Tag: Know Your Farmer

Grass Farming, Video

New Lambs on the Homestead

Sarah

I hope you are ready for a cuteness overload, because it’s lambing season here at Never Done Homestead!

grass fed lamb naturally raised central PA sunbury for sale
In today’s homestead video, I get to introduce you to our newest fluffy babies.  Plus, I gave the cows and goats a few mins of camera time, too.  😉

BUT, I do want to warn you. At the END of today’s video, I included scenes of a sheep birth.  I know some people aren’t good with seeing blood and slimy stuff.
So if you know you wouldn’t enjoy seeing a brand new lamb come into the world, just watch the beginning of the video.  I let you know in the video when the birth scene is about to start.

Hope you are having an amazing day!
Sarah

If you can’t see the video below, click HERE!

 

Visit us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neverdonehomestead/

 

 

Grass Farming

The Homestead is FROZEN

Sarah

We don’t have a video, but I think I have a good excuse. It has been downright, positively TOO COLD TO FILM!! It hasn’t been over 32*F since Christmas, and seeing single digits on the thermometer has become pretty normal.

Plus, I don’t think Anna and I are too photogenic with umpteen layers of winter gear on.  Good grief, my sheep didn’t even recognize me the first time I went out to the barn looking like an overstuffed winter scarecrow.

So….I thought I’d give you a written update instead of a video since I can do that from the warmth of the house while drinking coffee.
All our animals have been handling this never-ending-arctic weather extremely well. The pigs have made themselves a huge, toasty hay nest and are sleeping the winter away, and the chickens and rabbits are happily munching all the extra feed we have been putting out. The cows are getting fatter, the goats are more than happy to stay in their shed, and the sheep don’t seem to know anything is different than usual.  BUT, the sheep are FINALLY using their calf hutch barn shelters!  I guess the weather finally became cold enough for them to bite the bullet and quit sleeping under the stars.

(If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out THIS VIDEO where my sheep are sleeping out in the snow.)

hair sheep winter housing central pa homestead

 

See! I even snapped a photo with my phone as proof!

Well, I need to go chop ice off the water buckets…again.

So till next week, keep warm and stay hydrated.

Sarah

Video

It SNOWED! ~ Winter Weather Barn Chores

Sarah

central pa snow farm homestead pretty

Did it snow at your house last night?  It did here!  I’m just a big kid when it comes to snow. Even though it makes work around the farm a bit more challenging, I still absolutely love snow.

Anna and I made you a video this morning with all our grazing animals in the barns and enjoying the snow.  Well, most of them were enjoying the snow.  You will see that not all my darlings enjoy the snow as much as I do.

Enjoy!
Sarah

Grass Farming, Video

Never Done Homestead Videos are BACK!

Sarah

Hello from Never Done Homestead.

grass fed lamb sunbury pa northumberland county central pa pastured sheep

We are getting ready to slow down for the winter season after a super busy late summer/early fall.  But before winter officially starts, we thought we should try to get a video made before we missed the entire fall season.

I think because it has been three months since we made a video (naughty, naughty), our movie-making skills feel a bit rusty.  You will see what I mean when you watch the video below.
Oh, and fellow goat lovers, don’t panic about the lack of goats in this video.  I still have my (awesome) goats. They just aren’t on pasture any more as they have migrated to their warm winter quarters. Video on that coming soon!
Ok, enough random chatter…Here is the video:
Take care friends!
Sarah
Hay & Grain, Uncategorized

Farm Girl Chores: Grinding Feed

Sarah
GMO Free Feed Chicken Sunbury PA
Grandpa’s 175 MF Ready to Work!

Anna, Laura, and I spent part of yesterday afternoon grinding feed.  It’s one of those farm jobs that I’m not crazy about, which is probably why I tend to put it off till the last minute. Yesterday’s fresh-off-the-grinder menu included turkey feed, layer feed, and pig grower.  All three feeds share just about all the same ingredients, but different amounts of these ingredients based on each animal’s needs.

One nice thing about mixing your own feed is the ability to adapt the ration to fit your current needs.  Say the weather suddenly gets a bit chilly at night and the turkeys look a a little stressed; we can add a few more pounds of Thorvin Kelp to their feed to give their immune systems a bit of boost.

 

feed3

All the grains are added, so Anna and Gyp head to the barn to add the minerals and supplement.

Fertrell & Thorvin Kelp for Healthy Animals

feed5

After the minerals are added, we auger out a few buckets of feed to dump in the mineral box.  This makes sure all the minerals are pushed into the the mixer.  (Is Laura standing on something, or am I really THAT short?)

feed6

Once everything is mixed together, we put the feed in the appropriate barrels. And there you have it, freshly ground, GMO Free feed.

Stay cool today everyone. We gals have a busy day today, and hopefully, if everything goes as planned, I’ll have some exciting news to share with you tomorrow.  🙂

Sarah

Grass Farming

The Evening Graze

Sarah

Evening are wonderful.  The heat of the day begins to relent, and the animals come out of their shade shelters, ready to graze.  I love opening up a fresh paddock for the goats and sheep each evening.

Central PA Grassfed Lamb & GoatGrass is the sweetest and most nutrient dense right at sunset after converting sunlight into sugars all day (and consequently is at its lowest nutrition at dawn after “starving” all night without the sun).  Watching my darlings graze is like therapy; the stress of the day melts away as I watch them enjoy their solar powered meal.

Grass Fed Goats Northumberland County PA

 

100% Grass Fed Lamb Sunbury PA
2016 Lambs Are Getting Fat

The two youngest of the baby goats spend their evenings playing.  Their energy  releases like a spring, and these two hardly stop long enough for me to get a decent picture.  Some young friends of mine named them Freddie and Nancy.  Cute!

~Sarah

Uncategorized

The Pastured Broilers Are Growing

Sarah

 

Pastured Chicken Sunbury Pa Northumberland County

Our meat chickens love being on pasture!  You should see how they gobble down the grass each morning after we move their shelters to a fresh square of pasture.

Northumberland county Pa Pastured Chicken

The grass is growing faster than the chickens can keep up with it.  Since meat chickens don’t like tall grass, we are grazing the grass shorter in front of the shelters with the goats and sheep.  The goats and sheep are enjoying the grass, and the chickens are happy: win, win!

Pastured Chicken For Sale Sunbury PA

We are still accepting orders if you are  interested in trying pastured chicken.  You’ll be amazed at the flavor! Click here for this year’s order form.