The Southerly wind threw itself at us yesterday. Spitting heavy rain in amongst the gales. Shaking the doors and windows looking to stick its long scissorhands fingers in through the cracks. The barn was easy prey for windy fingernails. It is a colander of a barn. More holes than you can shake a stick at. More whistles than a marching band. The wind warmed up a little as the day went past, but still, howling drafts are very bad for babies.
So I shifted the The Bobby and Marcel to a North Pen. Much to their surprise. 
And I brought in a barrel for Poppy my Precious.
She did not actually sleep in the barrel as expected but I am coming to realise that nothing Poppy does is as expected. She slept in the lee of the barrel with her nose under an old vest of mine that I gave her when she was feeling poorly. She still is not quite well which means that when we pick up the new KuneKune on Saturday Tima will have to sleep elsewhere until I am sure Poppy is not contagious.
You asked for a photo of Poppy climbing into my lap. But of course there was only me so I tried to take a shot myself but like a cat she Knew there was another hand that was not paying attention and it was hopeless. All I got was this. Deeply unsettling really.
Let me explain because this picture does not give you a thousand words, more like a thousand questions. Sometimes lack of focus is atmospheric, other times it is just lack of focus. In the lower left hand corner of the screen is the frayed cuff of my jacket, my hand is under Poppy’s head. She lays her head right into my hand like this so she can connect more solidly. She already has a heavy head. So, her two feet are perched up on my knees with her head in my hand. She is happiest when I take my breaks in there with her.
Yesterday I spent some time on the phone and have found a local woman who has a small feed store, out in the country not far from here, she called around for me and found a pig feed with no animal products or medications or chemicals and has ordered a couple of bags for me. She also found a corn and soy free feed for the Kune until we get some grass. (Timatanga Moana will eat hay as well – such a big name for so little a pig). The lady was also thrilled that I shall be raising Hereford pigs as she has a few friends who would like to show them and would buy them from me. But there I am getting ahead of myself again. Let’s see if we can grow Poppy first. She had no idea what a kune kune was and was confused about its no grain requirements.
Now my question for all you beef cow raisers, Queenie Wineti is due either on the 30th or the 4th. What do you think? Come on Brat. What does that kiwi fella think too. I know you don’t have Herefords. But the udder of an Hereford is VERY different from the udder of a Dairy cow. Queenie is the first beef cow I have bred and being one of a twin I am grateful we were able to breed her at all. 
Speaking of dairy cows. Daisy is now on two milkings a day and her milk is still bright white and clear of any problems. She is behaving very well, no kicking or complaining. Plus yesterday was the first day I could get the cups to stretch to all four quarters at one time. So from now on I do not need to milk one side at a time. We milk at 6am and 6pm. She gave 40 pints of milk in the morning and then 38 in the afternoon. That is about 10 gallons a day. Roughly 40 liters. Good girl Daisy. We have enough milk to start feeding the Plonkers, (feeder pigs for the freezers) just as soon as the blasted weather warms up. I had better hurry up as Sheila is sucking up the slack! She is meant to be on a diet.
I started yoghurt yesterday. Fresh cheese today.!
Soon our land will be green. I see suggestions of green in the fields already. This time last year we were having snow storms so we are not that far behind really. I am just turning into a grizzle. March is always the hardest month. We are so close!!
I hope you all have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farmy,
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
62 responses to “Green”
Does Queenie have any discharge from her ‘birthing center’? Any swelling of same area? If not, I would go with the later date.
Nope and Nope. Plus she is eating like the proverbial horse. I think later too. Not that i would know.. Thank you Marla.. c
Good luck! I’ll stay tuned.
Love the photos! Such a good momma you are Celi!
I know just how you feel with this winter…if it wasn’t for my occupation with Summer I would have been such a funk!
We have one tease of a day, then a frigid day…repeat repeat…now we hearing that we are in store for a snow storm.
The fields really need the moisture, but oh I am so sick of winter…it is supposed to be SPRING! 😦
My kitties want to be set free! Summer is so ready for long walks! I am so ready for anything but being in the house one minute longer!
Baby piggies, lambs and now calves sound wonderful! But oh the worries that weather brings…sigh….
The wind is the worst of it all. brrrrrr……always blowing on the plains. I don’t mind hearing it, but feeling it when it is cold? Not so much…blah…this is why I am growing my hair out! Easier to put it in a pony tail or up under my hat and off my face! Strands are always whipping my face and blinding me! LOL
Have a great day and soon we will be complaining about the heat and humidity! So looking forward to it! 😉
Always, Mere and Summer Muah! 😀 😀
It’s still a tad early for Queenie to start spring’n. But any day now you will start to see…the bag will fill, but nothing like your milking cow. Still it will swell. The going off feed and heading into a darker spot will be huge indicators. Maybe a walk about the pasture if it warms up. Soon. I think it looks soon.
❤⊱彡 Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Poppy is adorable. She is certainly happy which is good. She needed that.
Beautiful Poppy. Hope her innards are 100% soon. I bet you are excited about picking up T M. Can’t wait for pictures!
You really are patient with the ghastly weather. Instead of crawling under the covers, as a certain person i know would, you start yoghurt and cheese –sounds like you have taken very seriously if life hands you a lemon, make lemonade.
How much does Poppy weigh, do you think?
If I were an animal, I’d want to live at the farmy! Hope the day is going well, Celi!
That wind was something last night. A couple gusts really rumbled along. You’ve got me well-trained. I hear wind and think of you and the farmy. Poppy looks so comfortable on your lap. I bet you’re glad Sheila never got in that habit. I hope Queennie does hold off until the 4th. Give you a bit of a breather, especially with the newbie coming tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing pics of the little kune. Have a great evening, Celi. Good luck tomorrow.
I don’t think Queenie’s anywhere near ready – our Hereford cows and our Braford cows made quite a big of milk for beef cows; their udders were usually at least half the size of a milk cow’s udder when they were ready to calve.
Thank you Andrea, that is good to know.. c
Spring will be sproinging before you know it!
So happy to see your place without snow on the ground. In Oregon, many of the leaves are out on the trees this week. Nice to see all the bright green everywhere. Many of the bulb flowers have been up & flowered for several weeks. The cherry blossoms exploded on the cherry trees for the past couple of weeks. We even had a couple of days near 70 degrees which felt more like 90 with no adjustment time. Your part of the Country is usually about 3 weeks behind the West Coast, so Spring is surely on its’ way to you. March is such a long & bleak month, but April will bring welcome changes to you & the animals. You have so much to look forward to with Tima coming soon, Queenie’s calf, the new peacock to rule the hens & watching all the young animals
continue to do well.
Good that you were able to find some grain free feed for Poppy. I was wondering if she might benefit from some probiotics given her GI issues & being a runt her she may not have developed a sufficient amount of good bacteria coating her intestinal tract. If she was able to achieve a good strong bacterial flora it would really help protect her from future illness or food sensitivities. It may also improve her tolerance for milk/dairy products once normal flora is established.
Interesting you say that as yesterday I gave a 1/4 cup of yoghurt. Today she is much better I think, not stinky anyway.. c
You are, of course talking about the West side of Oregon. The East side is still in winter.
Nothing worse than getting a draft. Animals can stand wind, but it is the drafts that are chilling. Little Bobby is so bright eyed with his pretty baby blue eyes. Ah, Poppy Precious! Worming her will make a big difference, I think. Notice how all the animals on your farm have smiles? Was Daisy bred to a milk or beef breed? Queenie looks beautiful. They all love to pose for your camera because they know they are loved and beautiful.
Daisy was bred to another ayrshire, but next time I will look into finding some sexed semen so we can have a better chance for a heifer.. c
I did not know they could sex semen. Sexed Ayrshire?
I have heard a rumour.. am going to investigate!! c
It’s good to see the ground appearing again. And a green truck just in case the grass has forgotten what colour it’s meant to be. Daisy’s milk production is extraordinary. I had no idea a cow could produce so much.
she will drop off a little soon .. milking three times a day will have created more milk.. now we are on two times she should produce a little less.. hopefully..c
My grandfather raised pigs on our farm in northern Germany many many years ago. We had our own potatoes . These potatoes were cooked in a huge kettle and then fed to the pigs. I can’t remember what else was added to feed them.
There’s so much for you to think about and to think ahead about – I don’t know how you do it. My pups like to cuddle up to me like Poppy, but they’re so much smaller….and every day she grows….she looks happy, I hope she perks up soon.