Meanwhile, at the Farm:

Broken Balers, Poultry Explosion, and Unfinished Chores

This past week has been one for the books here at Longbottom Farm. We started our haymaking season with high hopes. This is our first foray into hay making and lets just say it’s been …. Miserable.  

The hay was cut, tedded, and raked to get it ready for baling.  We were eagerly anticipating a barn full of neatly stacked bales. But then, just as we were ready to bale, an unexpected rain shower decided to crash the party. 🌧️

Poultry Madness

While waiting for the hay to dry out, we picked up Pastured Poultry from the processor.  We now have whole birds and parted cuts on the website!  This batch grew quite big, some topping 7 lbs (we’re typically happy with 4.5 – 5 lbs).  

We also welcomed another 200 broilers, adding to the 100 already out on pasture.  It’s been a hectic time to say the least.  

Now we’re full steam into finishing our mobile range coops for the birds.  Specifically because I DON’T HAVE ROOM for the 200 broilers when they come out of the brooder (on to pasture) in a couple weeks.  No pressure, right?

Turkey Shuffle

In the midst of all this, we had a bit of a turkey shuffle. Due to being behind on constructing the new mobile range coops, we had to move our turkeys to the barn. 

Yes, you read that right – the turkeys are now residing in a horse stall! It’s not the most glamorous setup, but it’s all about making do with what we’ve got.  

Technically, they should be in the brooder for another 2 weeks or so, but to make room for the 200 broilers, we had to kick them out!  They’re liking their new setup so all is good.  Now to get my butt in gear on those new coops.

Back to the Hay

Finally, after a couple of days, the hay was dry and we were ready to bale. Or so we thought. Just as we got started, our baler broke in a bad way.  Broken chain, sprocket / gear pulled off the frame.  Baling over!  

There we were, with rows of beautiful hay on the ground and no way to bale it. Talk about a mood killer. After a few choice words and some deep breaths, we did what any self-respecting modern farmers would do: we posted our predicament on the local Scottsville Facebook group forum.

Cattle Pen Progress

Meanwhile, we’ve been making significant progress on our cattle working pen, which is almost complete. This new setup will make handling our cattle much more efficient and safe.  It’s also needed because we have a couple bulls approaching that age (and that needs taken care of ASAP)

Barn Ready for Boarding

The barn is also nearing readiness for horse boarding. We’re excited to offer this service to our community and look forward to welcoming some new four-legged friends.  If you know of anyone, send them our way (See This Page)

Beef Inventory

In other news, we just received our beef back from the processor. However, we have yet to inventory it all – a must before making it available on our website. Stay tuned for updates on that front!

The Haymaking Happy Ending

Back to our haymaking saga: To our surprise and relief, a farmer down the street reached out almost immediately after our Facebook post. He offered to bale our hay for a reasonable price. 

Suddenly, things were looking up. When he arrived, it was like a scene out of a feel-good farming movie. He was able to bale up everything in about 4 hours.  

The sense of defeat we felt earlier was quickly replaced with gratitude and a renewed appreciation for our farming community.

So, what’s the moral of the story? Farming (Life) is unpredictable. Sometimes your equipment will let you down, but your neighbors might just lift you up. And maybe, just maybe, it’s worth considering having a backup plan for your backup plan.

Thanks for sticking with us through the highs and lows. Here’s to community, resilience, and the occasional miracle that turns a bad day into a great story.

If you’re ever in a jam, don’t hesitate to reach out. You never know who’s ready to lend a hand (or a baler). 🌾🚜