SSDreamin Blessings and curses

[SSDreamin]

I love impromptu learning; it's the best!
The in-laws came by yesterday to meet their 'cow great grandson' MIL was so excited - and Flank is a real ham! He danced around the pen and put on quite the show. MIL was most excited when he nursed (they are city people, what can I say). Ice Cream was fine with the attention - until MIL stuck her hand through the gate to pet Flank. She didn't do anything, just whipped her head around and stared intently!
This weekend will be a busy one. DH has a long list of things we need to get done. He is off right now getting a ton of 'eco bricks' - compressed recycled material used in place of wood for wood stoves and fireplaces. Our neighbor uses them, so we tried a package. Hubs says they'll work well as a back up and I agree. Besides, nobody around here has any wood left, let alone any to sell. We have to move the meaties to their secondary pen. Their final grow out pen is still buried under 3-4 feet of snow, but they have to get OUT of the back room - the stink is horrible! Plus there are about 10 more things DH rattled off that I forget!
We had a weird thing happen - DS had an easter-egger in with the meaties. Yesterday morning, she was gone! We looked everywhere, no chicken! No feathers, no feet or beak or anything. Don't know what happened to her. Weird.

 

[Denim Deb]

One of life's unsolved mysteries.

I'm curious, once Flank is full grown, how much meat will you get out of him?

 

[SSDreamin]

Mystery solved. The meaties crushed her She was stuffed in the corner under a bunch of poo

The ratio is 70%/30% on our miniatures. For instance, a holstein cow gives 7-10 gallons of milk per day (in an intensive milk management program, each cow should produce at the high end) Ice Cream should produce 5-7 gallons per day. A beef breed -such as the lowline, which is miniature Angus (what Ferdi is) - follows the same rule. Most beef steers produce an average of 767# of meat at slaughter, so Flank should provide approx. 546# of meat, on 30% of the feed required of a full size steer. That's a lot of beef!! Looking at Ferdi, who is 2 yrs old right now, I can easily see that ratio being fact! He is flat out HUGE!! All roasts/steaks/etc will be 70% the size too, which puts some people off. My guys eat a lot, but 500+ pounds of beef, two pigs worth of pork and 30 or so meaties worth of chicken per year should keep them swimming in meat!!

 

[Denim Deb]

I just might want to think about getting me some mini cows when I finally get my own place.

 

[hqueen13]

That sounds lovely! I wouldn't mind having a beef cow some day!

 

[SSDreamin]

I know, it SOUNDS great, but I am already struggling with it! I am repeatedly told 'don't get attached' - yeah right -I will have a minimum of 2,100 interactions with Flank before his 'big day' arrives. For our convenience, all our cows are halter trained. Mini's must have their hooves trimmed until they reach a certain weight, so you must work with them daily, teaching them to lift their feet and tolerate you messing with them. Plus, as I mentioned in an earlier post, he imprinted on me. So, if I go in the pen for any reason, he comes over to me. Remember too that I bawled like a baby when we took Blue Pig Girl to the processor, even though she was misbehaving badly and we only had her 6 months. I often say it would be easier if we could just turn them out to pasture and I just had to drive hay out to them occasionally, but I know that's a lie too. The farm I grew up on was 80 acres. The steer I raised, Samson (I know, not supposed to name them), would follow me around the fence line as I worked, hoping for scratches behind the ears. He was a 1,600 pound dog I stopped eating beef then, and for the 20 years that followed - couldn't even stand the smell of it cooking. I keep telling DH: I completely understand the concept. I totally agree with the whole raise-your-own-food-so-you-know-what-went-in-it idea. I am just too soft hearted when it comes to animals! I think my ideal situation would be to raise animals for, say, petting zoo's, then buy a side of beef or a pig from farmer Jones down the road! That is why I was really hoping for a heifer calf - we'd keep her and raise her for milk. This is the part of farming that sucks for me!

 

[hqueen13]

That is the part that I worry about. Raising meat chickens isn't a big deal. They aren't exactly attractive and in 8 weeks they are gone. Not really time to get attached. But cows and pigs...

 

[Denim Deb]

That's the same thing that I have a problem with. Chickens don't bother me and I doubt that the ducks will either. I don't know that I could raise rabbits for meat because I've had pet rabbits for most of my life.

 

[SSDreamin]

I have a problem. I am curious as to how some of you might handle it.
As I mentioned before, my dear friend of 40 years just passed away. There were actually three of us that were friends growing up. This 3rd person, I will call J, has not been in my life for quite some time as we had a falling out. She came to the visitation for my son, knelt beside me, and told me she would pray for me since my son was burning in hell. The Christmas following my son's passing, she sent me a card and a pamphlet which said if you are not saved by HER religion, you are not saved and will burn in hell. I severed all ties with her. When it became obvious that B, my friend with cancer, was not going to make it I made an attempt to contact J, so she could see B (B had distanced herself from J as well, not just because of my issue, but others she had as well). J commented on Facebook after B's passing that 'an Angel' gave her the gift of seeing her friend one more time and saying her goodbye's. Since then, J has sent me a friend request on FB, and sent 2 messages, telling me that B had spoke of why I have nothing more to do with her, and she (J) said she 'doesn't remember ever saying anything like that, or sending anything like that'. My DH was sitting beside me when she made the crass comment, and can back me up. It was all I could do to keep him from making a scene at the visitation! He also saw the pamphlet, and burned it.
I suppose I can understand her desire to reconnect; she said 'life is too short'. I discussed this with DH, who pointed out to me that, not just at my son's visitation but throughout our 'friendship', J has done things to intentionally hurt me and he feels I should continue to keep her out of my life, and block her from communicating with me on FB. My friend B had asked me to try to forgive and reconcile during our last conversion together, but I can't forgive something so cruel and hurtful.
What would you do if you were me? The continued messages are stressing me out. I don't know if I want someone so toxic in my life! I am also concerned because B's husband plans to have a memorial for B, and I have the feeling that J will ambush me there.

 

[hqueen13]

It is so tough to realize someone you cared for is now toxic to you. I would be gentle and forgive but that also doesn't mean that you need to keep her in your life.
Sending warm thoughts.