Check in With the Herd

For our animals, Winter is a time of resting and preparing for the coming Spring. The chickens slow down on egg production and want to spend more time roosting in their coops because of the shorter daylight hours. The sheep are no longer producing milk, and they get to relax out in the pasture, protected and comfortable in their thick wool, and prepare for motherhood in the Spring. Our pastures are also resting. During this time, we keep certain pastures completely empty so the perennial grasses will be healthy for the next year. We also make sure that the pastures have proper nutrient balances, which our chickens (and their litter) are actually a great help with. Spring is a time of growth and rejuvenation, but a lot of that rejuvenation begins during the Winter months.

As Winter begins to transition to Spring, we start to see changes in the animals as they prepare for the season. The chickens will molt and grow a new set of feathers as the light levels increase. The pigs will begin renovating their mud wallows in preparation for warmer temperatures. The sheep who were comfortable in their thick wool over the Winter will suddenly become itchy and scratch against the fence posts until its warm enough for them to be shorn.

For most of our animals, greener pastures are their favorite part about the arrival of Spring. Throughout the Winter, our sheep eat high-quality hay produced by other local farmers, but nothing can beat the fresh grass and legumes! Grasses are especially high in sugar during the Spring, which makes our grazing animals particularly happy – although we make sure that they enjoy it with precautions. Our chickens and other birds enjoy the return of all of the bugs to chase after and scratch up in Spring, while our pigs appreciate the warmer weather and the return of some of their favorite fruits and vegetables.

In early Spring we will welcome 250 new chicks that will eventually join our older layers in producing eggs for the kitchens. In late March and April, our lambs will be born. We try to have our lambs born in the Spring when grass starts to really grow again so that their mothers have lots of nutritious pasture for producing milk, and the lambs have plenty of tasty grass and clover when they are weaned. This Spring, I expect to have around 100 lambs born. Then in late Spring when everything is more consistently warm, our turkey poults will arrive and Summer will be on its way.

– Christen Waddell, Blackberry Farm Livestock Manager