Stinky Bottom and Lambert Update

Elise is a special kid.  She is the first born of Sophie, our bottle fed and raised in the kitchen goat.  Elise has to be there first, eat first, drink first, be the loudest and bounce higher.  I would love to say she is a lady. Nope, she is a tom boy.  Well I think Elise ate a little too much of the fresh hay and got stinky bottom.  Otherwise known on our farm as pigging out disease.  I would be worried if more than one goat had diarrhea but it is only Elise.  If the whole herd came down with diarrhea I would fear clostridium and treat everyone accordingly with Coreg.  Just one stinky bottom requires Pepto Bismol twice a day and a good healthy dose of ProBiotics.  While out taking care of Elise we went ahead and separated the last lambs from their mom, gave them their last CD&T shot for this year and dewormed. Never a dull moment. Now it is noisy with the lambs being sad and I swear I heard Ciera give a whoop of joy in the ewe pasture. I think she is, yes, she is dancing! Oh, please cover those udders girl. You ain't as young as you use to be. Sorry.....

Ted held Elise and I administered the Pepto.  She held it in her cheeks and refused to swallow. Just like a goat. "I will do it in my time and like I want."

Now for the Lambert update.  He is doing well, happy but still thinks he is NOT A SHEEP!

He is the only lamb that gets to come out of the pasture and play in the barn. Once in a while we have to rescue the fella. He is very curious and requires supervision.

Of course he is just one of the dogs. They all get along very well.

Then at the end of the day it's time to go back into the lamb pasture. 

As we go back into the house we hear a frustrated little boy voice say "but I'm not really a sheep. I want to go in and watch Ellen and drink ice tea".  Poor little guy.  At least he will remain with us when the other lambs go away.  We love you Lambert.

Much Love and Prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm.

New Holland 66 Baler

Here we are again.  Another piece of new to us hay equipment. She may be a bit used, a bit old and a bit rusty but in our eyes she is one of the most beautiful balers we have ever seen.  Ted has spent a large amount of time looking  through Ebay, Uncle Henry's and Craigslist for hay equipment.  The really new equipment is horrendous in price. I checked online for a new New Holland baler and we were looking at $24,000 minimum. No bells and whistles.  Heck, we only have 20 acres of hay fields.  This sweet lady actually works. After our John Deere tractor being in the shop for 2 summers straight maybe new isn't such a good idea. 

(after looking at this picture, we have to take that Christmas wreath off of the barn somehow!)

There is a whole story that goes with this purchase. Like Ted was on his way to southern Maine and about 15 min away when the seller texted Ted and said that he had already sold it.  Like, 2 hrs away from home, almost there.  Evidently, the buyer only wanted the clutch and pto and would sell us the remaining baler and a motor that would run the baler instead of the pto.  So off he went to the new owners house to pick up the baler.

The clutch goes here.  It looks kind of lonely without the pto. 

Not to be deterred Ted went back to Ebay, Uncle Henry's and Craigslist looking for the pto and clutch.  Ebay is where we met a wonderful family who had the exact parts we needed.  Have you ever ordered a tractor online? No? Well, we did and it arrived. In a few boxes that is.

It may not look like much but to us it is beautiful.

Put together like a puzzle.

Ted just couldn't quit till it was completed.

So a little after 8pm last night the baler was all put together and ready to go.  

No rain in the forecast for 3 days.  Perfect haying weather.  Updates to come.

Oh, I'm going to be tired. I can already feel it in my bones. 

It comes with excitement and expectation. 

Much Love and Prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm

Strawberry Hunters

Please join Emma and Lucy as they search through fresh cut hay looking for wild strawberries.




These pups love to eat everything. They like vegetables, fruit, (except grapes) meat.  They love when the apple trees drop fruit. When we have veggies the pups get their share too.  I love to take frozen peas and toss a couple of handfuls onto the floor and watch the pups find every pea. Oh, corn and green beans the same thing.   I can't help but laugh in the video as they search and sneeze.

These berries are small but have a powerful taste.  I have to admit that I helped them find berries and ate a few myself.  The joys of summer.
Much Love and Prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm.

Oh No! Another Hay Post

Oh no! Another haying post.  If it's summer it must be hay season.  Sunshine, cool breeze and we're off to the upper meadow.  Otherwise known as the upper hayfield. Beautiful trip through a thick forest of trees.

The views are breathtaking.  The beauty of a corn field is so Americana.  This corn field is destined as silage.  Silage is fed at most dairy's here.  Basically it is corn.  However, they don't just pick the ears to make feed out of.  A machine comes down the rows and cuts the stalk off about 6 inches from the ground and grinds the stalk and ears.  Nothing wasted. The silage ferments and provides a great source of feed for dairy cattle.  Not for goats. The fermentation can be dangerous and may contain a bacteria called Listeria. Listeria can be deadly to goats. Therefore, we use sweet feed specifically designed  for goats. Safer.

Hay all mown. Tedded by Ted of course.  Nice and dry.   Ready to be raked and baled.

 
Ted on the blue tractor raking, Fred on the baler.

Emma and Lucy helping keep any bugs or mice away.  They did find a dead snake. Oh joy!

New Holland .  Great dependable baler.  This is Freds' baler. Good news we are now the proud owners of a very rusty New Holland 66 baler. Old. Very old. It works and that is the best thing about it.

Plop...plop out comes the bales in neat little well...bales.

We are expecting showers tonight so we will wait till Wednesday to mow the lower pasture.  At that time I will yell that we have completed the first cut.  Today  is one of the hottest and most humid of this summer.  I keep reminding myself that it will be cold weather soon enough. I am trying to convince myself that this feels good.  No luck so far. Blah.....too hot.
Hope you all are having a wonderful summer. Keep in mind that it will be cold soon enough. Just try it and see if it works for you. I sincerely hope so.
Much Love and Prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm.

A Tedder!

One more piece of equipment. It is a used  new Tedder.  Let's just say it is new to us.  It doesn't look like much but it is so necessary to "fluff" up the hay after it is cut so it can dry nice like before it is baled.

Now Ted has a Tedder

When the arms are out it covers about 18ft.  Go forth and do your thing.

So far we have broken off 2 of these coil finger things. I know they probably have a name. I'm sure when I call to get more the man on the phone will educate me. But for now they are coil finger things.

Baled hay for some greedy goats.  They have been enjoying some fruits of our labor.  Hay bales that break or fall apart are fed out.  Like candy and babies.  Our spoiled, greedy babies. Goat kisses to all.

The sheep have lush summer pastures right now.  We put a bale of fresh green hay out for them and it was exciting for about 3 minutes.  Then back to grass and weeds. We want to fence in a wooded area for the goats to graze.  In time, in time.  Patience is not one of my stronger characteristics.  Nope. I want it all now.

We are still haying and baling.  My back and hip hurt from throwing bales and climbing up and down the tractor.  I still have to say I find it enjoyable.  Ibuprofen is my friend.

Much Love and Prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm

Happy Birthday USA

Here we are again. Another year older.  Another year of uncertainty. What will the coming days bring?

Here is wishing America another birthday.

May you grow old with dignity.

May you realize your dreams.

May God bless you and yours.

Happy Birthday sweet lady!

Cheers!

Much Love and Prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm

Our New Kuhn Drum Mower PZ170

Yes, we finally have a mower for our hay.  Piece by piece we are acquiring farm equipment.  This is the first "new" one.  There is a darn good reason for that. New=expensive.  Kuhn has developed a drum mower.  It works differently than the regular mower/conditioner.  The drum mower just cuts the hay down. It doesn't crush it.  It may take a bit longer to dry but for less money we are willing to wait a bit longer.

It is light weight and easy for the tractor to run.

Here is a peek of the "drum" part.

Those little square tabs on the bottom of the drums are blades.

It cuts the hay cleanly.

This belt runs off of the PTO and rotates the two drums

We are so excited.  We can now cut our own hay. Little by little we are getting there. 

See us in action!

 I hope we will be independent with our hay season next summer. 
Much Love and Prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm.