The farm is populated with a wide range of livestock. Most being for cheese production ... some pets.
All the milk producing animals are selected based on the richness of their milk and the quantity that one animal can produce in one milking.
Sheep Herd
The sheep herd is made up of suffolk, Fresian, and Romanovs. The sheep are turned out to graze a few hours each day on nearby grass pasture.
Sheep slideshow
Goat Herd
The goat herd is made up of mostly Nubians and Alpines.
In the summer, Sally and the border collie Amy, take the goats out to graze for a few hours each day. She takes them to various areas for a variety of grasses, weeds and alfalfa. If left on their own, goats tend to get into trouble which is why Sal takes them out each day.
Goat slideshow
Cattle Herd
The milk producing cow herd is made up of one Brown Swiss (Renata) and two Guernsey (Lola and Camille). Renata is currently recovering from a case of hardware disease*.
The cows graze each day in our aspen grove during the day.
Cow slideshow
All animals are penned at night to avoid fatal encounters with coyotes and the occasional cougar that might be passing through.
All the milk producing animals are milked twice a day and given given a dairy mix at each milking.
*Due to the manner in
which cows graze, they are likely to swallow small bits of wire, nails,
and other bits of metal lost in the grass. These small pieces of metal
are then likely to penetrate their stomach lining and migrate into other
organs...a situation that, if left untreated, is always fatal.
;)
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