Wow, the sun painted the farm in a brilliant light this morning, a stark contrast to the biting cold that gripped the air. A quick check of the digital thermometer confirmed the frigid reality: -3° Celsius, a temperature entirely within the normal range for this time of year in Northern Vermont. "Hey Jenny," the speaker greeted one of the farm's feline residents, explaining their recent release from their overnight shelter. "I actually just let out the barn cats right before I hit record on the camera when we have negative temperatures, so like if it's going to be negative overnight, we'll typically let the barn cats go inside." This indoor reprieve, however, came with its own set of challenges. "And so they end up hanging out in the basement causing all sorts of Mischief. You know, they are not really house trained cats, like this one loves to rip up Furniture, Pablo will try to pee in places he should not be peeing, so really the only place we feel like we can safely trust them is actually down in the basement." A gentle apology was offered to the unseen feline. "And I'm sorry, Jenny, don't let your feelings get hurt, girl."
The scene then shifted to the farm's ever-enthusiastic canine duo, clearly unfazed by the frosty air. "And here we have two Critters who do not mind the cold whatsoever. Morning guys, how are you doing? Hi Abby dog! Hi Toby dog! You guys have a good night? Look at those taals of wagon! Give me some of that puppet love, doggy dogs! Hi, hi, good to see you! Hi! Yes, Abby, you know that if you sit, you get more petting. That's very good of you. Yes! And good to see you too, Mr. Toby dog! Hi Toby dog dog! Hi, hi, good to see you, Bubba!" Despite the chilly conditions, the essential task of water provision demanded immediate attention. "Now, even though the weather is cold, we need to get the water pumping, especially because the weather's cold, we need to get the water P." The speaker then detailed their preference for screw-type hose connections over quick-connects in freezing temperatures. "I started the winter using the quick connects, they're like these little devices that can let you just quickly connect hoses together, but the problem I find is with the quick connects, the cold weather actually creates all sorts of problems with getting a good seal. Sometimes the mechanism gets a little bit of moisture in there and they won't move, and so my experience over the years has really led me to believe that for the most part, I used the screw connections for all of my water. It's a little bit more annoying to have to do it each morning, but it creates a lot fewer problems that I have to deal with like thawing out pipelines or trying to defrost connectors that are Frozen." The crucial moment of initiating the water flow arrived. "All right, water, don't fail me now! There we go. Close this one off." The destination of the newly flowing water was then described. "Now that water I just turned on going to float over those tubes that go over the goat house. Speaking the goats, I actually see them sleeping down below, and it will run, or it should run as long as there's no problems, all the way into the cattle trough." A careful auditory confirmation followed. "I'm listening closely. I think the water's running through here. Oh, it just turned on! Look at that, Ann of Green Gables, your water trough is filling up and it'll be ready to drink in just a few minutes." Two of the farm's original bovine residents were then introduced. "Actually, right here we have Ann of Green Gables, who was one of our first five original cattle, as well as her daughter Belinda Carlile, who was actually the first calf ever born on our farm to us, and both of them are just sort of hanging out over here. It's kind of nice to see them here together like this." An invitation was extended to the eager canine companions. "All right, dogs, you want to go inside and visit the cattle with me? Come on, let's go! Come on inside!" The dogs' evident enjoyment of their morning cattle visits was highlighted. "The dogs absolutely love coming in here and visiting with the cattle each morning. It's like an event that they seem to look forward to, and if I have some reason where I don't need to come in here and pump water or scoop poop or something, they actually genuinely seem disappointed, and so it's like a reason to always come out and visit the cattle." A greeting was offered to one of the cows. "How's my Frosty Belinda? You're looking pretty good. All the cattle look pretty happy this morning. Just fed them hay the other day, so they got plenty of food to eat and they're pretty content, just need the water." Belinda's potential pregnancy was noted. "You actually, when it comes to Belinda, I'm pretty sure she's already pregnant. She's looking it, and if I had to guess, I think she or Bonnie McMurray, I think those two gals are going to be the two most likely to calf in April when we have like our first calav starting to drop, which is definitely something I'm going to be excited to see." The picturesque morning scene was appreciated. "Oh, look at him! It's so magnificent being out here in the morning." Other members of the cattle herd were then identified. "So in this collection of animals, we have Betty Rubble, who is the daughter of Annabelle, and then over here we have Amanda hug and kiss, who's actually the mother of baby be. Where is baby be? I think yeah, I see baby b over there with the two charlay calves that we have."
A frequently asked question about the farm's hay was then addressed. "So now one question I often will get is about actually our hay and like what is it and what's so special about it? It is actually fermented hay that comes from local fields in the area. Like here in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, there's actually a lot of excess hay fields, and so that means that there's a lot of relative hay production, and so we buy this from a local farmer who just goes around haying various fields in the area." The local sourcing of the hay was emphasized. "And so if I had to estimate, I would say that all of the hay that we feed on our Farm probably comes from roughly a 5 mile radius of our farm." The speaker then explained why they don't harvest their own hay. "I get this question a lot from folks, but I don't actually hay our Fields myself. It doesn't make sense for a couple of reasons. Number one, it would be more equipment I have to buy. Number two, it's more equipment I have to maintain. Number three, it would actually take more time from me, and and even though I'm already kind of time crunched and I always have a list of things I need to do much longer than the things that I can do, I think that would be a problem. And then the fourth thing is if I cut hay from my farm, number one, that's going to mean that I actually have less land to graze my cattle on, and number two, it means that I'm going to be extracting nutrition." The benefits of cattle grazing for pasture improvement were highlighted. "You know, every time my cattle graze our pasture and eat around here, essentially what we're doing is they're cutting the grass and helping maintain good grass species, they're trampling a lot of the weeds that I don't want, they're depositing their manure and fertilizing thing, and so grazing actually has a lot more benefits for improving the pasture than feeding hay." The current focus on pasture rehabilitation was mentioned as another reason for buying hay. "And so since I'm still in the process of really rehabbing our farm and making some improvements, I just want to keep seeing the magic of what the cattle do on the pasture continue as much as possible and limit that. And so because of all of those reasons, that's why I don't think it actually makes sense for me personally to buy hay at least right now. I mean, that can obviously change over time, but for the way our farm set up for the skills and equipment I have right now and really what's going on economically and agriculturally in our area, it just is a no-brainer to buy my hay." More of the cattle herd were then introduced, including their breeds. "Here we have Amelia bedia, our second largest cow on the farm. She's actually a charlet cow, so it's a different breed cattle like baby be right there, she's a Scottish Highland, but Amelia Alice B toas in the back there, Amelia's daughter Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and then astred who's our largest cow along with Astrid's daughter from last year who you see right there, that's Betty White. You know, all of them are charlay cattle. I purchased Astrid Amelia and Alice B toas back in January of last year." An ongoing cross-breeding experiment was explained. "They're part of an experiment that I'm doing where I want to actually see what it's like to have, you know, crossbreed animal animal and see how they do on the farm versus the pure Bread Highlands. So basically my only Bull on the farm is Macho Man Randy Savage, and he's a pure bread registered Scottish Highland Bull, and as he was with the ladies this past summer, My Hope Is that in particular ASD and Amelia end up pregnant, and then those calves might be better suited for some of the things I do around the farm in the land as well as might have bigger beefier boys who could potentially make for better more efficient meat animals." The experiment was still in its early stages. "It's still way too early in that experiment to know if it's going to work or not. I will say that some of the things that I've noticed is that the charlet cattle are much more skittish and wild and harder to manage. I think part of that is how they've been raised, but I think the other bigger part is just from a a a breed perspective. Scottish Highland cattle are generally known as exceptionally docile cattle relative to a lot of others, and a lot of folks that I know will tell me that charlay are much much more skittish." A multi-year commitment to the experiment was outlined. "And so I'm going to stick with this experiment for a couple of years. You know, at this point, I potentially have two pregnant cows going into this spring. Next year, I hope to have three pregnant cows, and then the year after that, I'd actually hope to potentially have five pregnant cows that are all 100% charlet mixed with my Scottish Highland Bull, and I I'll see how that goes and then I'll make some decisions. I don't know, probably two or three years out. I think that's an important thing to keep in mind when it comes to cattle like, you know, they have a 9-month gestation period, it takes a couple of years before they're ready to be bred, and so to do an experiment like that, you've got to give give yourself a good healthy window of time. You can't expect to see results or make decisions in the span of like 6 nine months a year even like all that's much much much too soon." Baby be, a two-year-old, was then greeted. "Oh, well, well, if it isn't my darling little baby be. So baby bee was actually born 2 years ago on the farm, and so last year baby b and Alice B toas sat apart from the rest of the herd, and they were actually grazing down here in this lower pasture, and they did not have exposure to the bull because I wanted them to have an extra year to grow." Baby be's upcoming breeding was mentioned. "But this coming summer when I turn the bull out with all of the other ladies, baby be will be in the breeding herd, and so hopefully she'll be having a baby in the spring of 2026. That would be the goal." The dogs' reproductive status was clarified. "And no abies can't have babies cuz they're fixed nor do I think they should have babies."
The next farm chore was detailed. "I'm going to have to come out here with the sled in the shovel later this morning start just scooping up poops. I'll come in here and do a pooper scooping, I don't know, every two or three days just to keep it from getting two piled up with manure." The long-term plan for manure management in the cattle area was explained. "I have some manure piles that I'm keeping over back on the other side by the barn. Also, when the warmer months come, I'll come in here with the tractor and do like a full scraping and cleaning this whole area. My intention this winter was to let it get kind of sacrificed and beat down, and then I'm going to actually be seeding it with some different grasses, and so having the regular pressure of the cattle in this space was very much by Design, and so this won't look all that pretty come summertime, but I'm hoping in about a year or two, it actually makes some significant differences and improvements from where it was, and it actually has some plants that are better suited for the ducks and geese and chickens who spend a lot of time in this area typically in the summer summer months." The contrasting personalities of the two dogs were then humorously observed. "Here you have my two dogs and their personalities on display. There's the Abby personality and then there's the stoic Mr Toby dog personality. Abby stop it. Come on. That's not nice. Good boy. Good boy. And now good girl. See, that's what happens when you sit and stay. Yeah, good girl." The cattle water trough was still filling. "Water trough is still filling up. Trying to get a drink of water there, Annabelle, probably tasty." The visual effect of steam rising from the cold water was noted. "Yeah, look how the steam's coming off that water. It's probably not any warmer than 40°, but it's just got steam coming off of it cuz the air temperature is so gosh darn cold." The dogs were invited to continue the chores. "All right, dogs, you ready to go keep doing more chores? Let's go. Come on out with the dogs."
A challenge specific to breeding cattle in winter was then discussed. "One of the most annoying things about breeding cattle is the fact that you have to maintain separate herds, and maintaining separate herds in the winter means I got to keep my boys away from my girls, and when I'm keeping my boys away from my girls, it means I have to pump water to two locations, and given my setup, I actually have to keep like draining hoses and clearing stuff, and actually most of my winter farm work involves pumping water and defrosting hoses or preventing hoses from getting frosted." The disproportionate amount of time spent on water-related tasks in winter was highlighted. "Like I don't have to do nearly as much farm work in the winter as I do in the summer, but I don't know, in the winter, I would say probably about 75% of the work is all about water. It's especially when you're in a cold climate like us, it's it's a big factor." The time-saving potential of a simpler watering system was imagined. "Honestly, if the water wasn't so timec consuming, I would probably spend about 20 minutes, 15 minutes a day doing chores, probably about 30 minutes every 3 days feeding hay, like that would be my farm workk for the winter, but that's not the case right now because the boys are in a separate area, they need a separate water trough, and so I always have to go through the draining process where, you know, shut down the water and then once this guy starts draining out then I actually have to drain out the hose that the boys are using." The process of preventing hose freezing was detailed. "Just connect this guy here, and particularly on really cold days like today, you got to do it quickly cuz the water can freeze inside the hose in a matter of minutes. If you do that, you're having to either break out the blowtorch or bring it inside. I typically like to hang the hose like this and let gravity draw the water down and then just use my hand to flush it out like any of that water that you see right there, if that freezes inside the hose tomorrow morning when I go to pump the water, it would be Rock Solid and I'd have to probably disconnect this entire hose and bring it inside. Yeah, now it looks like this pipe is clean." The speaker's unconventional glove strategy in cold weather was then revealed. "You also might be wondering given how cold it is why am I walking around with one glove and I actually find that it's better to just have your hands naked and expose it to water than get your gloves wet and then have your gloves soaked for the rest of chores because that is the most miserable feeling on the planet and that might be a tiny bit of hyperbole but only a tiny bit." The birds were the next stop. "All right, you guys want to go see your birds? Is that what you're trying to tell me? Morning Birds! How's everybody doing today? It is downright toasty in here. It's about 30° in here because it's so Sunny. Like that sunbeams down and heats up this greenhouse like you wouldn't believe, and so it's still a little bit below freezing in here, but it's not that bad at all, which is precisely why I like a greenhouse like this. I think is the ultimate Coupe to have your birds in if you're in a cold weather climate." Despite the relative warmth inside, the birds were released. "Despite how toasty it is in here, I think it's time to let the birds out. Release the quacken! Come on everybody!" The differing exit speeds of the geese, chickens, and ducks were noted. "So despite the fact that I say release the quack in, it is always the geese and chickens that are the first ones out here. The Ducks are always last to come out and most reluctant to come out, but the Ducks were the first animal on our farm and so uh they get that honor." Water was turned on for the birds. "All right, let's turn on this water now." The speaker reflected on their early experiences with waterfowl in a cold climate. "You know, I'm kind of thankful that ducks were the first animal that I had to maintain in a cold environment because despite the fact that they're actually pretty well suited for the cold environment because they have like their own built-in down coats, their water management is way more complicated than chicken water management, and so