This morning, the long-awaited farrier finally arrived (the guy who trims and cleans cow hoofs). The farrier is scheduled to come to the farm every quarter to inspect, trim and mend the feet of our cattle. We try to keep our cattle in the field for most of the year, but right now there's really nothing to eat (No grass growth), and therefore they spend most of their time in the sheltered Barnes we have erected around the farm.
Jennifer and our cattle handlers have been assembling the cattle with particular attention to lame animals. There's always junk in the pastures, and sometimes a nail will penetrate their hoof, and do some real damage. Jennifer told me that 15 lame cattle require inspection and mending and that a number of our older cattle (99% from our milking herd) need to have their hoof trimmed. A solid day or two of work for the ferrier, and his apprentice.
On the new farm site, things are progressing quickly. The trenches on the new farm side have already been closed off with water, gas and electricity lines already buried. Today the road trench should be completed and the site should have water and electricity by tomorrow night.
Of the warehouses, they completed the steel on the first building and are about 10% done on the second building. As our contractor said, the steel is the easy part. On Monday, he said we will have four or five scissor lifts to install (purlings, insulation and steel sheets). Our contractor still thinks that by Friday next or the following Monday, the electricians and other subcontractors will be able to begin working on the site.
Even the garage doors were delivered this morning. The pace of work is unbelievable. On top of everything, inspections are happening quickly because the county staff is available (heavy rains have closed many building sites).
In other news, our high tunnels heating systems have been operating 24/7 for the past two weeks, with the cold weather. We are about 15 days behind schedule for our gas consumption this year. The last two months have been far warmer than in the past. We have been getting overnight frost for about a week now, and we don't expect things to improve until February.
My wife and I are leaving for a two-week holiday on Saturday morning. I am far more secure now that Jennifer is fully up to speed and clearly in charge of the farm. The pigs and piglets are supposed to arrive next Monday. Jennifer and Amanda (our pig foreperson -- her choice of title) already selected the first two woods where the pigs will be kept.
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