Feed mill construction and completion

 The past year led to some rather large changes to how we grow our birds - which I touched on at the end of the last post. Andy was growing more and more frustrated by the lack of control he had over the ingredients in the feed and also the lack of competition in the feed industry.  Having neighbours to the north of us with their own swine feed mill peaked his interest in seeing what could be done to make the farm more cost effective as well as interesting to run, given a person could source their own ingredients with top of the line ingredients.  All of this suits Andy's personality to a T.  After a year of research and planning, we finally started on this large project, permits in hand.  It is placed behind barn 1, so the building and bins are not in the way of the yard.   The project was started in April of 2018 and was finished January 1st, 2019, ready for the first flock of this year.

Truck after truck load of concrete was poured over layers of rebar to provide strength for the heavy bins.

We enjoyed watching the progress.  The guys who did the work were amazing and willing to try anything.  Below is the trench that was dug for the blower lines.  One going to each barn.  That in and of itself was a massive job, with huge messes, but it cleaned up well.

Used drill stem was repurposed for strong and cost effective blower lines.

Finally time for the bins to be placed!  It was very exciting to see it all come together.

Inside the mill is a network carefully orchestrated to bring exact measurements of grain/peas/corn into the rollermill, mix it with oil, canola meal, soybean meal, RMB meal, and micro/macro nutrients following carefully made recipes and then blown out to the specific barn.  

Power cords waiting to be connected in the breaker room.

We are one month away from using the mill now for one whole year.  It has been a really good addition to the farm. The entire mill can be run from one desktop computer and thru Andy's phone.  The whole process can be monitored online and also shut down and started up when needed also thru the phone. When we were on holidays this past September we could monitor the mill and ingredients from the other side of the globe which is quite a concept. We are fascinated and interested in the statistics coming in flock after flock - mortality is consistently very low and the birds have healthy guts.

We have learned so much and plan to keep learning to make the best economical and business decisions we can.  It has definitely made this farm more techy and less boring.  :) All of that is good news.

Farming 2019

This year, summer 2019, was a flurry of activity and a short growing season for our alfalfa and Timothy fields.  Spring came late and fall came early.  But still we did well, some beautiful hay was made, often bringing the bales in just before the rain started or the snow flew.  We remember the sign of the rainbow, God is faithful and provides day after day.

 

 Our neighbors are doing all the custom work for us and we rent two bays in their hay shed to store the hay.  Always exciting to watch the process.

 

Big baler and small baler, working side by side.

 

Every year we have something to work on, on our yard. This year it was time to remove the old feed trough that was beside the sidewalk and put in some trees and a garden.  It was a pretty big job but we feel like it has added some much needed beauty and greenery to the yard.  So happy to have this done, now to watch it grow and enjoy the benefits!  

 

 This past July brought flash flooding with crazy rain storms.  Not a very common experience for the area.  We had higher precipitation than normal which brought challenges for farmers, especially those with hay.  

I have a good size (albeit unruly) row of raspberries in the vegetable garden and it gave me great joy this past summer to weed and putter around there every morning.  These two girls became the best raspberry pickers of the family, sticking their little arms thru the prickly branches to find the ripest and best berries, day in and day out.  The small things in life truly are beautiful. "God's candy" we called the berries. I don't know if even one bucket full made it to the house. 

Andy and Tristan found a bull snake sitting by the door of a barn also in July.  It slithered towards the house so they managed to chop its head off before it ended up under the deck.  The first thought was that it was a rattler, but thankfully, under further investigation, they discovered it was a Bull snake. Native to the area but not seen much anymore.

 

Our large pond is our only source of water for all the animals and ourselves so it's very important that we keep the water healthy.  It's been a bit of a learning curve in the past but this year was a good year and the pond was healthy, possibly thanks to the 150 litres of yogurt Seth and Tristan willingly threw into the water to help the good bacteria grow.  As the kids get older they play in the pond in the summer and many hours were spent splashing and jumping in the water.

 

 We were surprised with a massive and freaky snow storm this past September while the leaves were still green on the trees. This picture below is the day after the storm, September 30th 2019. It was a nasty start to fall.  Let's hope the rest of the winter isn't the same! 

  

As the snow was falling the decision was made to cut the alfalfa fields so it didn't shrivel up to nothing from the cold temperatures, and we are so thankful for that quick decision making. The snow melted, the fields dried, and exactly three weeks later we got another 300 bales of beautiful hay.  A good end to the season after all.

 

With the feed mill up and running since January it's been an interesting process keeping the bins full.  It has also been a positive change for the farm and seeing the results coming in is exciting.

Abby's accident

It's been a full year already since Abby had her finger accident.  I was at piano lessons with Seth, Tristan and Marla when Andy called to meet him at the hospital as Abby had partially amputated her finger on a feed cart in the barn.  Freaky!!    What a terribly sad thing to happen to a little girl.  She was so brave, and didn't cry or look at it when Andy took her to emerg.  After the initial shock and horror wore off we spent the next several months driving to Lethbridge hospital weekly for physio and cast/splint changes.

Brave, sweet girl!

She got stick on earrings for being so brave :)

Splint number 2!

She finally got a plaster splint to hold the finger straight as one bone was cut off at an angle.

After the plaster cast we rotated between a small splint (above) and a "rubber finger", which was a jelly filled massaging tip she could wear to keep the scar soft (below). 

In the mean time, Abby turned the big FOUR years old.  What excitement that brought and what a super fun age. She is such a good big sister to Marla too. We sure are enjoying them. 

 As of a year later, the finger is healed well, but she has limited movement and it has shifted back to being slightly crooked.  We are thankful she still has all her digits though, and it is a nice discussion piece for her as well as a nice show off piece to random people at Walmart or the grocery store :)
Oh sweetheart, keep smiling and stay busy playing! Keep learning and growing in knowledge and stature. We love you!   💕

Mount Haig (Andy)

 

In the winter we like to ski at Castle Mountain (the picture above) . In the background you can see Mount Haig. Last winter Ewoud and I decided that was the mountain we wanted to climb in the summer. 

www.skicastle.ca 

 

There was an incredible variety of flowers growing on the ski slopes. Here we are walking through Bear grass that was still blooming.

We had to work our way towards the Haig ridge, from where we could hike the ridge to the peak

The weather was exceptionally good and the views were fantastic. We decided to descend via the opposite ridge and so make a loop out of the hike, instead of walking back the same way.  The round trip took approximately 5 hours to complete. 

 Looking back at the opposite ridge from where we came.

Purple Springs

 Family pictures - October 2018 - Purple Springs Alberta