OK. We have a lot of chickens. And by a lot, I mean we're down from our all-time summer high of 75 to a much more manageable 20 laying hens. Which means we have a lot of eggs too. The layers laid more in the summer (more light, better mood, more food, ya know - all the things that would make me happier too), but now that we're entering winter and the days are getting shorter our eggs are kind of in short supply. We only get 12 a day now!
And the average person would say, "My, your cholesterol must be through the roof eating all those eggs!" Well, don't worry - we hatched (he he. Get it? Hatched?) the perfect plan for egg liquidation: A trip to the hardware store, some plywood, paint, ice packs and and a camping cooler and you've got a shanty-town roadside egg store! We started a couple months ago (but, remember? no internet for so, so long...) and I'm totally hooked on the roadside egg stand. I mean, this is better than reality TV. (Well, it has to be since I gave up watching The Bachelorette after Ali chose Roberto instead of the obvious choice Chris from Cape Cod. What was she thinking? Anyway.)
Seriously though, Saturday we wound up with four dozen extra eggs so I put them out about 8:00am and went shopping. And they were all gone when I got back about 12:00! We sold out. Doors closed - out of product. And, get this: people are actually dropping off empty egg cartons now! We have repeat customers! Satisfied, loyal, repeat customers that have to be surveying our house constantly just waiting to pounce on the egg stand! Not once have we had someone take eggs without paying - and people can be trusted to make their own change! We actually put money in the jar to start with so people can make their own change and the system is working!
I can't profile our customers yet, but I have seen this one guy in a small dark car stop for eggs twice now. I'm considering setting up a command post to monitor the purchasing a little closer 'cause, you know, a "sign-in" sheet would just be creepy.
Todd and I both agree there's only one way to address this demand for eggs: We need to buy more chickens!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Taking One For The Team Chicken
Scene: Our house. Saturday morning, 7:30am.
It's no secret Todd likes to sleep in on the weekends. And I am so a morning person. So, early Saturday morning, I get Colt in the backpack and we headed out for some early morning chore duty. We fed the goats, horses and cows and got on the 4-wheeler and headed to the bottom of the field to the broiler "hoop coop." Because, remember? Every good story starts with "I had the baby on my back."
(For those of you not familiar with the hoop coop, it is a 10'x12' tarp covered, domed enclosure that the chickens live in. It has an automatic waterer fed from a five gallon bucket mounted on top and we're able to feed them through a PVC tube which extends outside the coop. We pull the coop on to fresh grass every day.)
I move the coop and realize that, although their 5 gallon bucket is full, there is no water in their automatic waterer. A definite sign of a clog. The reservoir is open on the top, so I figured a leaf dropped in there and covered the 1/2" hole for the tube which feeds the waterer. I climbed up to look. Nothing clogging up there. So, we went in to the coop (remember....10'x12', tarp covered and chocked full of 25 psycho chickens - 5 of which I'm certain are roosters). I unscrewed the tube where the reservoir attached to the waterer and sure enough - no water coming out.
And this is where it gets bad. I'm not sure exactly what possessed me to perform the following action: I stuck the tube in my mouth and started mouth syphoning the chicken water. Before I could really reflect on what a terrible decision that was, a HUGE chunk of slimy nastiness got sucked in to my mouth with a rush of equally terrible, barf-inducing chicken water. It had the consistency of a tapioca pudding ball, didn't taste good at all, and I gauge was about the size of a marble. I retched and retched and couched it out, then barfed a little. Thank goodness I hadn't eaten breakfast yet or that could have been a real mess.... Water was spewing from the line, so I put it back together and water rushed in and all the chickens gathered around for a drink. Nasty. Nasty. Nasty.
Here's what I've learned:
1.Rule #1 when I started studying chemistry: NO MOUTH PIPETTING. This applies to real-world settings as well.
2.Chickens can survive at least a day without water. I'm projecting they could have lived another day without it too.
3.It pays to sleep in on the weekends. And, in case you were wondering: chickens eat barf.
It's no secret Todd likes to sleep in on the weekends. And I am so a morning person. So, early Saturday morning, I get Colt in the backpack and we headed out for some early morning chore duty. We fed the goats, horses and cows and got on the 4-wheeler and headed to the bottom of the field to the broiler "hoop coop." Because, remember? Every good story starts with "I had the baby on my back."
(For those of you not familiar with the hoop coop, it is a 10'x12' tarp covered, domed enclosure that the chickens live in. It has an automatic waterer fed from a five gallon bucket mounted on top and we're able to feed them through a PVC tube which extends outside the coop. We pull the coop on to fresh grass every day.)
I move the coop and realize that, although their 5 gallon bucket is full, there is no water in their automatic waterer. A definite sign of a clog. The reservoir is open on the top, so I figured a leaf dropped in there and covered the 1/2" hole for the tube which feeds the waterer. I climbed up to look. Nothing clogging up there. So, we went in to the coop (remember....10'x12', tarp covered and chocked full of 25 psycho chickens - 5 of which I'm certain are roosters). I unscrewed the tube where the reservoir attached to the waterer and sure enough - no water coming out.
And this is where it gets bad. I'm not sure exactly what possessed me to perform the following action: I stuck the tube in my mouth and started mouth syphoning the chicken water. Before I could really reflect on what a terrible decision that was, a HUGE chunk of slimy nastiness got sucked in to my mouth with a rush of equally terrible, barf-inducing chicken water. It had the consistency of a tapioca pudding ball, didn't taste good at all, and I gauge was about the size of a marble. I retched and retched and couched it out, then barfed a little. Thank goodness I hadn't eaten breakfast yet or that could have been a real mess.... Water was spewing from the line, so I put it back together and water rushed in and all the chickens gathered around for a drink. Nasty. Nasty. Nasty.
Here's what I've learned:
1.Rule #1 when I started studying chemistry: NO MOUTH PIPETTING. This applies to real-world settings as well.
2.Chickens can survive at least a day without water. I'm projecting they could have lived another day without it too.
3.It pays to sleep in on the weekends. And, in case you were wondering: chickens eat barf.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Seriously!
This was the series of events that played out last night:
Arrive home from work, put baby in back pack and head to barn. Turn out goats, which start to meander in the "runway" to the field. Release angry, penned-up donkey who blasts, bucking, towards the field and encounters wayward goats. Donkey kicks goat and runs off. I shepard the (unhurt) goats to the field. Pile chicken feed, bucket of straw and bucket of shavings on 4-wheeler and drive to chicken coop. Hit brakes too hard and dump entire contents of straw bucket down my right boot. Remove boot, swear, shake out straw. Step in cow poop with socked foot. Swear again. Open lid to egg-laying box. Turn, pull goat off 4-wheeler. Nesting box lid smashes into my forehead. Swear, rub head and realize I have just rubbed chicken poop on my forehead and into my hair. Swear again. Swear again. Pull goat off 4-wheeler. Pull goat off 4-wheeler. Open nesting box, chicken jumps out. Cow chases chicken (in futile attempt to squash it) into neighbor's yard. Smash fingers in lid. Swear. Collect eggs, refurbish nesting boxes.
Enter coop to feed chickens. 10 escape, goat runs in and eats chicken food. Pull goat out. Comes back in. Pull goat out, comes back in. More chickens escape. Herd all but six chickens in. Pull goat off 4-wheeler. Fill chicken water and spill ~2 gallons into my other boot.
Return to house where all six chickens have destroyed my herb garden. Chase chickens. Repeat chase. Give up and vow to re-plant herb garden next year. Consider chasing chickens from vegetable garden, but give up and decide to turn on news while preparing baby's dinner. Colt gets a hold of the remote, bites it, and the TV screen goes entirely blue, flashes "No Signal" message over and over.
Attempt to feed Colt. Resulted in full-on meltdown complete with a mashed potato and applesauce facial for baby. Bottle him and off to bed.
Seriously. No more Todd working late..... I am obviously severely under qualified for this farming thing.
Arrive home from work, put baby in back pack and head to barn. Turn out goats, which start to meander in the "runway" to the field. Release angry, penned-up donkey who blasts, bucking, towards the field and encounters wayward goats. Donkey kicks goat and runs off. I shepard the (unhurt) goats to the field. Pile chicken feed, bucket of straw and bucket of shavings on 4-wheeler and drive to chicken coop. Hit brakes too hard and dump entire contents of straw bucket down my right boot. Remove boot, swear, shake out straw. Step in cow poop with socked foot. Swear again. Open lid to egg-laying box. Turn, pull goat off 4-wheeler. Nesting box lid smashes into my forehead. Swear, rub head and realize I have just rubbed chicken poop on my forehead and into my hair. Swear again. Swear again. Pull goat off 4-wheeler. Pull goat off 4-wheeler. Open nesting box, chicken jumps out. Cow chases chicken (in futile attempt to squash it) into neighbor's yard. Smash fingers in lid. Swear. Collect eggs, refurbish nesting boxes.
Enter coop to feed chickens. 10 escape, goat runs in and eats chicken food. Pull goat out. Comes back in. Pull goat out, comes back in. More chickens escape. Herd all but six chickens in. Pull goat off 4-wheeler. Fill chicken water and spill ~2 gallons into my other boot.
Return to house where all six chickens have destroyed my herb garden. Chase chickens. Repeat chase. Give up and vow to re-plant herb garden next year. Consider chasing chickens from vegetable garden, but give up and decide to turn on news while preparing baby's dinner. Colt gets a hold of the remote, bites it, and the TV screen goes entirely blue, flashes "No Signal" message over and over.
Attempt to feed Colt. Resulted in full-on meltdown complete with a mashed potato and applesauce facial for baby. Bottle him and off to bed.
Seriously. No more Todd working late..... I am obviously severely under qualified for this farming thing.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Factory Farming by Jo Robinson
As I was surfing the net about pastured or grass fed animals, I came across this website called eatwild. It is a good resource for information we could use to help market our products. Here is part of an article that I found interesting about Factory Farming.
Virtually all the meat, eggs, and dairy products that you find in the supermarket come from animals raised in confinement in large facilities called CAFOs or “Confined Animal Feeding Operations.” These highly mechanized operations provide a year-round supply of food at a reasonable price. Although the food is cheap and convenient, there is growing recognition that factory farming creates a host of problems, including
• Animal stress and abuse
• Air, land, and water pollution
• The unnecessary use of hormones, antibiotics, and other drugs
• Low-paid, stressful farm work
• The loss of small family farms
• Food with less nutritional value
Unnatural Diets. Animals raised in factory farms are given diets designed to boost their productivity and lower costs. The main ingredients are genetically modified grain and soy that are kept at artificially low prices by government subsidies. To further cut costs, the feed may also contain “by-product feedstuff” such as municipal garbage, stale pastry, chicken feathers, and candy. Until 1997, U.S. cattle were also being fed meat that had been trimmed from other cattle, in effect turning herbivores into carnivores. This unnatural practice is believed to be the underlying cause of BSE or “mad cow disease.”
Animal Stress. A high-grain diet can cause physical problems for ruminants—cud-chewing animals such as cattle, dairy cows, goats, bison, and sheep. Ruminants are designed to eat fibrous grasses, plants, and shrubs—not starchy, low-fiber grain. When they are switched from pasture to grain, they can become afflicted with a number of disorders, including a common but painful condition called “subacute acidosis.” Cattle with subacute acidosis kick at their bellies, go off their feed, and eat dirt. To prevent more serious and sometimes fatal reactions, the animals are given chemical additives along with a constant, low-level dose of antibiotics. Some of these antibiotics are the same ones used in human medicine. When medications are overused in the feedlots, bacteria become resistant to them. When people become infected with these new, disease-resistant bacteria, there are fewer medications available to treat them.
Caged Pigs, Chickens, Ducks and Geese. Most of the nation’s chickens, turkeys, and pigs are also being raised in confinement. Typically, they suffer an even worse fate than the grazing animals. Tightly packed into cages, sheds, or pens, they cannot practice their normal behaviors, such as rooting, grazing, and roosting. Laying hens are crowded into cages that are so small that there is not enough room for all of the birds to sit down at one time. An added insult is that they cannot escape the stench of their own manure. Meat and eggs from these animals are lower in a number of key vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids.
Environmental Degradation. When animals are raised in feedlots or cages, they deposit large amounts of manure in a small amount of space. The manure must be collected and transported away from the area, an expensive proposition. To cut costs, it is dumped as close to the feedlot as possible. As a result, the surrounding soil is overloaded with nutrients, which can cause ground and water pollution. When animals are raised outdoors on pasture, their manure is spread over a wide area of land, making it a welcome source of organic fertilizer, not a “waste management problem.”
Virtually all the meat, eggs, and dairy products that you find in the supermarket come from animals raised in confinement in large facilities called CAFOs or “Confined Animal Feeding Operations.” These highly mechanized operations provide a year-round supply of food at a reasonable price. Although the food is cheap and convenient, there is growing recognition that factory farming creates a host of problems, including
• Animal stress and abuse
• Air, land, and water pollution
• The unnecessary use of hormones, antibiotics, and other drugs
• Low-paid, stressful farm work
• The loss of small family farms
• Food with less nutritional value
Unnatural Diets. Animals raised in factory farms are given diets designed to boost their productivity and lower costs. The main ingredients are genetically modified grain and soy that are kept at artificially low prices by government subsidies. To further cut costs, the feed may also contain “by-product feedstuff” such as municipal garbage, stale pastry, chicken feathers, and candy. Until 1997, U.S. cattle were also being fed meat that had been trimmed from other cattle, in effect turning herbivores into carnivores. This unnatural practice is believed to be the underlying cause of BSE or “mad cow disease.”
Animal Stress. A high-grain diet can cause physical problems for ruminants—cud-chewing animals such as cattle, dairy cows, goats, bison, and sheep. Ruminants are designed to eat fibrous grasses, plants, and shrubs—not starchy, low-fiber grain. When they are switched from pasture to grain, they can become afflicted with a number of disorders, including a common but painful condition called “subacute acidosis.” Cattle with subacute acidosis kick at their bellies, go off their feed, and eat dirt. To prevent more serious and sometimes fatal reactions, the animals are given chemical additives along with a constant, low-level dose of antibiotics. Some of these antibiotics are the same ones used in human medicine. When medications are overused in the feedlots, bacteria become resistant to them. When people become infected with these new, disease-resistant bacteria, there are fewer medications available to treat them.
Caged Pigs, Chickens, Ducks and Geese. Most of the nation’s chickens, turkeys, and pigs are also being raised in confinement. Typically, they suffer an even worse fate than the grazing animals. Tightly packed into cages, sheds, or pens, they cannot practice their normal behaviors, such as rooting, grazing, and roosting. Laying hens are crowded into cages that are so small that there is not enough room for all of the birds to sit down at one time. An added insult is that they cannot escape the stench of their own manure. Meat and eggs from these animals are lower in a number of key vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids.
Environmental Degradation. When animals are raised in feedlots or cages, they deposit large amounts of manure in a small amount of space. The manure must be collected and transported away from the area, an expensive proposition. To cut costs, it is dumped as close to the feedlot as possible. As a result, the surrounding soil is overloaded with nutrients, which can cause ground and water pollution. When animals are raised outdoors on pasture, their manure is spread over a wide area of land, making it a welcome source of organic fertilizer, not a “waste management problem.”
Summer is almost here!
Hopefully everyone put their gardens in last week when the ground was dry. Now it seems we are having a late Spring Storm with lots of rain. It will help the garden grow so, no complaints here. Our son Colton is growing like a weed. He is 8 months old but he is the size of a 2 year old, at least that is what it feels like carrying him around.
Well, May is almost over and summer is just around the corner. That means we have a lot of work to do around our homes. Gardens are in, and lawns are being mowed. Here at the Pleasant Valley Farm we are busy raising meat as well. Fortunately we have room to raise enough meat for our friends and family. This year we are offering chicken, turkey, pork and beef.
Our animals are rotated through pastures and woods to keep the soil (incredibly) healthy and to keep the animals on fresh forage. This is an ethical way to raise livestock and minimizes our need to medicate them, which helps assure healthy animals. Healthy animals lead to healthy food for our Friends and Family, food which happens to have incredible flavor.
Well, May is almost over and summer is just around the corner. That means we have a lot of work to do around our homes. Gardens are in, and lawns are being mowed. Here at the Pleasant Valley Farm we are busy raising meat as well. Fortunately we have room to raise enough meat for our friends and family. This year we are offering chicken, turkey, pork and beef.
Our animals are rotated through pastures and woods to keep the soil (incredibly) healthy and to keep the animals on fresh forage. This is an ethical way to raise livestock and minimizes our need to medicate them, which helps assure healthy animals. Healthy animals lead to healthy food for our Friends and Family, food which happens to have incredible flavor.
Monday, May 17, 2010
A Little Goat History...
It seems like lately (stemming obviously from the massive amount of goat-related posts) I've been getting the question, "Wait. Now, why did you get goats in the first place?" and I feel compelled to answer this. As if it will somehow validate or rationalize our decision to purchase the goats.
So, Todd works with a lot of Fijian Islanders (in, like, they're from Fiji.). And they, apparently, eat a substantial amount of goat. The good thing is that they like to purchase whole, live goats and prefer to take them to do their own butchering and processing. So, all that is needed is someone with property (do all Fijian Islanders live in town?), a little time, A LOT of patience and perhaps lacking the ability to, oh, I don't know.....say no? Enter Todd and Rikki! The farm-tackling duo with just the right combination of (or, lack of) brains, property, time and patience!
And that, my friends, is how we came to house five of the most wonderful goats placed on this earth. (Do we all sense the sarcasm?)
Oh, did I mention two of them have developed this weird, scaly rash on their noses? I didn't? Hmm. That's weird. Maybe that's because I've spent too much time posting about them escaping to talk about the strange fungal infections they're developing.
Oh, and I was thinking: maybe they (the Fijian Islanders) don't all live in town and lack the means of raising their own goats. Maybe they're just a little smarter than we are.....
So, Todd works with a lot of Fijian Islanders (in, like, they're from Fiji.). And they, apparently, eat a substantial amount of goat. The good thing is that they like to purchase whole, live goats and prefer to take them to do their own butchering and processing. So, all that is needed is someone with property (do all Fijian Islanders live in town?), a little time, A LOT of patience and perhaps lacking the ability to, oh, I don't know.....say no? Enter Todd and Rikki! The farm-tackling duo with just the right combination of (or, lack of) brains, property, time and patience!
And that, my friends, is how we came to house five of the most wonderful goats placed on this earth. (Do we all sense the sarcasm?)
Oh, did I mention two of them have developed this weird, scaly rash on their noses? I didn't? Hmm. That's weird. Maybe that's because I've spent too much time posting about them escaping to talk about the strange fungal infections they're developing.
Oh, and I was thinking: maybe they (the Fijian Islanders) don't all live in town and lack the means of raising their own goats. Maybe they're just a little smarter than we are.....
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Goat Containment Update
Just what you've all been waiting for - a goat update!
Well, it appears that the substantial fencing improvements have made an impression on the goats. We have had ---- drumroll please ----- FIVE CONSECUTIVE DAYS without a wayward goat.
I know, I know. And you were thinking we'd given up. Not this lean, mean, goat-wrangling machine.
Well, it appears that the substantial fencing improvements have made an impression on the goats. We have had ---- drumroll please ----- FIVE CONSECUTIVE DAYS without a wayward goat.
I know, I know. And you were thinking we'd given up. Not this lean, mean, goat-wrangling machine.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Farm Fun!
So, Tuesday morning I send Todd off to work. I have Tuesdays off and I usually spend it catching up on housework, cleaning, dishes, laundry, organizing, playing with the baby, etc. Usually Todd does all the animal chores in the morning and I tend to the other animal - Colt. However, on Tuesdays we (Colt and I) usually sleep in (until around 6:00am...), have breakfast, coffee (you heard it here first - I'm back on the sauce...) and watch some toons. Tuesdays are also Todd's "free day" because I do all the animal chores after he's left for work.
Instead of sleeping in though, I was up by 5:30 with a lean, mean, housecleaning routine planned for the day. By 7:00 I had: swept, swiffered and mopped the house, unloaded the dishwasher and reloaded it, started two loads of laundry, folded a load, planned my grocery list, eaten breakfast, fed the baby and vacuumed our bedroom. Sweet, huh!? I also had some phone calls to make, but decided to wait until after 8:00am to do that.
So, I head to the barn to start the chores with the baby on my back. First stop: chicken brooders. I notice their heat lamp isn't on and I opened the lid to find the heat lamp blown into a million pieces scattered about the bottom of the brooder. It had literally exploded everywhere. And who knows how long it was out, because all the chickens were shivering! Shards and glass bits were everywhere - in their food, on the floor, in their water. It was terrible. I spent about 30 minutes cleaning that up and installing a new light wondering how many would die from internal bleeding do to glass ingestion. (Chickens aren't the smartest things I've ever met.)
All was well with the horse, donkey and laying hens, so that was a relief. But, when I make it to the goats (remember they're currently housed in the chicken coop) I notice that Ronald (who is not in the coop) is limping around the field. Great. Broken goat. Just what I need. Upon further inspection I notice the rope around his neck (which almost reaches the ground and has a knot at the end) is caught between his two little cloven hooves. He's pulled the rope tight against his toes because it doesn't quite reach the ground when he steps. So, every time he take a step it pulls his head down when he tries to put his foot down. Troublesome, obviously. He's limping around the field doing this head-bob-foot-limpy-thing. I decide (with the baby strapped to my back, obviously..) to wage a one-manned mission to remove the rope from Ronald's neck. (Doesn't every good farm story seem to start with the baby strapped to my back?)
What actually happened was me chasing the poor goat (who wanted absolutely nothing to do with me or my baby) twice around the field as he attempted to trot with his toes hung up on the rope, pulling his head down every time he took a step. I acknowledged the futile mission and went back to the house - leaving Ronald to his own devices, but making a mental note to remind Todd it was imperative we remove the rope.
The rest of the day went as per usual. Kinda. My brother stopped by later that afternoon and was helping me move the chicken coops and repair some fence when he says, "What's Griz got? A rat?" Griz had followed us into the field and found something to gnaw on. All things considered, the rat seemed better than his usual 3-course meal of horse poop, chicken poop and cow poop. However, upon further inspection I made a grizzly discovery. Griz had found and was chewing up the wayward cow-castration byproduct. For those of you unfamiliar with cow castration....let me enlighten you.
Step 1. Catch bull calf.
Step 2. Either a) heavily sedate said bull calf or, b) corner, tie up or otherwise incapacitate the calf.
Step 3. Place large elastic band around their manhood.
Step 4. Release "strapped" calf and allow to wander until banded manhood falls off never to be seen of again.
I'm sure those of you who have been following the blog remember last year's episode of castration and the disaster that ensued. Therefore, we had them banded before purchasing them. This did not, obviously, prevent Griz from finding that little bit of heaven laying around the field.
Absolutely-fricking-disgusting.
Instead of sleeping in though, I was up by 5:30 with a lean, mean, housecleaning routine planned for the day. By 7:00 I had: swept, swiffered and mopped the house, unloaded the dishwasher and reloaded it, started two loads of laundry, folded a load, planned my grocery list, eaten breakfast, fed the baby and vacuumed our bedroom. Sweet, huh!? I also had some phone calls to make, but decided to wait until after 8:00am to do that.
So, I head to the barn to start the chores with the baby on my back. First stop: chicken brooders. I notice their heat lamp isn't on and I opened the lid to find the heat lamp blown into a million pieces scattered about the bottom of the brooder. It had literally exploded everywhere. And who knows how long it was out, because all the chickens were shivering! Shards and glass bits were everywhere - in their food, on the floor, in their water. It was terrible. I spent about 30 minutes cleaning that up and installing a new light wondering how many would die from internal bleeding do to glass ingestion. (Chickens aren't the smartest things I've ever met.)
All was well with the horse, donkey and laying hens, so that was a relief. But, when I make it to the goats (remember they're currently housed in the chicken coop) I notice that Ronald (who is not in the coop) is limping around the field. Great. Broken goat. Just what I need. Upon further inspection I notice the rope around his neck (which almost reaches the ground and has a knot at the end) is caught between his two little cloven hooves. He's pulled the rope tight against his toes because it doesn't quite reach the ground when he steps. So, every time he take a step it pulls his head down when he tries to put his foot down. Troublesome, obviously. He's limping around the field doing this head-bob-foot-limpy-thing. I decide (with the baby strapped to my back, obviously..) to wage a one-manned mission to remove the rope from Ronald's neck. (Doesn't every good farm story seem to start with the baby strapped to my back?)
What actually happened was me chasing the poor goat (who wanted absolutely nothing to do with me or my baby) twice around the field as he attempted to trot with his toes hung up on the rope, pulling his head down every time he took a step. I acknowledged the futile mission and went back to the house - leaving Ronald to his own devices, but making a mental note to remind Todd it was imperative we remove the rope.
The rest of the day went as per usual. Kinda. My brother stopped by later that afternoon and was helping me move the chicken coops and repair some fence when he says, "What's Griz got? A rat?" Griz had followed us into the field and found something to gnaw on. All things considered, the rat seemed better than his usual 3-course meal of horse poop, chicken poop and cow poop. However, upon further inspection I made a grizzly discovery. Griz had found and was chewing up the wayward cow-castration byproduct. For those of you unfamiliar with cow castration....let me enlighten you.
Step 1. Catch bull calf.
Step 2. Either a) heavily sedate said bull calf or, b) corner, tie up or otherwise incapacitate the calf.
Step 3. Place large elastic band around their manhood.
Step 4. Release "strapped" calf and allow to wander until banded manhood falls off never to be seen of again.
I'm sure those of you who have been following the blog remember last year's episode of castration and the disaster that ensued. Therefore, we had them banded before purchasing them. This did not, obviously, prevent Griz from finding that little bit of heaven laying around the field.
Absolutely-fricking-disgusting.
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