Farmer Jen Blog

Miniature Belted Galloway cattle

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 08:57:00 GMT

If you thinkour belties are gorgeous, you should see the miniatures that our neighbours are breeding - absolutely to die for! They're much smaller and have been raised as pets. They have a limited number of steers currently available for purchase - if you're interested drop me a line and I'll put you in touch!

Donkey maintenance

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:20:00 GMT

I received an email from Sarah today asking for advice on whether she can keep a Jack and Jenny together year round, and how to worm and halter train her new donkey.

In short, yes a jack and jenny can be kept together year round, I do this with mine. However you can't have two entire (non-castrated) jacks together with a jenny, because they will fight for her affection. All men are the same! However a jack and a jenny, or many jennies, or jacks and geldings, will all live together happily. I take my small son with me and sit him on my jacks, they are all pets to us and are not at all concerned once they're in separate paddocks with their separate harems of jennies!

The question of putting a jack with your jenny also comes down to her age - I wouldn't recommend mating her until she is 3 years old. Any younger than that will put quite a bit of pressure on her as she'll still be growing as the foal is growing. Also you need to consider what to do once the foal is born - you may need to separate them from the Jack for some time, and if the foal is a jack then you'll certainly need to have him castrated.

As for worming and halter training, I worm my donkeys with a horse drench. I rotate the brands and formulae a bit, to discourage resistance. Last time I used Equimec liquid, you follow the directions per liveweight on the packaging. Most of my mature donkeys are about 200-250kg (they are on the smaller side, as far as donkeys go).

As for halter training, I use foal size halters when the donkeys are foals and shetland size halters on the mature donkeys. However having said that, I don't halter lead mine very much. It isn't difficult to train them for this, you just need to be patient. Donkeys do not respond to being rushed so the best process i can recommend is following the donkey initially and slowly tempting it to your direction, and reinforcing positive behaviours with treats. My donkeys follow me around all over the farm so I rarely have need to halter them.

Hope this helps, enjoy your donkeys Sarah!

Lambing season has begun!

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:19:00 GMT

My niece Emily has moved in with us and was just stoked today to see the birth of twin lambs this afternoon, her first time seeing lambs born and our first lambs for this season. Mum, Baa-Wun and Baa-Tu are doing well... however we have had a number of ewes and more recently a ram fall prey to wild dogs and foxes so I'm about to go on night patrol to try and keep the predators at bay! Not the best photo but I needed to keep some distance - they were still a bit shaky on their pins and I didn't want mum to refect them if they had my scent.

Lamb price is best baa none

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:18:00 GMT

From: The Daily Telegraph
March 02, 2010

THE cost of breeding sheep has more than doubled on a year ago as producers bet prices - already at records - will keep on rising.
Crossbred ewes fetched an average of $120 a head in February, according to official Meat & Livestock Australia data. A year ago the average was $53, meaning prices have jumped by 126 per cent.
The demand has come from farmers who want to increase the size of their flock to take advantage of the record prices that butchers and other consumer suppliers are paying at saleyards.

Click here to read the full article on the website

Lamb reaches record highs

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:25:00 GMT

Have you noticed how the price of lamb has gone through the roof lately? Apart from the meat we produce on the farm, I choose to buy my meat from a butcher than the supermarket because the quality is usually far superior. Having said that, I was caught out after hours last week and needed to buy some meat from Woollies... and I nearly fell over my trolley to see that a small tray of cutlets was over $40 per kilo and even roasts were nearly $20 per kilo.

If you've been wondering why lamb has become so expensive, it's because Australia's export market for lamb is booming. Some export markets have been growing 28% year on year, and Australian farmers simply can't produce enough of our quality produce to keep up. So Australians too are feeling the brunt of that - with lamb sale prices hitting record highs this year of $6 per kilo - this is the carcase weight only so doesn't include the cost of butchering and packing (which we pay $1-50 per kilo for) or any retail mark up. So for a 50kg lamb (which ours easily are due to the focus of Dorpers on meat production) the raw cost (without any mark up at all) is currently up to $450 per lamb.

I'm not sure what the markup would be for Woollies or even a butcher, but assuming it's at least 20% that puts the cost of lamb with all it's butchering at over $500. Wow! That's a heap. But it's good news for Aussie farmers like us who are bringing herds into commercial production. And for our own farm fresh meat customers it's good news too - because we charge only $140 for half a lamb or $250 for a whole lamb, butchered and packed ready for pickup in Sydney.

If you'd like to order lamb from us, simply drop me a line and I'll send you an order form.

Why donkeys?

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:13:00 GMT

"Why donkeys?" is the usual response when I tell people that I breed donkeys. Closely followed by "what for?"

The answer to the first question is they are simply fascinating creatures. For thousands of years donkeys have been companions to humans and they've underpinned the economies in the development of nations around the world.

They are extremely interested in the humans they live with - as you can see from this photo - they couldn't wait to come and check out Ethan's new Jeep and make sure everything was safe and in order for him.

From a financial perspective they also produce a better yield than cattle do on the farm, which is a bonus, because so many people want to buy donkeys as pets. Because I also breed small donkeys, they are perfect pets for young children.

On the farm the donkeys are constant companions - they follow me around from paddock to paddock, they keep the grass down around the house and they are also good herd protectors (which the beagles bear the brunt of when they step out of line!)

And of course donkeys - unlike many of the people I've worked with in business - actually have an excuse to be asses... but they don't take it out on everyone else around them!

If you ever want to talk about donkeys, don't hesitate to drop me a line... the only problem you'll have is shutting me up - I could talk about donkeys all day!

We're back!

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:12:00 GMT

Well... you probably haven't even noticed that I've been missing in action for the past year.... but in case you did notice that I'd disappeared, this is the reason why!

Ethan is turning 1 year old this week and I'm finally getting back to being Farmer Jen! And yes - he loves all the animals as much as his mum and dad so you'll see him feature in our farming escapades too.

We look forward to telling you all about our adventures!

Hardly the neighbourly thing to do

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:08:00 GMT

Back in the city and it’s such a stark difference from the community spirit we enjoy with our neighbours at the farm. It makes the crazy things city folk do stand out so much more…

One thing I always notice back in the city is how territorial people can be with the nature strips out the front of their homes. It cracks me up to see houseproud gardeners mowing their nature strips right up to their fence line… then happily leaving the neighbour’s nature strip to grow wild! In this photo, there’s just a couple of metres on the neighbour’s side of the fenceline before the driveway. Which begs the question: why wouldn’t you just mow the extra 2 metres and be done with it? Certainly would make it look neater. But apparently the houseproud gardener has decided it’s not his responsibility to do that. His choice I guess. I’d just mow it all…

Lucky last donkey foal leaves home

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:07:00 GMT

We had just one jack foal left to sell for the year… and he was sold to a family on a 1 acre houseblock. Something tells me he’s going to live a spoiled existence!

Here he is in his finery, practicing being tied up ready for the journey to his new home. At about 10 months of age he’s a little bit behind schedule in moving off, but that’s mainly because I was slow in marketing the foals.

With the new little ones born in the past couple of months, I’ll be marketing them much earlier - from around 3 to 4 months old ready to move at 6 months. They’ll also be handled and trained a lot more than the first season of foals – another lesson I’ve learned along the way to improve their marketing.

Doesn’t make it any easier to say goodbye, although we always know there will be more foals on the way next year!

Another little lady

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:06:00 GMT

Another alpaca cria, and I was thrilled to find it was another girl at that! This one was jet black and added to the little ones in the main herd. She was not long born when this photo was taken, as you can see from the afterbirth still on her fleece.

Only a couple left to give birth now… fingers crossed for some more female crias!

Bringing the cows home

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:05:00 GMT

It was time for the cows to be vaccinated and drenched for worms and parasites. The new bull calves also needed to be tagged with their magnetic NLIS ear tags and castrated with rubber rings. But with me out of action waiting the arrival of my own little baby, we’d put the job off til another set of hands were available. This came in the visit of my brother in law Kym, a specialist dairy farmer who we think is the best thing since sliced bread when it comes to farming knowledge.

So I got all the girls together and after a brief conference, down the came to the crush for their 7-in-1 vaccinations and ivomectin drenching.

With an experienced farmer in charge we were done in no time at all… and we managed to get the sheep through as well which was fabulous.

All done for at least another 6 months when they’ll be ready for a top up drench. Until then, they’re happy as.

Ric's lucky find

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:04:00 GMT

Early every morning Ric goes for a walk around the property, checking on the stock and looking for new arrivals. On this morning, he made an interesting discovery. Petra had finally given birth – I’d been watching her closely for a couple of weeks as it was her first foal and she was so big she looked like she’d burst! Only problem was she’d laid down by a strand wire fence to deliver the foal and as the foal slid under the wires, mother and son ended up on opposite sides of the fence to each other.

Good news was Ric found the little guy within a few hours of his birth and reunited mother and foal. Bad news was – although Petra recognised the foal and was certainly being protective of him – she wouldn’t let him drink!

Every time he went near her udder Petra kicked the foal away. This is a big problem because the babies need the colostrum or first milk from their mothers for the special antibodies and proteins it contains.

Colostrum gives them a head start with their growth and development and it’s pretty rare to be able to bottle raise a baby that hasn’t had it’s mother’s own colostrum. It’s also a problem because if you can’t get the milk flowing, the mother will dry up and stop producing milk all together.

We tried separating mother and foal from the rest of the herd in the houseyard but Petra wouldn’t have a bar of it. After an hour or so she still wouldn’t let the little one drink from her. There was nothing to do but intervene.

So off we went to the crush where Petra was put in the head lock and her back leg strapped so we could express some of her milk and get the foal’s confidence up to drink without getting kicked away every time.

SUCCESS! After half an hour in the crush, taking a bit of pressure off Petra’s udder and closing them into the small yard, the little fella started drinking on his own. Which is fabulous because I have orders piling up for grey donkeys (everyone wants a donkey just like the one in Shrek!) and he is the first one born at the farm.

He’s such a pretty little fella and in honor of Ric’s discovery I’ve called him Richie. Half a day later and mother and baby they were both happy as pigs in mud… and so were we!

Want to be my friend?

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:03:00 GMT

The little donkey foal now has a name. Courtesy of my nieces Courtney and Stephanie who’ve been visiting, he’s been named Wee Jasper – although I think I’ll probably keep it as Jasper.

Little Jasper is still as cute as a button and TJ the beagle decided it was time to meet the little guy. Or more to the point, Jasper decided to meet TJ! And in true TJ form, the donkey foal was soon running rings around him! Poor old TJ, he’s got to be the most nervous dog in the district!

How quickly they grow

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:02:00 GMT

Remember that little cria born a few days ago to North Star? Here she is again looking all grown up with a very ordinary looking Farmer Jen in her shearing outfit!

Luckily the little cria is better looking than her master!!

Click go the shears boys!

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:01:00 GMT

Summer time brings with it many of those seasonal jobs you’d really rather do when it’s not so hot! Like shearing the alpacas. This would have to be our least favorite jobs on the farm. Ric especially hates it!

For the third year, our shearer Ian arrived first thing in the morning and one by one the alpacas were loaded onto the shearing table. This year Ian’s offsider was Duke: his job is to do the heavy lifting, with some of the large males weighing up to 80kg each. Once they’re on the table, Ian shears one side first then we flip the alpaca over and shear the other side. Then it’s a quick round of maintenance in the form of vaccinations, drenching, and toenail trimming.

Each alpaca takes about 15 minutes to load onto the table, shear and vaccinate. The fleece is packed into two bags: one for the saddle, or the first class fleece; and another for the shorter seconds.

After all this, I separate the boys from the girls to be sold off and send the herds back out to the paddocks with their fresh “do’s”.