Post by martita on Aug 24, 2011 20:53:14 GMT -5
Well, it's been a while since I've hung out around here and I've missed everyone!
We got really busy with our annual summer camp and then we lost 3 satellite modems to lightning, so I haven't been online much. I look forward to seeing what everyone is up to these days.
So, Monica is doing well, despite some problems with our milking arrangement, but more on that later. What had me worried, weaning Paco, turned out to be a breeze. We had absolutely no problems with let down, even at first. Really, she has turned out to be a dream for us inexperienced new cow owners.
Paco is a bit on the thin side, but we are upping his ration and trying to put him on better pasture and hopefully he'll gain some.
Ok, now for the milking situation. When we got Monica, I knew that, what with helping out with our family business and keeping up with our toddler and infant I wouldn't be able to milk everyday and process all the milk, so we came to an arrangement with one of our neighbors. But, in the last week or so he has let us down, mainly because he went on a bender, but also just bad luck. Anyway, the missed milkings, added to not being able to get the silage we were feeding her, led to a drop in production. Now we have gotten her back up to 2 gallons, but she was giving 2 1/2 - 3. We are hoping that production will pick up again now that we have her back on a regular schedule. And we hope to get our hands on some more silage soon.
I have been having a blast experimenting with cheeses. Turns out I can buy traditional calf rennet (salted obamasum) from the local butcher and I have successfully made several batches of nuefchatel with it, a semi successful batch of mozzarella, and I have two stirred-curd cheddars ready for waxing.
I just wanted to to let y'all know how things are going since everyone here has been so helpful. I'm off to browse the section on sheep, because we are thinking that is our next project!
Martha
We got really busy with our annual summer camp and then we lost 3 satellite modems to lightning, so I haven't been online much. I look forward to seeing what everyone is up to these days.
So, Monica is doing well, despite some problems with our milking arrangement, but more on that later. What had me worried, weaning Paco, turned out to be a breeze. We had absolutely no problems with let down, even at first. Really, she has turned out to be a dream for us inexperienced new cow owners.
Paco is a bit on the thin side, but we are upping his ration and trying to put him on better pasture and hopefully he'll gain some.
Ok, now for the milking situation. When we got Monica, I knew that, what with helping out with our family business and keeping up with our toddler and infant I wouldn't be able to milk everyday and process all the milk, so we came to an arrangement with one of our neighbors. But, in the last week or so he has let us down, mainly because he went on a bender, but also just bad luck. Anyway, the missed milkings, added to not being able to get the silage we were feeding her, led to a drop in production. Now we have gotten her back up to 2 gallons, but she was giving 2 1/2 - 3. We are hoping that production will pick up again now that we have her back on a regular schedule. And we hope to get our hands on some more silage soon.
I have been having a blast experimenting with cheeses. Turns out I can buy traditional calf rennet (salted obamasum) from the local butcher and I have successfully made several batches of nuefchatel with it, a semi successful batch of mozzarella, and I have two stirred-curd cheddars ready for waxing.
I just wanted to to let y'all know how things are going since everyone here has been so helpful. I'm off to browse the section on sheep, because we are thinking that is our next project!
Martha