Farm Yard News
The year is starting out as harsh as 2013 ended. Last December was the second coldest in the history of Manitoba and we expect January will be the same way. Nothing will test the systems on any farm like the cold and we’ve had to make adjustments along the way. The biggest difference this year over any other is the fact that we had to move our pigs indoors. We’ve always kept the pigs outdoors even at extreme temperatures but December’s consistent -25 to -35 was too cold for too long and we moved them indoors until February. On the bright side we had a new high efficient wood fired boiler installed on the farm that heats the house and the two barns. We now heat the entire farm on a renewable resource. Thanks goes to Willy Ginter from North Country Heating in Steinbach for the High Efficiency boiler. When we purchased our boiler we were able to capitalize on the governments tax rebate for high efficiency heating systems and to Penn Lite Mechanical for their expert installation of the boiler into the barns and house. Any babies born now including our chicks will have a heated floor to stand on – very nice. This past September we completed our new chicken coop, it is a 20 X 30 insulated coop with underfloor heating as well as a cooling system in the ceiling right now it is filled with pigs and sheep
Pig News!!
Our two sows have both given litters. Since it takes approximately 14 months to raise the pigs, next year, we will be able to offer pork as well as lamb and chicken products. We now have 14 piglets that Iron farmer Sophia and Anna say “look sooo cute” but Reuben and I just see bacon and ham whenever we look at them. Their ears are almost as big as their bodies, maybe one of the local crows will give one them a feather and teach it how to fly.
On the poultry front
We get our first chicks in April so the Iron farmer Hyrum will be calling his usual customers in February as we need to order in March. In addition to Chicken and Turkey Farmer Hyrum is now offering duck pheasant and guinea fowl
Sheep’s Stories
We had our first lamb this year at the end of January, born in -25 degree weather outside, Sophia found it with the other sheep. We brought the little one and mom in the chicken coop (with the baby pigs and their moms) and everyone is getting on fine. Now all we need is a spider that can write.
Best of the Beef
The one animal that doesn’t seem to mind the extreme weather is our Galloway cattle. Our baby calf is getting quite large for a 7 month animal and the bull and cows don’t mind the weather at all. Our custom raised cattle (Porter, Ribs, and Stu) snuggle in with the others in their shelter and everyone’s keeping warm.