An Amazing Week So Far!

Pen 1 (Cows who have had 1-2 calves) enjoys a tasty lunch in the new barn.

We have been having an amazing week so far.  While the mornings have been early and the nights have been late...it's been worth it all. 
On Monday we had our monthly DHIA test, where we learned how the cows have been adapting to their new home.  It was awesome to see how well they are doing!  In all honesty, the past couple months have been a trial for them.  The old barn was over crowded, and the bedding was piling up.  The freedom and space of the new barn, combined with the comfortable stalls and added feeding space has really paid off.  Our #1 cow...Orange Patch Rockette...or you can just call her Rockette, produced a whopping 168 pounds of milk in one day (almost 20 gallons!)!  She's definitely a rockstar in our eyes!  Our #1 heifer (had just 1 calf so far) named Orange Patch Morty Blessing...or Blessing for short...produced an also impressive 120 pounds per day!  Both of these cows, are like so many others in our herd, who are exceeding our expectations, and we are truly blessed with the opportunity to work with them.
On Tuesday we had herd health in the new barn.  We used the headlocks (as seen in the picture above) to "lock" our cows, so our veterinarian could check them out.  Using the headlocks proved to be an enjoyable experience for us humans, but more importantly for the cows!  They really enjoyed being able to eat while we did their check ups, and even after we released them, the cows kept coming back for more attention.  The good news is that we have another 18 cows and 4 heifers ready to have calves in September!  We're really excited about that! The better news was the herd health took less time, but more importantly, was kinder and gentler on the cows! So cool!
Today, was another great experience....we enjoyed visiting with the area high school animal science class.  The 21 students came to our farm this morning with a really good general base of knowledge about dairy farming, thanks to their awesome ag-teacher.  With the knowledge they asked some great questions about the practices we use on our farm.  I can't say enough good things about the importance of ag-education in high schools and the importance of teaching our teens where their food actually comes from!  Overall this was one of the best, if not the best tour group of teens that we've ever had! Just awesome! =)

They're Home!!!!!

Sparkles and her friends on Day 1 in the new barn..  These cows have never seen a stall before.
We were so proud of them for figuring out right away how to use their new beds!!!

Well, we finally did it!  We moved the first group of cows into our new barn!  The barn is not completed yet, we have many little things to do, but we were running out of space and our girls just couldn't wait any longer to check out their new home!  It's been so amazing to just walk up into the new barn and see how calm and comfortable the cows are!  Jon and I often just sit and watch them, resting in their sand bedded free stalls, chewing their cuds, and relaxing!
I'm really looking forward to getting some time to sort through the many pictures and videos I took along our journey, and getting them posted to our blog.  It's been a wonderful...nope make that AMAZING winter in Minnesota for construction, so we were truly blessed.  And, hopefully at the end of this project I can feature more videos and pictures of the cows.....enjoing the fruits of their (and our labor)!  Stay tuned!

Welcome 2012!

Happy New Years from Orange Patch Dairy!!! Bring on 2012!!!!

Well it's been WAY too long since I blogged!!!!  I'm entirely to blame for that, but I have a great reason...I had to put my cows FIRST.  Often at the farm we need to choose which projects get attention, and well thanks to our new barn construction (which has been going well) and the awesome brown winter we have, well I haven't run out of things to do at the farm.  Each of my projects have been done with the final goal of making the lives of my cows and calves better.  So....with that being said...we are VERY EXCITED to welcome 2012 at the farm.  This year we have so many great things to look forward to!  We have a new barn to move into, we have more calves to be born, and Jon & I will be moving from town to the farm.  All of these changes will help us to take better care of our cows, which in the end makes for VERY happy & proud dairy farmers.  Happy 2012 everyone!  We hope you have many blessings!!!!!

Our Final Project for 2011...the BIG Project!

Well, our hoop jumping and waiting are over!  Last week on Monday we received word that we had been approved by the Small Business Administration (SBA) for our loan for our final project for 2011, the BIG project...our new barn!!!!  Before I start posting video and pictures from the construction, I thought I had better start at the beginning with the plan and the reasons why we are building a new barn. 
Below you can see a picture of our cows resting comfortably in our current barn.  We built that barn in 2005, and have been generally pleased with how our cows are doing in there, but we know they deserve better.  This barn is a bedded pack barn, which is a "one size fits all" type of a barn.  Our cows had an enormous amount of flexibility to move around where they would want, but with that flexibility came some challenges.  They were at risk of stepping on each other, laying in manure (causing them to get infections and just be dirty) and at risk of getting infections in their feet.  All of these challenges were manageable, but we knew we could do better.  The cows are comfortable, and that's hard to beat.....meet the new barn!

Our new barn will be a free stall barn, which will allow us to have designated areas (beds) for each cow, preventing them from laying in manure, stepping on each other, and fighting for their favorite spot.  These beds will be bedded with sand instead of saw dust.  Since sand is inorganic, bacteria have a hard time growing, thereby helping us to maintain quality milk from healthy cows.  The sand also gives traction to the cows walking on concrete.  Mature cows will be in one pen and new heifers/smaller cows will be in another pen.  We are actually not adding cows, contrary to the rumors flying around, but making more space for our growing herd.  The entire milking herd will be moving to the new barn once it's completed.  But have no fear, we are still going to be using our 2005 barn...just with a new purpose....a dry cow/fresh cow/special needs barn! 

For the past 5 years we have been "housing" our dry cows (pregnant cows, right before calving) outdoors, with no shed.  The have shade in the summer and wind breaks in the winter, and that's been working for us, but it takes LOTS of hard work on our part to make sure that these important animals on our farm get the best care possible.  When we move the milking herd out of the 2005 barn we will move the dry cows and pregnant heifers into the pack barn.  We plan on leaving our half of the pack barn as a pack, bedded with dry corn leaves and stalks.  These pens will allows us to have our dry cows indoors!  They will be able to enjoy shelter from the Minnesota weather (mainly the winters that are the hardest!) as well as deliver their calves in more comfortable facility.  In the case that a cow needs help delivering her calf, we will now have facilities that will make that care possible.  I speak from experience, that it's not fun trying to chase a cow that's calving around in a big yard, let alone in a muddy or snowy yard!  It's this part of the project that makes us the most excited!  Giving better care to my pregnant cows makes me so thrilled!  They are tough girls, and handled the outdoors just fine, but on those wet and snowy days, I really felt for them. 

This is a big project, but financially we aren't going to be spending any more per month than we are now.  So how's that work???  Well, when we built our pack barn in 2005 the cost of saw dust was less than 50% than what it is now.  Currently we spend enough each month on saw dust bedding for the pack barn, that we have enough money to cover the loan payments and the cost of sand bedding!  We are confident these changes will help us to increase the quality of care that our cows get each day, and to us, that means more than any financial benefit.  Peace of mind, knowing our cows rest safely in a new barn, clean & comfortable....is priceless!!!

Our cows resting comfortably in our current barn,
 but we hope they'll be even more comfortable
in the new barn!

The PLAN...including the next steps for the Spring 2012.