I guess it's time for an update.
Let's see...
Our goat, Opal, finally had her baby this past Tuesday morning at 1am. It was FREEZING COLD! I went out to check on her at midnight because she was acting a little jittery that day and, sure enough, our old friend Mucus String was there.
So I went back inside and told my hubby not to bother putting pajamas on because we have a baby on the way.
I was kind of concerned with this one because she seemed like she was straining and pushing for a while. I kept checking the book and it said that if they are pushing hard for over 30 minutes with no visible progess it's time to consider that there might be a problem.
Just as we were getting to cruch time, we started to see the nose and feet. Poor Opal was really screaming. Finally, the kid slooshed out. It is a little girl and her name is Oleander.
And after she came out, I could understand why Opal was loud. This baby is BIG. Probably close in size to the ones that were born two weeks ago.
It took a little while for mom and baby to get things coordinated but eventually they got the hang of feeding and everyone is fine now. We finally made it to bed at about 4am.
We were supposed to leave at about 8am that morning to go and pick up an order of beef. Back in the fall I ordered a whole beef from Wallace Homestead Farm in north central PA and Tuesday was the pick up day.
Well, we slept a bit late.
Anyway, we were on the road by 10 and back home by about 3 with 630 pounds of beef.
That's a lot of beef, even if you are splitting it with someone else.
We delivered the beef that was going to other folks and then spent the evening trying to get 315 pounds of beef into our freezer.
The top shelf is completely full of 1 pound bags of ground beef. Hubby calls it the Wall of Beef.
And here is a shot of the bottom 3 shleves of the freezer.
Have you ever seen so much beef in someone's freezer? I'm amazed by it. Sometimes I just open up the freezer when I walk by to behold the wonder of all that beef.
This will probably hold us for the year. Maybe longer. I never really buy a whole lot of beef at the store. I'm not sure why. It's not because I don't like it or anything.
But now I have scads of beef. And good-for-you- beef too. Because the Wallace's are nice people who don't pump their animals full of bad things.
When all was said and done, the beef came out to $3.75/pound, vacuum sealed and ready to go. That's pretty good if you ask me. Sure you can buy ground beef cheaper in the store. But what do you know about that beef? I met our beef's mom and dad. And that is also $3.75/pound for the best cuts as well - something you will definitely not see in the store.
So, yeah. Beef.
That's all the news on the farm front for now. I'll ty to get some more pictures of the kids up soon.
10 comments:
i am truly envious of your meat. in fact i would have to say "you got some really nice meat.". i wish i had that much meat. without bgh, i bet your meat is pretty sweet too. i would like to stop by and see your meat. that is if your willing to have others gaze upon you meat. so what do you say? if i visit will you show me your meat? so after all that i have a question, with all that meat in the freezer, why all the goats outside? ken
I grew up in Wisconsin, and my cousins lived on a farm. They raised mostly dairy cattle, but they had a few head of beef cattle as well. (what's the diff? I don't know). When they butchered one, we would get a portion. It was a whole lotta meat. Then, for some reason, my cousin's husband decided to raise Elk. Have you ever seen an elk up close? They are ginormous. So he butchered one of those and I swear, there was so much meat he had to beg people to take it off his hands. He recently sold most of his herd and made a buttload of money. They are done with farming after 30 some years.
Your kids are so cute!
I'm thinking that when the weather is fine you should invite us all over for a good old cookout!
oh, shoot. I forgot to say the kid is cute--and huge! Poor Olive.
That is the way to buy it, girl! Now when we say "where's the beef?", I'll know the answer - in your freezer!
Oleander is adorable, and I love her name! Thanks for the Kid Update!
As an aside, I should think Mr. Mucus String has a hell of a time getting dates....
Baby goats are CUTE!
Holy BEEF! I'm coming to your house for BBQ this summer!!
When's the taco festival? I'm holding out for the tacos de birria. That would be tacos of goat.
Marc wears pajamas?
Ken-
You can come look at our meat anytime! And you know we can't eat the goats - we have to sell them! At least we can't eat any yet...maybe when we're up to 30 or so.
b.a. - I can't even imagine trying to fit an elk in the freezer! Although I bet it's really good meat. I've had bison and that was very lean.
professor and pocklock - Definitely a cookout! I think I have about 80 pounds of hamburger!
we_be - the beef is the ONLY thing in my freezer! I'm actually thinking of looking for another small freezer...
tony - well, you know, not pajamas per se. More like clothes-that-weren't-just-in-the-garage-or-animal-pens.
That's a lot of beef. I'd be jealous, especially of its wholesome goodness but I am off meat because cooking it infuses too many hydrocarbons. Okay the way I cook it---grilled---does. Okay the way I make my husband cook it---grilled outside---does.
But your goat baby, so cute. I love the three colors like that!!
Oh wait...that's how my bedroom wall will be painted. Excellent, it does look good! (I'm not kidding.)
Now I have to ask: what is the deal with all of these baby goats being born in rapid succession? Do all the goats mate at once and then have their babies in late Winter? Or are goats one of those species that can postpone gestation after fertilizion, so while all these goats are having their kids at the same time, perhaps they got pregnant at different times?
You can tell I'm a kid from the suburbs, can't you? Heck, I had to go to Ireland to see a lamb being born!
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