Consider Bardwell Farm

We’ve Moved!

Consider Bardwell Farm — Sat, 19 May 2012 18:00:26 +0000

Please follow us over to our new blog…

http://considerbardwellfarm.tumblr.com/

See you there!

Kid Cud Chew

Consider Bardwell Farm — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:41:54 +0000

The kids are getting their rumens a-workin’ with some nice first cutting hay and Poulin Lamb-n-Kid grain. It’s a great sight and means we will be able to wean them off milk soon!

La Chevrerie

Consider Bardwell Farm — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 19:14:30 +0000

Kidding season 2012 is nearing its end. Yesterday, kid number 164 was born, and there are only 6 does left to freshen. We’ll keep some of the kids to replenish our milking herd, and the remaining kids will be pasture-raised for meat here on the farm. We wanted to share this video of all our kids enjoying their newly cleaned pens.

Dandelion, Our Best Milker

Consider Bardwell Farm — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 21:01:07 +0000

Consider Bardwell’s top milker has finally freshened! Dandelion gave birth to two healthy kids, a doe and a buck. These kids sure have a lot to live up to, including Dandelion’s sweet disposition.

Kid Injury

Consider Bardwell Farm — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:47:50 +0000

Our does are expert kid-cleaners. They lick their newborns dry with precision and efficiency – our towels are no match. Sometimes the moms can get tough: they will paw a kid into position or pull at an ear with their mouths. This little guy’s mom tugged a little too hard on his umbilical cord, pulling off the protective membrane. He’s ok, but we gave him a dressing to keep his exposed umbilicus clean as it heals. Number 99 also happens to be our biggest kid yet: at 13 pounds, he’s a giant next to his kid peers.

Hot Hogs

Consider Bardwell Farm — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:15:25 +0000

We had some ridiculously warm weather in Vermont recently. Temperatures were in the 70s and 80s for about a week straight and there was plenty of sunshine to put us all in good spirits. Well, most of us enjoyed the weather – a few members of the farm found the warm air and sunshine a little oppressive. Our boar Hugo was so hot he could hardly get up to eat!

Chicken Trickin’ and Truckin’

Consider Bardwell Farm — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 15:08:06 +0000

It’s time for the chickens to move – they’ve fallen in love with our kidding barn. To our annoyance, they’re prone to loafing around and nesting in the hay of our kids’ pens. So we trucked the biddies down to a lower pasture in our first attempt at chicken diversion. But their new spot was too close to their original haunts – they returned to the kidding barn and were back to their old antics in no time. They even stayed past sundown and we were tasked with nighttime chicken catching to get them back into their coop. Our final solution: driving them to one of our farthest pastures right next to our pigs. Now that’s some good chicken trickin’.

Recess

Consider Bardwell Farm — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:12:13 +0000

We let our oldest kids (3 weeks) run out into the barnyard during pen cleaning. It made shoveling kid poop totally worth it.

Lip Furl

Consider Bardwell Farm — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:24:55 +0000

Making Room for Mammas & The First Milk of the Season

Consider Bardwell Farm — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:15:16 +0000

Our kid count is up to 87, and more kids means more mammas. It’s about time we move back our barrier in the barn to make room for the milkers.

Almost half of our girls have freshened and on Friday we tasted the first milk of the season! Margot predicts the ladies will have a productive year. Our cheese makers are using this first batch of milk to make some delicious Machester.

Of course, more kids means more kid piles. And who doesn’t love a good kid pile?