JHP Homestead’s Journal

[JHP Homestead]

That’s great on the sows! I love a good deal. If you want to slaughter them after weaning the piglets, put them on a soured corn and hay diet. The roughage will help clean up the meat and the soured corn will put a great finish on them. Basically line up 5-6 buckets with lids, put in however much corn they can eat in a day and cover with water. Let it set and get stinky, they will love it. Use a bucket, refill and put it at the back of the line. About 6 weeks and they will be tasty!

We’re going to butcher at least the black one after weaning, so I appreciate the advice!

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Miss @JHP Homestead,

The folks at the YouTube channel "Red Tool House" raise pigs (among other things). They feed fermented feed in the mornings and let the pigs out into silvo pasture for the day. Here is where they documented how they fermented their feed:

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[JHP Homestead]

Miss @JHP Homestead,

The folks at the YouTube channel "Red Tool House" raise pigs (among other things). They feed fermented feed in the mornings and let the pigs out into silvo pasture for the day. Here is where they documented how they fermented their feed:

Senile Texas Aggie

Thanks for the video! I made fermented feed for our chickens a couple years ago, but haven’t the last year or so. After watching that video I think I might have to start up again.

 

[JHP Homestead]

I now have a milk goat!!!!

I’m really excited about this. We’ve been working on our homestead for 5 years now and have talked several times about getting a dairy animal. We kept putting it off though, for various reasons. We have a Hereford/Jersey mix heifer that we’ll be breeding this summer and hopefully milking next spring. In the meantime though, I’ve been getting impatient to have a dairy animal, so DH suggested a goat. It must have been destiny, because the next day I went to TSC and saw a flyer for does in milk on the bulletin board.

I don’t have any pictures yet, but she’s a 4 year old Saanen/Lamancha mix. I’ll get a few pictures tomorrow when I milk her for the first time. I’ve never milked an animal before so it should be fun

 

[Bruce]

Time to watch some YouTube videos!!!! I gather some goats like hand milking and others prefer machine. And of course there are a lot of different machines.

 

[JHP Homestead]

Hi again!
Feels like it’s been forever since I was here last. Summer on the homestead was as busy and fun as always.

Right now is the time for beef! We spent the last couple weeks building a hanging shed made with cooler panels I got cheap at an auction. It needs a lot more work to get it how we want, but it is working for now to hang our beef. Last weekend we killed our 3 year old cow that has been slated for beef since birth (with a small detour of having one calf) and have her hanging in the shed for a week or so.

Monday starts DH’s vacation for the rest of the year, so we’ll start the task of cutting up the meat. We don’t have enough height in our current setup to see how much the carcass currently weighs, but I know she’s several times larger than a hog

One of the best parts of cutting up our own beef - hanger steak! I’d never heard of it before we butchered our first steer and it is delicious. Like a bonus tenderloin and a great reward after skinning and gutting for several hours.

 

[Baymule]

Where do you find hanger steak?

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Where do you find hanger steak?

My guess is at the same place as you find prop wash.

 

[JHP Homestead]

Where do you find hanger steak?

It’s inside the gut cavity running along the spine from about the kidneys to the diaphragm.

 

[Baymule]

It’s inside the gut cavity running along the spine from about the kidneys to the diaphragm.

That sounds like the tender loin. Same cut, different name?