The Cycle of Life

There are always weeks around the Ranch that seem to have more death than others. Sometimes it is planned; others it is not. It is just is a part of our business cycle. On Monday morning, Greg saw that one of our ewes was acting strange. After closer examination, he realized she was about to give birth. After checking several times throughout the day, it was not until the afternoon that two lambs were born. The mother took to one very quickly, but the smaller one took some time. We moved the three of them into the shelter and away from the other animals. As gross as it is, pigs try to eat the babies & cows can easily step on them. Plus, the babies need time to bond with their momma. On Tuesday when we checked on them, everything looked great. Momma was excepting both lambs, and she was drinking, eating, and nursing. This is a huge relief because we have had mothers reject their young. If this happens, they must be fed colostrum within the first 24 hours and then bottle-fed lamb milk supplement for several months.

              Later in the day, the mobile slaughter asked if he could come a day early to get the cows. Moments later, he arrived. Two bullets later and the nicest most docile cows we have ever had were taking their last breath. These cows were Jersey, male, unwanted dairy cows. The reason they were so docile was because they were bottle feed for the first four months of life. They were used to human interaction.

              Typically, a nice big cow weighs in at about 1,200 pounds. Our mobile slaughterer estimated ours to be about 1,400. The heads were cut off, hides skinned, and the carcasses were gutted, all in the yard. They were then transported to the butcher where the meat will hang for two weeks before cut and wrap. It is then divided into quarters which are all pre-sold.

              The next morning, the mobile slaughterer returned as scheduled to take care of our last four pigs and two lambs. Lambs are slaughtered at about 7-12 months. If you let them go longer, the meat is tainted and tastes poor. All went well, but while up with the animals Greg went to check on the new lambs, only about 36 hours old. One had passed and the other had a very slow heartbeat. Momma was definitely upset over the laboring lamb but unable to do anything to console it. So, with no warning and no way of helping, two lambs were lost.  Five long months that that mother carried those twins, gone. 

It has been quite the week so far, but there is still more to come. This weekend we have out meat chickens to butcher. We have about 85 meat chickens that will be finding their way to people’s freezers all over the valley. The challenge with meat chickens and turkeys is that they take a lot of time and are tedious to butcher. Greg is always trying to have a work party and invite friends over to take part in the production. After chickens are harvested, 60 young turkeys will be moved from the barn to the pasture.

This topic will be discussed next week on From the Farm Friday.