Hi Jason, good to see this update on the Farm, Cows and Sheep. Looks like those 2 Bull Cows settled down when you moved them to the pasture where there is plenty for everyone to eat. Your Rye looked incredible in the pasture with the nice big heads on them. Seeing the paddocks from the drone you can really see how green everything is with all of the rainfall. Enjoyed Sam's drone footage of the Sheep and lambs out grazing in the paddock. It is amazing that those Mama's with Triplets feeds all of them without assistance. When some of the lambs were laying near the mothers the way they were laying they looked like a live Lamb Cake for Easter. The Sheep looked like they were in heaven with all of the fresh green foliage to feed on. Your daughters seem to enjoy petting and interacting with your Sheep herd. They seem like they are used to your family and not afraid at all. When I saw them petting the Sheep I thought they are fortunate to have a Petting Zoo right on their own property. What a great place to raise children to learn the value of hard work and gaining an appreciation for where their food comes from.

@birchfieldfarming

2 ай бұрын

Thanks, Ben…It is a wonderful place to raise kids. This Spring has been especially enjoyable, now that I’m reflecting on your comments. I’ve always felt a strong connection to Psalm 23 here, the green pastures, the goodness of God. I actually looked that “pasture” word up in the Hebrew the other day and it means “home.” If there’s an element of the Kingdom of God that has already come, and that’s here now, then I know of no greater contentment than to dwell in that place, home. Perhaps the sheep on green remind us.

@benburns5995

2 ай бұрын

@@birchfieldfarming When I see those lambs it makes me think of the Israelites when for passover they had to bring a lamb into the house on the 10th day and then kill it on the 14th of Nisan. With as cute as they are that had to be incredibly hard.

Great to see all is progressing well.

@birchfieldfarming

2 ай бұрын

Thanks! It’s been a healthy Spring thus far.

exciting time of year. awesome to hear that lambing rate get up that high

@birchfieldfarming

2 ай бұрын

It’s taken us 6 years though to get here, and we certainly don’t have it all figured out. The ups and downs of farming sure do keep it exciting!

We just really enjoy your insight and knowledge for all things pasture! Ours took a hit with the drought and not knowing to pull animals and hay...then we ran out of hay in april...rookie mistakes! We are now moving 2-3x a day to allow for minimal overgrazing. Praying we can get a good round of hay in and pull them off as needed! I would love to hear your plans for the fall. We are thinking we need to seed somehow...maybe with aeration? Not sure yet how to seed on 3 acres!

@birchfieldfarming

2 ай бұрын

I tell ya, I’ve had really good luck with just broadcasting before rain. Let them overgraze a little right before a storm front rolls thru then put it out. Our cover crops have done great that way! Takes a little more seed, but still cheaper than the seed drill rental. Thanks for following along!🤠

Great to see all is well. Can't believe how your pastures are growing. Nice crop of lambs especially the triplets that is great and three years in a row. Where it is stone will you run your chickens over that area to help rebuild the nutrition then reseed? Love the videos.

@birchfieldfarming

2 ай бұрын

Great question! Part of me wants to experiment with one giant mob of animals - get the stocking rate way up for a short duration. I think chickens will do the trick. Problems is when I leave them in one area, the hawks pick them off from the air. Stay tuned!🤠

You have such beautiful green pastures! Spring hasn't quite sprung here yet but it's coming soon! Unfortunately the drought this year took a toll on us for lambing. We have had 29 born so far with one ewe left to lamb. Of those, one died despite our best efforts (and I don't think we could have saved her no matter what we did), 3 are bottle lambs (one had to be in the house because of wry neck), 3 prolapses, one was a C section, and two others had to be pulled. I'm a week out from my own due date too so it's been an intense year haha fingers crossed this last ewe lambs without issue and next year is easier!

@birchfieldfarming

2 ай бұрын

Good gravy, you’ve had a time of it! And don’t I remember seeing where pregnant women are supposed to steer clear of lambing ewes for potential disease reasons?? So has all that happened without you being as involved?? Hoping you all get some rain soon!

@ShepherdsCreek

2 ай бұрын

@birchfieldfarming yep I've had to be hands off for all of it and that has been HARD! I'm not a hands off kind of person when it comes to farming haha thankfully we got some rain the last couple days but we could definitely use more. I'll be paying way more attention to nutrition going forward. I thought I was doing a good job but clearly I missed something important so I'll be doing research to find out where we can improve and make sure the animals are getting everything they need. On another note, I'm very glad to hear you had such a great lambing season!

@birchfieldfarming

2 ай бұрын

@@ShepherdsCreekThank you for the encouragement. Oh, I can’t imagine having to stay back with all that going on with the ewes, wow…but here’s the main thing - super healthy tiny human on the way soon!! Congrats ahead of time😀

@ShepherdsCreek

2 ай бұрын

@@birchfieldfarming thanks! Can't wait haha

are you running your sheep about 6-8 paddocks behind your cows? Or you still running the sheep with the cows together?

@birchfieldfarming

2 ай бұрын

Sheep are about 10 paddocks ahead of cows, just to nibble off the tops…worked out well, as it gave mamma ewes some great nutrition as they lambed. Later as lambs mature, we’ll get rid of the electronets and combine sheep and cattle in a true multi-species rotation.

What are the dimensions of the paddocks? We are using electric netting also for our sheep

@birchfieldfarming

2 ай бұрын

We do 1/4 acre paddocks, so any combination of dimensions that pencils out to 11K sq ft. I think most are 135’ by 80’

What is a great way to sell my ram lambs. I've tried facebook and Craigslist. No interest. St.Croix rams. Thanks, Scooter Ridge Farm-Goochland Virginia

@birchfieldfarming

2 ай бұрын

A KZread channel!🤣. Are your sheep registered? Most of our business in the past has been folks finding us on the registry, so many calls we can’t supply them all. Rams are always a tougher sell - maybe time to dabble on the meat side? I know one lady locally who has made a booming business from selling the hides. Teaches folks to tan, wrote a book, etc. I had a guy awhile back wanted to buy all my hair sheep hides for something to do with pianos. Might’ve been bench covers or something. All kinds of niche markets to develop!

🇳🇿❤️🙏🏼

@birchfieldfarming

2 ай бұрын

Just had a shipment of Red Wigglers come in🤠