Colonel's Blog, Earthdate 26 Feb 2023...
Hey Y'all!
Happy Sunday from Air2Ground Farms! It is a rainy morning on the farm today with storms forecast to roll through this evening and overnight. We are under a wind advisory for the storms tonight so we will make sure things are put away before they hit. And, just that fast, the 2-week forecast has changed from no below freezing temps that I mentioned yesterday to a winter storm forecast on Friday with below freezing temps and inches of snow. Shelley says she doesn't even pay attention to my weather brief during our morning staff meeting once I get past the current temp so she knows what clothes to put on. It was our policy in the Fighter Squadron to "never cancel flight ops on a forecast" but I still like to have a feel for what is on the horizon. The animals are all good this morning. The top pic is Stella depicting how tame she is becoming. She has decided that she really, really likes chin scratches. The bottom pic was yesterday of both Stella and Holly lying down with Betty. We separated the calves again last night and we got 4 3/4 gallons this morning! The calves were both hungry when we let them out to be with Betty after milking. They both went to town nursing. Betty wasn't enthused at first, but then the calves split up with one on each side and Betty relented letting down more milk leaving both calves with dripping milk slobbers. Yesterday we finished the trim work on the bar and edited our next YouTube video. We should have it uploaded today. It is a short look at our milking routine. We decided not to add captions and music to this one, leaving the natural sounds and letting the video speak for itself. I'll post a link in tomorrow's blog or if you subscribe to our YouTube channel, make sure you have notifications turned on and it will let you know when we get it uploaded. We plan to do more inside work today as the weather is going to stay rainy. We will stain the wood on the bar and finalize the YouTube video.
Farm animals are creatures, not of habit, but of routine. They need the stability of routine. If you watch our milking video, you will see Happy and Betty rushing into the milking area to get into position to get their feed and to get milked. When we first started training them to come into the milking area, we led Happy to the left side and Betty to the right side. We did this because Betty doesn't see well out of her right eye so we wanted her right side against the wall so she would be comfortable that she could see what we were doing around her side. Cows can see 330 degrees from their nose, leaving only a 30 degree cone directly behind them that they cannot see. So we didn't want Betty to be nervous with us working on the side on which she doesn't see well. Now, when we tell them it is time to come in, they rush to their appropriate sides. We don't even think about it anymore. They just go to the correct spots. It took us two times to form that routine and they have done the same thing since. All of the farm animals are like that. They want the same feed at the same time of day. The hogs startle, running and barking (yes, they make a very distinct barking noise when startled), if we drive up in the Jeep or even walk up on foot instead of the side-by-side. The farm humans appreciate routine also and one of ours is Sunday morning breakfast. We take the time to make chaffles (keto version of waffles made from mozzarella cheese, eggs, and almond flour) and either bacon or sausage. We slow down a bit and visit after breakfast. It's not a big thing, but we all appreciate it as part of our weekly routine.
Check out Shelley's YouTube Short today: Chattering guard goose.
Local Farm Report for 25 Feb 2023:
Harvest:
30 Chicken eggs
9 Duck eggs
1 Goose egg
5 1/4 Gallons of milk
Sales:
N/A
Cheers! Rich & Shelley
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