Mellow moments

It's a mellow Saturday here at Rivergum. On this rare occasion I am home alone, if you don't count the animals, and I'm not doing anything in a hurry today. After a full week navigating work commitments, health issues of my father, bureaucracy of corporate organisations and life in general I'm stretched and starting to twang. Enjoying a leisurely sleep-in (yes, 7am is a sleep-in) I didn't actually get up for a bit longer but I enjoyed the opportunity to read The Big Issue, surf the net, with no particular goal in mind, stare out the window and have a few conversations with my cat Meep, who seemed determined to get me out of bed to feed her, and her buddy, Lilly. Cup of green tea made, an essential each morning, I have pottered around the house noticing how neglected it has become in the rush of the week. The washing piles (yes plural!) are overflowing, the grass is long,  the dust is well settled on all the furniture. The washing will get my attention but the rest will have to wait. Today, I have other plans, well at least good intentions to complete some book work for my studies. However, before rushing to that task I have enjoyed a walk outside, with the three pooches in tow, fed the hens and given a cursory inspection of the cows, all very contended

Entertaining me

Mellow cat style

and relaxed in their paddocks. The sun is shining but the wind chill is crisp. Our newest trees, planted this week, are looking healthy despite the dry soil they have been planted in. We have experienced small spurts of rain, enough to keep the plants feet moist. We lost a dozen or so young sapling recently and its hard not to get frustrated at times. All that work gone in a matter of hours. But, dwelling on disasters is not productive and we can only move forward with each setback. Sitting here at my desk this morning,  I can appreciate the serenity, the view and the blessing it is to have such space around me. Chatting to my hairdresser last night, also a farmer, we both agreed that if you can't enjoy what we have, then farming is simply another anchor around your neck, weighing you down causing back ache beyond measure. So, a little down time and reflection is good for the soul and certainly good for my health. I have a condition which raises its ugly head as a warning, inflaming the muscles around my chest, it makes it hard for me to breathe and eventually it renders me useless until I remove the stress factors and rest. Recently, the chest is tightening again and I am heeding the warning signs to back off and stress less. Well, at least for

A distracting view

today anyway.

My workspace

Last night was whole different story. We received a call from my father's nursing home Thursday morning telling us he had "a turn" and wasn't very good. Naturally as luck would have it, I was working in Melbourne and Daryl in Traralgon. Having conversations with staff, the expectation is that sensible steps would be taken to ensure a diagnosis and then treatment, but its seems that in aged care that is not the case. I will not bore you with the details except to say, there followed numerous phone calls and lengthy visits to the facility, finally ending in terse words and subtle threats to take steps to a higher authority if the medical care was not forthcoming. Amazingly enough my father has finally been assessed and is being treated accordingly - more than 48 hours after the fact. This is what we have to look forward to, if we are unfortunate enough to end up in a nursing home. At ten o'clock last night after the final phone call ensuring my father was in a better state, I was even too tired to have a glass of wine. Today, he is stable and is expected to improve with each passing day. I'm not sure why it's all so hard, we pay a fortune for him reside in this facility and yet they are under resourced, and staff are stretched to capacity. It's just not ok. However, let's move on to nicer conversations, my chest is tightening just typing this portion.

Curious creatures

Happy hens

Rivergum update: We have finally decided on a label (pictured) for our egg cartons and I am so excited for the final product to arrive in our mail. After umming and ahhhing for some time, we have gone for simple and bright - much like our hens, who after weeks of feeding, they are starting to produce some eggs, albeit small in size for most of them, the eggs will no doubt increase in volume and quality over time. In the meantime they are being well guarded by our two alpacas who are also enjoying a feed of hay in their new hay feeder today. We have started to feed them pellets and they are slowly becoming more friendly. Ever curious, they are funny creatures who it seems can be easily trained. Maybe we could get a few more, to keep the foxes at bay and away from our calves.

Ready for a new home 

Ready for planting

Our most recent additions have settled in well into the farm. The 13 steers are keeping five heifers company as we need to keep them (the heifers) away from the bull who has come to play with the cows for a few months. The heifers, who are just gorgeous and fat, will go to a new home on Monday, having just sold them privately. We are contemplating changing from breeders to steers, maybe keeping a couple of cows, because I like having the little ones around.

Inspecting the work

Fattening steers can be less work and certainly less stressful without the complications of birthing. We are still in the research phase on this one. Despite some welcome rain, it is too little, too late and we will be unable to cut hay this year. The growth is sparse and not worth the expense of contractors. So we will be on the lookout for good quality pasture hay soon. Around the house the plumbing works, which of course became bigger than anticipated, are completed and Daryl can finally concentrate on the footings for the carport, which is how this whole plumbing project started. While hay is not a goer this year, the rain

Plumbing pain

has boosted our fruit trees and they are blooming and budding all over the place. We are slowly replacing the citrus that died in the frosts and it is inspiring to see the new green shoots on each plant. The same goes for our gum trees that are also rejuvenating after being hit hard in the recent frosts. Speaking of rejuvenating, the same cannot be said for our house windows which are in the throes of being scraped and sanded and painted to give them a new lease of life. Four have been completed but I still have nine windows and three door frames to go. Motivation come at me, because I can't find you!

New growth 

While I have been typing, my tea has gone cold and the sun has hidden behind the increasing cloud cover; the breeze floating through my window has chilled. It may be time to move onto my next project for the day.
Wishing you all a moment of serenity and time for reflection sometime today.

Until next time,

N

Bidding begets a Barnevelder

New beauties

Checking out their new home

It's quarter to five and I have finally sat down to have a break. Starting early this morning, I intended to stop into the poultry auctions held in Maffra, just for a look, and then whip home and delve into the study I need to do for work. I'd never been to the poultry auctions and Daryl was very encouraging yesterday, suggesting it would be good to see what was there, as we have often talked about it. It wasn't hard to twist my arm. Racing around this morning, I did some basic house tasks, ironed all the work clothes and even polished my boots along with checking cows and letting out the hens. As I did a quick scan of the paddock I noticed one of our cows looking suspiciously like she might calve soon. Leaving her to the birthing business I grabbed the cheque book, just in case, and headed for the poultry auction. As the sun broke through the clouds the day was looking sharp, and I was enjoying some time out on my own.
The poultry  auction was noisy, both with people and all manner of feathered varieties from fancy bantams, designer ducks, a handsome goose or two, table turkeys and  an amazing array of hens and roosters (each one trying to out-crow the other). Some breeders were there sprooking their knowledge and guiding the beginner poultry keepers, while others seemed to just enjoy the hot chips on offer. The narrow corridors with cages high, soon had the crowds gathered in on the auctioneer (who could benefit from a microphone) and the bidding began. Quick, without any hesitation, he went from cage to cage calling the crowd to bid. It was obvious who were long time bidders and knew how the game was played; I quickly learnt to stand my ground and not let the front rowers push me back when it

Rhode Island Red

came to the cages I wanted. Barnevelders and Rhode Island Reds were on my radar and I was not going to miss out. With my research done, I was ready to win and I did. I came home with four beautiful Barnevelder hens and two Rhody pullets, far cheaper than I had seen online. The easy bit done, I quickly realised my plans for study were evaporating as the "old pen" was going to have a makeover for its newest inhabitants. With a dozen of our older layers still waiting to be sold, I didn't want them to mix. These new ladies are a bit special and will hopefully be good mums in time. My

What a mess

other hens are purely for laying and a new batch will be arriving in two weeks. Now back in farm clothes I started the big clean up and two and half hours later the girls are happily scratching around their new home, with new laying boxes, roosting area and fresh pellets. Initially, they were not so thrilled and one quickly discovered she could fly onto the railing. After the unenviable task of catching her from an open area, on my own, I had no choice but clip her wings and that of her buddies. For a couple of weeks, the ladies will be confined to their home pen before being allowed to free range through the paddocks, this will teach them where they live and lay, but also allow them to get used to us. The foxes will know we have new

More mess

stock and will be snooping around. These pens are fox proof, so at night, they will be safe. With unseasonably warm temperatures it did not take long to work up a sweat, combine this with old straw, cob webs and general dust and soon I was covered in grime. It's amazing where dirt and feathers can end up as I discovered when I finally hit the shower and saw what my bra had collected! If all goes to plan our remaining layers will go to in a new home tonight, after the initial buyer failed to turn up last night. Now, a new buyer is set to be here later. Facebook is great in the freedom and low cost to advertise stock and all manner of treasure and trinkets, but I have found over time that people can be unreliable and very poor communicators. Our trusty smart phones do not leave us any excuses for poor communication and it is frustrating to be left waiting. If the last of the Isa's are picked up we will have no eggs for a couple of weeks. This is disappointing for us and the people we sell eggs to, but nonetheless we will make up for it very soon, with 40 layers ordered.

Mother's club

The cow I mentioned earlier did calve, but I am yet to go near her to see what she had. The Angus cows are good mums, very protective and generally it's best to leave them alone for a day or so. We still have a number to calve and this is turning out to be a strange calving season.  It was good to see a bit of rain during this past week and the sounds of it on the roof last night, when I couldn't sleep, was a welcome distraction. The paddocks are quickly turning a fresh shade of green, and with the sun presto, we will have growth. Having lost the afternoon revitalising the hen house, I needed to feed the poddy calves, who have now been reduced down to one feed a day, every second day. They are growing magnificently and chowing down their muesli and hay, not to mention the fresh grass in their paddock. They still come running anytime you are near them, especially if you have the quad bike. They associate the bike with milk. Study is taking a very strong second place to anything farm

So much nicer

orientated today and yesterday it was not on the schedule at all. Yesterday, Daryl and I enjoyed a clearing sale at Denison and came home with a few feed barrels and two chicken runs, fully enclosed. This is where our newest babies will learn to roam, hopefully we will have baby chickens in the

Much better

future, once we get equipped with an incubator and heated chick box. During the auction we bid, as usual, on a few different items, but there always seems to be someone willing to pay just a bit more and common sense tells you to stop but the auction momentum encourages you to keep bidding. It can be such fun! We managed to fit in a visit to my father and discovered the nursing home has a kleptomaniac lady who thinks everything is hers and anyone (who is male) is her husband. This is creating more drama than a day time soap and it seems dad is not too impressed. His crocheted blanket and papers have gone missing, replaced with unwelcome advances from the lady in question. We managed to soothe his concerns with coffee and hot apple pie from Maccas and convinced him the nursing home would be back to normal as soon as the staff could return all the borrowed goods! He is finally using a walking frame and is able to move around the centre more confidently, although he is quick to remind us that he doesn't need it and only uses it sometimes, a bit like he only rarely sleeps during the day - but anytime anyone visits he tends to be snoring.
I can smell the silverside cooking and the room is darkening. Outside the clouds are sparse and there is a pink tinge to the sky. It's time to close up the house, crank up the fires and maybe, just maybe,  open up these folders and do some study.

Until next time

N

Buying pastured eggs is an eggcellent idea.

Making do until the new laying boxes
 are ready.

They don't get much fresher
 than this.

Despite the drizzly rain, muddy ground and grey clouds I went to the Sale Market this morning. Less than half the usual stalls were there and the crowd was sparse. In my wanderings I noted four stalls selling ’free range’ eggs. These stall holders, diverse in their produce, selling goods including bric-a-brac, vegetables, plants and salami, were all the same in that they all also sold eggs, unregistered, in a public place. Re-used cartoons, some eggs with chook poo still on them, -all claiming to be ‘free range’. But how do you know? How old are they? How are the hens looked after? What are they fed? Do they meet housing standards?

And this is the hypocrisy – standards. Producers pay money to be registered, spend money to be meet the standards, but then who supports them? Who ensures the standards remain in place? 

Working with our local council and FREPA (Free range egg and Poultry Association) over the past few months, we have been researching the guidelines and costs associated with registering to sell eggs to the public as a small scale, free range egg producer. The process is costly and guidelines are stringent. Pages and pages of documentation detailing housing requirements, food and water regulations and labelling rules. FREPA also have their own guidelines.  

A range of colours and sizes

Hens found their own place

We have started on this journey, building a bigger hen house, installing more effective laying boxes, creating a secure “safe” paddock, purchasing an egg washer and we have a couple of alpacas waiting for us (they act as herd protectors). We are keen to succeed with our own branding and take our eggs further afield than we currently do. But some days I wonder if it’s all worth it. Because at the moment I could set up a stall at a local market and sell my eggs for a few dollars a dozen and cover the costs of chook food. But that’s not how we roll. We want our own cartons with our own logo and our own name. I want people who buy our eggs to firstly enjoy them but secondly to know where they come from and that the hens are true pasture roaming free range, as it was originally meant to identify. Our hens free range on our property, they see daylight, eat fresh grass and forage for bugs and worms. They are fed high quality grain and seeds along with kitchen peelings and bread. They follow us around the farm, often getting underfoot. They are friendly and produce high quality eggs. Thankfully our hens enjoy a very good life.

 

They follow us everywhere

In the last week Landline reported: “A decision by state and territory governments to allow up to 10,000 hens per hectare in free range egg production has prompted criticism from smaller producers, who say they are being forced to choose another definition for their type of farming.

Producers who run their chickens at low density in mobile houses are labelling their product as "pastured eggs" to differentiate themselves from the more densely farmed larger commercial companies”

Curious little birds

These new type of free range hens are not in cages and this is a good thing, however they are in climate and light controlled sheds, massive ones, crowded in, thousands of them. They do not have access to grass, bugs or worms, they cannot roam because when you put 10,000 hens in one hectare they barely have room to stretch their wings. This is not a natural state for hens.

Free to roam

Personally I don’t agree with the new definition of free range, it is deceptive and once again presumes the consumer is not smart enough to question or care if the eggs they buy truly are free range. I hope, as people pay more attention to ethical and sustainable production of food, that they will take the time and effort to support true free range or as they are being referred to now, pastured eggs, from registered sellers. You may pay an extra dollar or two but quality is worth the extra expense.

 Until next time, N

Autumn days

Clearer tracks, greater access

One of many loads of wood

Another very busy day at Rivergum, at least for Daryl who continues to toil away on his 'holidays'. The cooler Autumn days are a perfect backdrop for slashing long grass and clearing fallen trees for firewood. The clear tracks will allow safe riding spaces for Bek and her new horse Kiwi (Yes, I did say new horse!) and it promotes new growth of pasture. The logs will provide strong fence posts (woodcutter booked for two weeks - yeah) and a healthy supply of wood for friends, family and ourselves.

We have also bought some laying boxes and we are very exciting about the prospect of a new chicken run and chicken house to match.

Free range at its best

There is much discussion at the moment on the radio about what constitutes free range eggs - I have no doubt many of the current 'free range' labels are exaggerated and this classification should be reviewed. Our flock of 22 hens love to be outdoors; they scratch and peck their way around the farm blissfully. I am quite surprised when I hear poultry farmers talk about chickens who choose to stay inside a shed and not venture outside. They are clearly exposed to a different lifestyle from our chickens.

Fallen trees galore

Certainly an interesting debate.

 Our plan at Rivergum is always to allow our animals to live as well and freely as possible while they are in our care. They are well fed, safely housed and protected from the elements and natural, as well as introduced, predators. They provide us with food, fertiliser and a lovely feeling of worth and contentment.

 Til next time ( by the way my toe is still red, swollen and incredibly sore..just saying!)

Cheers

Natasha

I think I broke my toe and other tales

Well finally I am sitting, in front of the fire, yes the nights are getting chilly and I love it. Nothing like the smell of  wood burning, watching the flames flickering in the firebox and that dry heat that warps its way into every fibre of your being - relaxing and caressing you. It's absolutely orgasmic.
Of course a couple of good quality reds help....everything, but not my poor big toe. It's currently throbbing (and swollen)  after the gate and said toe collided this evening. Following a call from Daryl(hubby) this afternoon, while I was at work, telling me we left a calf with his mum when separating our calves from their mothers on the weekend, we needed to get this little steer off his mum urgently and get him into the calf paddock.

Lovin' my new toy

Now, just to put your mind at ease, these calves are bigger than their mummas, who are hopefully pregnant. Picture Daryl on the quad bike tearing around the paddock rounding up this calf while Bek (daughter) and I waited to steer the calf into the yards. After lots of dust and cow crap flinging in the air the calf ran through the gates; in my haste to close the gate before the herd of angry mumma cows charged through, I heaved the gate (picture gate hanging off one hinge and bloody heavy) as hard as I could while my foot was still in motion and kicked the bottom of the gate with my boots (minus the steel capped toe). The squealing which followed was worthy of an Oscar and could be heard at farms far and wide.

Hen's have found a new hobby

Anyhow enough whining for now.

On a positive note we did get a new toy for the farm - our quad bike. This purchase has caused some heated conversations in the family circle regarding their safety and poor stats about people killing themselves on them. Despite these stats we have purchased one, mainly so I can get around the farm,with relative ease. It has already served its purpose multiple times. Daryl has rigged up a purpose built trailer to go on the back of the quad to collect firewood.

Making life easier

This carries up to four wheelbarrows full of wood and means  I don't have to try and push a wheelbarrow full of wood  during winter, a task made very difficult with dodgy hips. The quad factor also means our daughter is keen to use it - yeah for us! Like any effective piece of equipment, it is perfected through trial and error.

Bit heavy to go cross country

And our wood trailer is no exception. Our first load, stacked just beautifully, promptly fell sideways after the quad tried to go through a hole - unsuccessfully. With the 'help' of our chickens we reloaded and successfully parked our first load at the house.
The rest of the weekend took us to the rose garden and then the veggie patch for some autumn planting.

Loaded and ready to go

Nice crops

It is always satisfying to plant a new crops and work in the rose patch.  We had an infestation of aphids and some other unidentifiable black little critters on our roses causing them to wilt. We trimmed, fed, watered and sprayed the remaining roses in the hope of revitalising them. They thanked us by digging in their thorns at every opportunity.

New veggies

Man of many talents

On the whole we are making slow progress at Rivergum. Daryl, with the help of his 88-year old father (he's amazing)  has finished the stay-sets for our new chicken paddock and we are now waiting for fencing wire to arrive. Of course if we didn't keep getting injured we could progress faster. Apparently today Daryl tripped over, in the paddock, while holding the chainsaw and various other tools, narrowly missing cracking his head open on the old bath/trough, only denting his knee (large bruise presenting now). His poor Dad nearly had a coronary!

Negotiations with the neighbour for a new boundary fence have been successful  and the contractor is being organised along with wood man who splits our trees for posts.
It's all very exciting in a farmy kind of way. 

Our new chooks have settled in and are supplying us with up to 18 eggs a day.

Funny little fowls

Always keen to help

We can find them in all sorts of places - the shed, the wood pile, the old rusty boiler drum and even the laying boxes on occasion!! Looking forward to expanding our eggs production and being able to supply true free range eggs.


My toe is throbbing and no amount of red wine is helping.


 
'Til next time.

Cheers

Natasha

Pecking order

We are now the happy owners of 16 new laying hens. Our surviving six hens are not so impressed with the new additions, but it seems the pecking order is getting sorted. No blood shed as yet and only a few ruffled feathers. We collected them late evening, long after the sun had set, when they are at their most docile and transported them home in a large cage in the back of the 4WD. By the time we finished the 30 minute drive the car reeked of bird poo and the hens had finally stopped squawking. The quiet lasted only until we started moving them into the new pen.
Pitch dark, muddy soil underfoot (thanks to some welcome rain) and a very curious Kelpie made the transition ...interesting. With torches strategically placed, including one atop Daryl's head, we successful transferred the new girls  into their home. At the end of this adventure Daryl and I were covered in scratches (from flapping wings and stray claws) and I had suspicious looking, wet, gooey liquid running down the front of my jeans.

So despite the mess it is lovely to watch them scratch their way around the farm. The new girls are not used to roosting and persist in sleeping on the hay at the bottom of the roost. They must not be used to laying on straw either as for the first few days they insisted on scratching all the hay out of the laying boxes and laying on the base. The old girls did not seem impressed. Situation fixed and we are please they are laying on hay once again.This keeps the eggs cleaner and has less chance of breaking.

While we prefer our hens to remain unaltered we had no choice (if we wanted them to stay alive, that is) but to clip their wings, so on another very dark night we were once again disrupting their rest as we gave them a feather trim. For now their pen is not ideal and they fly over the fence if we don't let them out early enough, unfortunately they either fly into the dog pen (bad move) or into the open paddock (foxes playground when we are not home). The new pen is under construction and hopefully it will be habitable in the very near future.

Fresh eggs are now the order of business - free range and fabulous.

Until next time,

Cheers N