Today I will not be milking Daisy. The milking has finished. Oh, how I will miss the milk. And I will miss milking but after a while. It will be nice to have the time off. 
It will be a shock to the system, not milking.
We have been milking Daisy for over a year now and it is time. I could not dry her up until she had dropped her production markedly. And she did, after a struggle, so the time has come. She had her last milking last night, then because of her history of chronic sub clinical mastitis I injected a compound into each quarter of the udder to fend off any infection, (she does not even flinch so for a drama cow like Daisy I have to assume she does not even notice, it is a slim catheter not a needle) and she has been led down the back to the rubbishest field with the worst grass where she will whine and lean over fences and carry on about the lack of good food and her udder will dry up.
I will not call her, bring her to the barn, ring the bell, turn on the milking parlour light or do anything that may trigger the milk letting down. The milking door has been closed and shuttered and she will not even be allowed in the yards for a while. Before you and I launch off to the Rocky mountains she will be able to go back with the others and have some decent feed.
Whose got her mothers ears then?
Well maybe, either that or she is listening very carefully. The piglets are starting to eat their mothers food and are already chewing on the greens that I pile into the pen each day. I always make sure to leave soil on the roots of the lambs quarters that are their main green as pigs need dirt. It is actually part of their diet and supplies them with much needed iron. These guys eat eggs too which also gives a hefty serving of iron. When I come home the back gate to the pen will be opened and they will go into their yard and begin to chomp on grass. But I need to be here for that, they will be testing their boundaries and I will be electric fencing them across a field, so they go on new pasture every day. Once again I will be learning how to do this as I go along. In the past the Shush Sisters just roamed the field on their walks, then I called them in, but for pasture raised pork I am going to have to be a bit more disciplined.
Good morning. It rained and rained and rained yesterday. The weather was grim. So wet that I could not even get onto the hay field to clean up. And it is unusually cool. Wet and cool is great for gardening too. Today I will be setting up electric fences for the cows and sheep, I have combined them for ease of managing in my absence and today I will open up a new field that I have been saving for July. But not until it is dry and late afternoon. We don’t want any bloaty Queenies!
I hope you all have a lovely day.
your friend, celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
55 responses to “Daisy begins her dry period”
I was very happy reading about the pigs and their diet and then you say the word…pork….and I had to move on. Dream shattered. Jolly nice picture of a cock….that’s for saying “pork” 🙂
Laugh! Tanya will approve.. c
I’m laughing too – lots of potential dinners on the farm, including coq au vin 😉
I am saving them for you!! c
Don’t tempt me too much, I’ll be there 🙂
The guest house is almost finished!! c
I might have to swim 😉
I’m amazed at how quickly baby pigs grow!
and play! I did not realise they would play all the time too..!c
A friend of mine told me that in her opinion, puppies and kittens are boring compared to other animals. She said other animals can be quite inventive with their games!
Take care with the electric fencing in the rain, Celi! (I know, I’m such a nag, sorry.. xx)
(more laughter), I will remember to turn it off.. I hope.. !!
Lovely images today C…don’t mind Roger, he’s being a grump 😉
Too bad about the hay, but wonderful that Daisy ‘decided’ to cooperate and dry-off before you go…
Still unusually wet ’round here, but none of that ‘cool’ you’re getting. The rain has only made it sticky.
Have a great day, sweetie!
We never even got into the 70’s yesterday and I am still in long sleeves today.. However it will be a busy day as this is the only day I have John before I go away, and I have saved some of the heavier two man jobs, (he is thrilled!) so the coolness is welcome. c
Beautiful photos, especially the rooster and the plants.
The garden is amazing in this weather, do you have the terrible heat over there?.. c
Charlottes blue eyes are so disconcerting! Well Done Daisy, she took her role as the mothership of the Farmy very seriously. Enjoy a lazy Sunday miss c. Laura
Daisy has been such a trooper and gave so much milk, maybe one day i will add it up. Averaging three gallons twice a day for about 400 days.. ok too much for my wee brain!! c
2400 gal/9,100litres – if my calculations are correct. That is a lot of milk 🙂 Laura
wow, well done laura and yes that is a LOT of milk, fed the whole farm she did!
You’ve done some gorgeous posts recently, this included and I have rushing around and not had time to comment. Tim has been madly busy too, he had a music and comedy festival to cater the week before g opening. So The Lop Eared Pig is finally open. Do tell your friends in London”
Oh I am so pleased for you.. That was a bit of a struggle, now we need to get the word out! We need to tell the others, there are also lots of readers who come into London, they will love to hear about this! Wish I could come over!! c
Lovely as always to drop by and see how all the team are going.
Good morning! Have a goood one.. c
wow..rainy and cool. i could use some of that! how do baby pigs play?
They run to and fro chasing each other and literallly riding piggy back, woofing as they run, I will try and get more shots for you! c
You should be eating that Lamb’s Quarter yourself! Very yummy and more vitamins than spinach. Glad Daisy is cooperating on drying up.
Absolutely right Missy we do eat them too, especially the tips, they go into the weed salad every night, with this cool wet weather we have the most amazing greens .. c
I’ve just nominated you for yet another award–this time “The Inspiring Blog Award” 🙂 I know you’re too busy with your farm to do a post, or pass on nominations, but I just want to show my appreciation for your blog.
http://sarahpotterwrites.wordpress.com/2013/06/30/my-2nd-inspiring-blog-award/
Sarah that is so kind, I do appreciate it and also deeply appreciate your understanding of my manic time management! have a lovely day. i shall pop over shortly!!.. c
I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, those piglets, nawwwwww they’re just so cute!! Don’t grow little ones!
I also miss the milking time (as well as the milk!)!
We are having a wonderful cool few days here, but sadly, still no rain. So, are watering the gardens and flower beds and crying out, “Come on rain!” over and over…..so hopefully it will come on soon.
Looking forward to our travels to Canada!!! xo
Watch yourself out there in all that wet soil working with ELECTRIC!