have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and use the extra time of having everyone home to finish up most of our pre-winter projects. We did just that this year. Steve was actually home the entire week and we completed quite a list.

Our cow tie up is finished and now in use. After just a couple of days the cows know which stanchion is theirs and go to their own space at night for their treat of grain. It is so much warmer in the barn in the morning and the smell is wonderful (if you love cows like I do :) Cows give off an incredible amount of heat especially when they are all close together. They all seem comfortable and I like knowing they are all in the barn at night.

Our milking cow, Jan, chose the stanchion to the right, which is directly to the left of our milking stall. Couldn't have worked out better. She is VERY pregnant and due to have her calf on/around December 9th. We measured her with a tape the other night. She is 9 feet around!! I am, as always at calving time, crazy with excitement. For the last three years she has delivered heifer calves. She is bred to the same bull so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Can I get lucky another year? It will be fantastic to have our own milk again along with butter, cream, cheese, etc.
I will put her in a box stall at night starting today so she can move around freely and deliver her calf. Hopefully we will be there when that happens :) Everything has a name here. If you have a suggestion for a name, feel free to let me know :) I'll post the final choice with a newborn photo.

A Holiday favor.........

I love Christmas......it's one of my favorite times of the year. A time for celebration, sharing, joy and caring. I start setting out my favorite decorations the day after thanksgiving :) They are all special and hold many wonderful memories. We love to send Christmas cards to our friends and family and enjoy receiving them as well. Often they are our "once a year" re-connect with newsy notes and family updates. It's the only time of year I really look forward to the mail :)

The weeks before Christmas are truly a continuation of the thanksgiving spirit. Counting our blessings and trying to help those less fortunate than we are. With that in mind, I'm asking each of you to do a small thing for a total stranger if it's within your power.

On Friday, November 27th, I'm starting my Christmas season by sending my first batch of Christmas Cards to:

Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capital Heights, MD 20791- 5456

All cards must be postmarked no later than December 7th 2009 to be sure they get delivered by Christmas. After that they will be returned to sender.

This is a collaboration between the American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes. Each card should be signed. Do not include any personal information or include anything in your card.
Each card is screened for hazardous material, inspected and then forwarded to an American Soldier. So many soldiers have nothing to look forward to at the holidays. WE CAN CHANGE THAT :)

If you want to check this out further go to: snopes.com and search for Holiday Mail for Heroes.

If you can send just one card, it will make a difference in the life of a Soldier. They are all so deserving.

~Thanks so much and Happy, Happy Holidays ~

I am Thankful.........

For the beautiful surroundings, family and friends that God has blessed me with. I am grateful for the friends I have made through this blog and all the folks that visit from time to time.....you are all special and I appreciate each and everyone one of you.

May you all enjoy a day of Thanksgiving filled with peace, good food, family and friends.

~From all of us at Tylerfarm ~

Plans for Miss Piggy

Our warm temps continue and we are are taking full advantage of it. Hubby is home for the week and we are plugging away on our list of "to be completed" projects.

The time has come for Miss Charlotte, our sow to be bred. This is a first for us. We have raised pigs successfully for years but I've never raised a female to keep for breeding. Charlotte has grown into a "BIG" pig and she's a pet. She loves to be scratched and petted. Mr. Pig will be arriving in a week or so. We finished up the honeymoon suite yesterday and moved Charlotte into her new digs.

The inside of our big barn was originally 10x10 box stalls for horses. I haven't had horses for a few years now so we have been slowly revamping the inside to accommodate our other animals. We gave Charlotte a 10x10 stall with a trap door through to the next 10x10 stall for a farrowing stall. We can also move Mr & Mrs Pig from one stall to the other to clean them out. I can open and close the trap door from the outside of the stall. The blue barrel is her source for water. It has a pig nipple on the bottom. She has to push down on the tip of it to release the water into her mouth. It works great and it keeps her accommodations much cleaner. I can also put a small barrel heater in it to keep her water from freezing should it get very cold in the barn this winter.

We are hoping Charlotte settles the first breeding so Mr. Pig doesn't need to stay very long. Gestation for a pig is 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days. If all goes well, we will have piglets in April when warm weather is arriving.

Our last hatch of guinea keats moved into the junior guinea house yesterday. They are happy to have a place to get outside and scratch around. They will stay here for 8 weeks or so and then move into the big guinea house with all the others. I have a trap door between the two and can just open it to let them merge when it's time.

This handsome fellow is one of our barn cats, Smokey. Lately he has been sitting on the stairs and watching us as we work in the barn. He's not exactly friendly but he's not all that afraid of us either.

He has plenty of company in the hay mow; I'll post some new pictures of them soon.

Naked goaties :)

Thursday was goat shearing day at the farm. Our pygora goats are sheared twice per year. Spring and fall. With the fabulous warm weather we are having, we waited a little longer than usual. The fiber is fantastic. Soft, soft, soft, slightly curled and a nice length. The two doelings fiber was very soft and very curly. All were very good on the stand. We did feet trimming, de-worming and de-lousing at the same time. They all have deep straw beds to curl up in at night. Delilah
Amos, Rudy, Delilah, Ribbon & Lace looking for an animal cracker :)

Rudy with his new "doo"

Ribbon

Ruby - she looks like a baby all over again :)

Darling Diamond

I will add this fiber to our clip from last fall and wait until this springs clip before I send it all out for processing. Last year I over dyed alot of the gray fiber that was spun into yarn. This year I'll over dye some of the white. The pygora fiber absorbs the dye easily and the colors are brilliant due to the sheen of the fiber.

Babies are due around March 1. We never get the same colors from year to year. Kidding is one of my favorite times of the year. Stay tuned!!

H1N1 - It strikes without warning

This wasn't my planned blog post but I feel it's important to share this if it helps anyone be better prepared if H1N1 hits your home.
The H1N1 flu has reared it's ugly head here and it came without warning just like medical practitioners predicted. As much as I've read and heard about it, it is still very frightening.

When Tyler went to bed Tuesday night, he was fine. Wednesday morning he woke up with a slight cough. He called at 10:30 a.m to tell me he wasn't staying after school as planned, he wasn't feeling well. When he got off the bus his ears were red and he wasn't doing well at all.
His temp was 102 at that time. I gave him tylenol/advil and sent him to bed. Yesterday morning he was burning up and had a severe cough. His temp was 104.7. I called the DR and she diagnosed H1N1 without a visit to her office. He is now on Tamiflu as are the rest of us as a preventative measure. He has been very sick and I have been very worried. We have kept his temp down with ibuprofen and cold cloths and now it's nearly normal although the dry hacking cough has made his throat and chest very sore. His back muscles ache from coughing so much. Thankfully he rests in between coughing spells and I really believe the tamiflu was the key in his quick turn around.

Not sure how it is in other states but Maine has had a severe shortage of H1N1 flu vaccine. Our schools were supposed to have it over a month ago and still have not. He was scheduled for the vaccine Dec 1. He will still get it if and when it happens. I'm very cautious about vaccines but think this one is a good one to have. This flu is dangerous and thankfully Tyler was very healthy prior to this or it could have been much worse.

I pray none of your families are hit with this.

Around the farm........

Another unusually warm November morning. It was quite humid and the fog was heavy. The fog was rising the same time as the sun. It was very beautiful and odd at the same time. We received 2+ inches of rain this past weekend. As much as I love the snow, I'm appreciative we are getting rain and balmy weather. It has given us time to finish fall projects without freezing fingers.
We have been planning to build a cow tie up and to use recycled stanchions that came out of an old barn. We had the time to work on it this weekend. Steve spent most of Saturday in the barn while I ran the shop. Sunday we worked together and finished up everything except for putting in the stanchions. We hope to finish it this coming weekend.

One stanchion will go into the space between the posts. The cows will have plenty of room to lie down and to eat and be comfortable and stay dry. They will stay in at night and during the day when the weather is miserable. It will be nice and toasty in the barn in the mornings :) Cows give off tons of heat and they smell good too.

This little fella hung around the barn on Saturday with Steve. His name is Chong and he is a Japanese silkie rooster. Sadly his buddy Cheech, passed away Friday morning. They are about 10 years old and were a gift I gave my husband years ago. They had the run of the farm and were sort of mascots. They are very entertaining to watch :) Chong seemed pretty lost on Friday and Saturday but today he is his normal self, hanging with the guineas and doing his usual patrol. I hope to find him a buddy before long.

~Thanks for visiting - stop in again soon~

Frosty mornings...........

Frosty starts to beautiful autumn days this past week. The little farm shop was "cool" inside.

25 f on the outside on Friday. 42F this morning with the remnants of Ida moving our way, a couple of inches of rain expected. We have had a dry week so the rain is needed. Surprisingly the soil is dry.

The farm shop is open today. Yesterday we purchased a heater. When the sun doesn't shine, it's chilly in there. Hopefully our new heater will keep it nice and toasty. Our clientele is steadily growing and being warm is important. I love working in there on Saturdays. I am in the process of putting a new warp on my big rug loom in between customers. That's exciting for me. It's been two years since I've been able to weave on the big loom and I'm really looking forward to it.

We are building a new cow tie up in the barn to accommodate our cows on cold winter nights. We bought our lumber yesterday so building commences today. We have stanchions from an old barn that we will use. Everyone will be together and toasty in the big barn this winter.

I've been sending out mail orders this week. A lovely lady from out of state e-mailed looked for a fleece. I had just finished shearing this little fat fellow and after emailing photos, she purchased his. This is Cactus, a shetland/finn cross wether. He was one of my first quads born here and weighed just 2 lbs. He is also the son of the the best ram I have ever had. Needless to say, he's put on some weight since then :) He's a pet - we carried him around and cuddled him for months. He produces lovely fiber and has a forever home here.

That's it from the farm today. Better get busy! Have a great weekend everyone :)