It seems my plan to post more often has not come to fruition. It can be tough for me to post, as much of our days are spent doing the regular ins and outs of farm work, which doesn’t seem exciting or worth reporting on. Animals come and go, weather changes, the work changes with the day and the season, but carries on in a regular rhythm. Those of you who know me will also know I’m not a particularly expressive and outspoken person, so doing so online can also be a stretch for me. All that said, I know you appreciate these posts, so I’ll try to stretch those muscles a little better again going forward.

While things continue on in much the same stead, there are always small changes happening. We are supplying pig and lamb to a couple of stores now on a year round basis and working on having beef available more readily as well. I have been adding some value to some of our wool, as you can see on the wool for sale pages.

A bigger change is that Chris (my long time boyfriend) is now working almost full time on the farm as my dad transitions to retirement. It has been great having Chris on the farm, he brings different skills and a new perspective.

One of today’s tasks was to castrate the male piglets born last week. We castrate the males to prevent accidental breeding and also to protect meat quality. Meat from male pigs that are not castrated can have a distinct flavour which is quite off putting. Males can also fight with each other and get aggressive, so the benefits of castrating are many.

While castating is pretty routine during calving and lambing, with pigs it requires more planning, more time, and the right state of mind.

The first task is to catch the male piglets and take them away from their mothers. Pigs can be very protective and aggressive if the hear squealing or feel their piglets are in danger, so it is not safe to do it in the pen with the sows. I catch the piglets by first moving their mothers across a fence and then grabbing ahold of the piglets and putting them into a plastic tub in the side by side. Once I have caught all the males, I can let the sow back in with her female piglets and take the males elsewhere.

With calves and lambs, we use a small rubber band to cut off the circulation to the testicles. This method is quick, easy, and in young animals heals fairly quickly. Because of the anatomy of pigs, that method isn’t possible, so a surgical method is required. First each piglet gets local anaesthetic and long lasting pain medication. After giving the anaesthetic time to work, two cuts are made and the testicles are pulled out. While this is certainly painful, when no anaesthetic is used the reaction of the pigs is much greater, so we do what we can to minimise the pain. The little pigs heal up very quickly and within a few hours are back to their normal selves. It is a stressful time for all parties involved, so it’s always nice when the job is done and we can relax in the sun.

I was able to return to a shearing day at a friend’s this year. Shearing days are always busy, and this was no exception. With 570+ sheep to do, 8 shearers in all (6 or 7 going at once), skirting fleeces and keeping the flow of sheep going there were plenty of jobs, and plenty of help.

The shorn sheep in front and the sheep to be shorn behind. They came up the chute on the right to the shearing floor.

It is always enjoyable to meet other sheep and fiber enthusiasts and spend the day talking mostly about the two. I manage to resist bringing home any fleeces, which given the large pile of my own was probably wise, but it was hard to pass on some of the lovely crimpy ones.

Many hands make light work. Several ladies discussing the merits of this fleece while it is being skirted.

I also sheared a sheep for the first time, which was a good experience but I’m not planning a career change! It is tiring work, and the professionals make it look easy, so I’m happy to pay them to do it.

Spring is being very elusive this year. It seems like January was warmer than March and April. While this was certainly nice in January, we are missing the warm weather now. Normally we have very few calves like this one that need to be warmed up when they are first born whereas this year we’ve already had several in to dry off. Middle of the night checks, also rare in a normal year, are happening every night, in case any new calves are born and need to be warmed up. The forecast is for somewhat warmer, but unsettled weather for this week, so hopefully spring will finally arrive.

I find myself wishing for warmer weather for several reasons, one of which is a desire to exchange winter attire for summer. I don’t recall feeling this way in previous years but this year I’m desperate to ditch the heavy warm coveralls and winter boots for lighter coveralls (or even none at all!) and my comfortable boots. I’m itching to walk without mud, puddles, and especially ice and cold dictating my choice of footwear and the path I take. Until mother nature chooses to oblige us, I’ll be stuck tromping around in my winter wear and looking forward to warm summer weather. I know that wishing won’t make it so, but that doesn’t stop me from trying.

Shearing day came and went Thursday and ran fairly smoothly. I was fervently checking the forecast all day Wednesday, as snow was forecast (by some weather sources) but amount and timing was up for debate. In the end, we put all the sheep into a few various sheds and the new fabric topped building so that they stayed dry if the snow did happen to fall.

This turned out to be a wise choice as a small dusting fell Wednesday night and flurries came and went until mid afternoon on Thursday.

This year we skirted all the fleeces, so they were picked up and thrown onto a makeshift skirting table where any manure, areas with a lot of hay matter, and anything else undesirable was pulled out. Then the fleece was folded and rolled and packed in the bag. This should increase the price per pound of our wool. The belly wool and skirtings were packed separately, and are also sold but are of lower value.

The flow: sheep are pulled out of a chute on the left and shorn on the shearing floor. When done, they exit out the door I’m standing in. Fleeces are skirted on the right and then packed into a wool bag using the machine on the far right.

This year I had also sold several fleeces privately, so with the help of a friend who has more experience with using wool than me, we chose some of the best fleeces to set aside. I will go though these fleeces again over the next few weeks to prepare them for shipping across the country. I ended up with about 10 extra as well, so I will have to find another outlet for these.

Some of the individual fleeces.

One of the loveliest fleeces of the day.

Marketing wool is a new venture for me, and I am excited to see where this side of the farm will take me.