BLEACHED, BEACHED
The last of the warm days is upon us. Though todays will be a cloudy warmth. After this we go down to more seasonal temperatures for the forseeable future (forseeable future being the 10 days of estimates the weather site gives us). Waking up to a 51F/10C morning full of birdsong, in February, is pretty rare. But I am not ungrateful. 
Nor are the pigs. Above is Sheila laying out in the sun. Looking for all the world like a beached sea lion.
All the animals were taking in the sun.
The three little pigs are getting to a good size. With the small profit I made from last years sales I have invested in a set of scales.
It is really hard to eyeball the weight of a hog. I need them to be 200 pounds (90kg) for the chefs. So when the scales arrive I will weigh these three. In fact being able to weigh them frequently will help me with their feed. They are eating a lot of hay at the moment – keeping their guts healthy. Though their grain is soaked in water now that I have stopped milking. Their high proteins come from boiled eggs.
I don’t really want to put Tima on the scales – she is such a fattie. She is only fed hay, the rest she scavenges out of the fields.
She was watching me cleaning out the back pen, then got bored, lay down and turned herself into the animated version of a doorstop. Complete with snoring sound effects.
(I caught the snoring on my Instagram feed, if you want to scroll down and listen).
My new hay is here and I am well pleased. This is an alfalfa/grass blend and I am very happy with the quality. My cows only eat pastures either grazing or hay – total hay at this time of year – no grain at all, so we need good food for them. They were starting to lose condition on the grass hay that was in the last batch I bought from a grower I will never buy from again.
Now we are back to something decent for the cattle they will put that weight back on. My aim is to get them to 1000 pounds (450 kg) before I sell them. And it is even harder to judge the weight of a big beastie.
I hope you have a lovely day.
Love celi
Wednesday 02/28 20% / 0 in
Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 59F/15C. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday Night 02/28 100% / 0.43 in
Rain. Low 41F/5C. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch.
Sun
6:28 am 5:42 pm
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 97% visible 4:21 pm 5:40 am
35 Comments on “BLEACHED, BEACHED”
Welcome to the Lounge of Comments
JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER:
DO A LITTLE SHOPPING:
Thank You So Much For Your Kind Help with Maintaining This Blog
thekitchensgarden 
I see there was a pussyfoot inspection & approval test right away.
Has to be done!
replying as me
Your peacock in that photo above reminds me of a model about to walk down the run way or an actor waiting in the wings for his entrance cue–all pose and focus.
Peacocks are the best at posing!!
Oh MR Flowers!!!!!!!!!! He is beautiful!!!!!! Hay!!! That looks like great hay!
His tail has grown in beautifully! c
It’s amazing how fickle the weather is – there’s a couple of inches of snow here now with heavy snow forecast for 5pm. On the bright side the weather is supposed to turn warm by Sunday, so the snow won’t last.
then you will have our SLUDGE! It must be pretty though – to get a good fall of snow over those old buildings.
It’s nice on the side roads but brown on Upper Street and Essex Road.
You are actually going thru’ quite a frightening weather phenomenon as far as global warming is concerned’. As we have been told it is known as .Beast of the East’ in Britain, the ‘Snow Cannon’ in Sweden and the ‘Siberian Bear’ in the Netherlands – and to think there is a heatwave in the Arctic! Think of all the poor dead on the Continent, especially Poland . . .
Gosh, those are certainly big square bales, or I should say rectangular bales! I haven’t seen any that big before. We only have the giant round bales down here, and of course the small, easily handled smaller square bales we get for our goats.
These big ones are new to me too – you just pull flakes off and hand them out like that – it is really simple plus SO much cheaper..
Cat on the Hay. Cats are always involved in whatever is new.
And they love the scents in new hay – maybe she is smelling the cats and mice from the farm where the hay was stored..
Hi again – I have a friend who wants to adopt a cat to handle a mouse problem she is struggling with. Her current cat seems to be lying down on the job. She asked me how she would know a kitten / cat would be a mouser. I suggested adopting a cat that had been feral.
But I was basing it entirely on my limited experience. You on the other hand, probably always choose cats for their likely ability to keep your farm rat free. So – do you have advise?
I don’t know how one could CHOOSE a mouser. Probably the daughter of a mouser would be your best bet. All my cats have been barn and farm bred – the only thing I know is that they are not OVER fed.
Love the ‘push me pull me’ cow photo!
yes – arent they sweet
Its not so easy to weigh a cow then? I bet Sheila is a good weighty girlie.One great big piggy to love all the more. The media are talking about the ‘ Beast from the East’ and the uk has a piddly amount of snow…but living in the East with The Beast every year ….life continues with ordinary everyday happenings. The Uk is nearly on shut down due to a bit of snow,what a load of wimps! Currently l have the flu with a nasty chest cold and plenty of coughing…but hey Spring in just around the corner,and the sun..so all is well. Stay safe Miss C….love from BG
Oh merciful heavens – we can’t be picking on the whole of the UK as wimps – everyone experiences weather differently – I thought I was dying my first winter here – now I just plod along – Poor Sheila will not be allowed on my scales – to begin with she is too LONG to stand on them -not to mention too heavy! poor lovey
Love all these pictures of the beautiful animals!! My Buddy Boo watching over Wai Boy!!! And Kitty Kitty checking out the new hay!! Says ~ hmmmm ~ smells good!!! Love the sun!! have a good one!!
yes carol – the sun was lovely there for a few days.. c
That is beautiful hay! I can almost smell its good smell from here. Enjoy your brief dose of sunshine, and I hope March is kinder than February was…
March can be pretty mean – plus it is a long month – we will see. c
Looks like excellent grass mix! One thing we try to do…is always raise high protein alfalfa hay.
Yes – I am very pleased – it is nice and leafy too..
So good that you’re still getting what you need to do a bit of a muck out! And, is it just my imagination or has Mr. Flowers gained an extra poof of tail feathers and a third leg?; ). Excellent timing in that shot, lol!
SO much easier to stack and store those (beautiful!) bales than the round, plastic-covered behemoths, yeah? It’s pretty hilly around here and I’ve always had visions of them rolling and bouncing across the fields like a runaway snowball… (Plus that long spike that’s necessary to move them around gives me the willies):
Sadly, no cooling in sight for us here. Been in full-on March weather for almost two weeks and I’m starting to worry that we’ll have bud damage if temps return to seasonal norms of +1/-8°C (or go even farther). Bad enough that we were plunged into Winter early with a lot of the leaves still hanging on like little green flags… Also can’t help but wonder what it might do to the Maple run with the temps so far off normal. And yes, I know, you’re going to say we can’t do anything to change it; but I am just so tired of aberrant weather (and aberrant behaviour).
We cannot change it now – I think that time has passed – however we can all work together to make sure it does not get worse. Otherwise we have to work with what we have – I hear you though. Our Maple syrup is slowing down but next week when the cold returns I am sure it will pick up. c
I’d like some sun to lie out in, or even some rich smelling hay. But I’ll settle down on my couch instead with the pictures, and that great Instagram of the gentle snorer!
Isn’t that just so funny – she is way too fat that pig and I feed her not at all – I should lock her up!
Beautifullt lit, crisp photos. I felt like I could step into them.
Love the photos of the animals enjoying the sun. Those bales are gorgeous! I have heard of those large rectangular,ar ones, but never seen them. Hope they are as good as they look!
Love those bales…beautifully stacked! And I’m looking forward to seeing those scales in action.
Yea, those pigs are rather interesting.