Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal

[farmerjan]

@Beekissed ; There are always people who want something cheap. And there are always a few animals on most any farmstead that will qualify as cheap. We have a few calves that are not great that are sold "cheap". Had one that the cow didn't milk good, that was a bit stunted, that was a "cheap calf". We have had bottle lambs that will qualify as cheap. @Mike CHS gives away some lambs to neighbors, that otherwise would probably qualify as cheap..... and many will bring more money than I would want to charge someone, if I were to sell at the market.
Maybe the guy was looking for some that aren't doing or growing as someone would want. @rachels.haven talks about a couple of goat kids that have never grown the way they should have because they got a less than great start because the dam wasn't feeding them the way she should have been. Those are what would fall into the category of "cheap" because they are going to take more than is warranted to get them up to where they should be, if they ever get there. It may have not been meant as a slight to you.
Not every animal we raise is top quality, and not everyone deserves to bring top price. You try to do a good job, but there will be some that just aren't the "best". Anyone who says they never raise a less than perfect top quality animal is not telling the truth. @Mike CHS said they re evaluated their sheep and kept a few ewe lambs they were not going to because of above average growth, and are culling some ewes instead. It is a constant reassessment of what you have and what you are striving for. He's got NICE sheep. I doubt he has many that would fit the category of "cheap", but a bottle lamb is often thought of that way because they are a pain for most people to raise and are not worth the amount of money tied up in them in milk replacer or time. Lose a couple along the way, and you are in the hole. We would rather sell our bottle lambs for 20-30-50 each, than put the time and money into them as they seldom do as good as a dam raised lamb. We have done the math and they are not economical to raise. We pick our battles and pick where we can get the best return on our time and money.

 

[Mike CHS]

We went into town early and stopped at Kroger for a few things. We got there a little after 7:00 and saw there was only two other customers in the store. I saw they had one of their associates individually cleaning the shopping carts before bringing them into the store.

There was quite a few bare shelves but that isn't uncommon for a Sunday morning as Saturday they are really busy all day long. We got a couple of pork loins and a couple whole roasting chickens. That was all we needed and there didn't seem to be a shortage on meat except for ham (which we have been trying to get for over a month). They also haven't had my favorite Bob Evans Sausage Patties for that same month. We cut the chickens up and get multiple meals out of each bird. We also cook a good batch of breaded chicken cutlets out of sliced breast meat that we like to have on a biscuit for breakfast. While we are at it we make a big batch of chicken broth so literally, none of the birds are wasted. We like to slice the pork loin into thick chops and vacuum seal them in meal size portions so they keep good in the freezer.

 

[Baymule]

I got two cheap lambs. And their mother too! She is a bad mom, keeps such a high worm load that I ask her why she isn’t dead. Her lambs are small, so small that they aren’t worth the $85 to take them to slaughter. The ewe will go to slaughter for ground meat, the legs for tenderized round steak. I may put those 2 little dummies on Craigslist for a low bargain price just to get them out of here.

 

[Mike CHS]

@Baymule one of the ewes going to the market on the 11th is literally the sweetest ewe in our herd but she won't accept a lamb. We have had a couple reject their lambs but we were able to get them to nurse in confinement and they were fine after that. This ewe should have gone to market last year but we couldn't ID her lamb since all lambs were being nursed so we gave her a second chance since we have had another ewe adopt a lamb on her own. When she lambed this season and immediately got up and walked away she was history.

 

[Mike CHS]

We just had a severe thunderstorm come through with winds over 70 mph. We knew it was coming so I was out putting away anything light and brought all of my seed starts back in. As I was finishing up there was a nasty gust of wind and as I looked out a heavy 10x10' kennel that had a tarp roof just went airborne flying across the yard and landed on the paddock fence that had all the adult ewes in it. The corner post literally broke and there is a pretty good chunk of fence bent over. Our neighbor saw it happen and before I finished getting the sheep moved to an interior paddock, he was pulling up to help me get the kennel off the fence as the sky opened up and started dumping rain. That kennel was tied to several branches of a bradfore pear tree and they snapped as the kennel went flying.

 

[farmerjan]

Holy cow . I need to look and see if we are in line for anything crazy like that in the next day or 2. Hope that the kennel can be put back to rights without too much problem. So sorry about the fence. It is always a B@#$# when posts and fencing gets torn up. Thank goodness you have the multiple paddocks to be able to move animals. Best of luck getting things put back to rights.

 

[Baymule]

Wow! Good thing the dogs weren’t in it or orphan lambs.

 

[Bruce]

The ewe will go to slaughter for ground meat, the legs for tenderized round steak.

OK, you have my permission to chicken fry the leg from an old ewe

 

[Baymule]

Haha! Thank you @Bruce!

 

[Mike CHS]

Wow! Good thing the dogs weren’t in it or orphan lambs.

There was a rooster in there but there will never again be an orphan lamb in there.