Welcome to part III of our “Who is top cow at Shady Grove Ranch?” series. First we introduced you to Gordita. Next we introduced you to Tilly. Now it is time to let you meet the first cow ever born at Shady Grove Ranch.
Bull fight at Shady Grove Ranch!
Bull fight at Shady Grove Ranch!
Pedro on the left and Big John on the right.
Meet Pedro, the young Jersey bull owned by TrueFields LLC. Pedro, who is a dairy bull (as opposed to a beef bull), is a bit more high-strung than our beef bull, Big John. That’s not… ... Continue reading
Fun Facts about Farm Words – Installment 1: Cows on Vacation
Fun Facts about Farm Words
Installment One: Cows on Vacation
By PapPap Cadman
Do you know the difference between a cow and a steer? Or a heifer and a stirk?
Sometimes understanding all the various words used in raising cattle, as well as other farm animals, can be daunting. When I arrived at Shady Grove Ranch some three years ago, that was certainly my experience. It seemed to… ... Continue reading
Posted in Cows
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Garden Tour – March 2013
Well, I know I love looking at pictures of gardens, so I thought I’d share ours. It is coming along well, but we haven’t eaten anything (except the herbs) yet. Hopefully this year marks the start of a regular harvest from a spring and fall garden in East Texas. We also hope to keep expanding it enough each year to eventually have some extra for you! In the meantime, check… ... Continue reading
Posted in Farming, Garden
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Who is Top Cow at Shady Grove Ranch? Part 2
Welcome to part II of our “Who is top cow at Shady Grove Ranch?” series. First we introduced you to Gordita. Now we will introduce you to another cow that we bought alongside Gordita, one of the first group of cattle at Shady Grove Ranch. … ... Continue reading | 1 Comment
Guest post: Nick Puffer’s 60 lbs in 16 weeks
Hi, I’m Nick Puffer. I’m a full time Web Marketing / SEO Specialist for Downtown Motor Company in Gulfport, MS and also work part time for Starbucks as a Barista. In between jobs, I run a blog about diet and exercise with a focus on becoming more organic. Over the past 3 years I have striven to become more healthy and have gained a passion for learning about the effects… ... Continue reading
Posted in Real Food
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Chick Training
Laying Chick Training
Check out our photo essay of transitioning our baby laying chicks to pasture from the brooder house. These chicks are about 6 weeks old and love their new home. Here is a photo essay about how we train baby layers to thrive on pasture. These babies are about 6 weeks old and are doing great!
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- Since I’m always behind the camera, here’s me (Jerica). Bundled up and ready to load up the chicks!
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- Here is the destination. These are the big chickens, the future flock-mates of our little birdies…
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- …once they get trained to stay inside of this electric fence. They need a little time to learn not to hop through the holes. (sorry for the blurry picture)
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- Here is the “training facility.” It is a portable pen the provides a physical barrier for the chicks with the option to train them to electric fence.
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- Here is how you move 250 pounds worth of babies to the pasture.
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- They get plenty of air in here while we load them all up.
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- Peeping out the sides.
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- Ready to go check out their new home.
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- Here is Matt’s cheap and effective solution to keeping the panels upright on windy days, which are most days here at the ranch.
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- Matt demonstrates how his panels easily unlatch and swivel.
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- Entering the paddock.
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- Look at all that green grass ready for little beaks to nibble!
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- Yum, yum!
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- The release! They are excited about the grass!
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- Party at the Cadmans’!
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- This is their house, enclosed on 3 sides to give them protection from the wind. There are roosts built in so they get used to roosting off the ground, like they will do once they are released into the big chicken flock.
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- A few days later, Matt added the electric barrier so the chicks get used to avoiding it. In a few months, these little gals will be laying beautiful brown, white, and green eggs for our customers!
Who is Top Cow at Shady Grove Ranch? Part 1
Who is top cow at Shady Grove Ranch?
This is the first of a series of articles on our favorite breeding cows at Shady Grove Ranch. We have invested a lot of time and energy into our grass-fed beef herd and would love to share with you about some of our favorite personalities in the herd and why we like them so much.
The first is without doubt our favorite
Posted in Cows, Farming, Grass-fed Beef
Tagged angus, brahma, cattle, cull, heifer, twins
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What Grade of Grocery Shopper Are You?
Check out our short article to decide if you are flunking out at food or excelling at eating when you shop for groceries. Will you try to improve your grade this year?
Posted in Real Food
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2012 October Farm Day
Farm Day was a hit at Shady Grove Ranch! We had a small group, which was lovely for taking our time and having plenty of interesting conversations about sustainable agriculture. Once everyone had arrived, we loaded up onto the hayride to collect eggs. Matt hooked us up to the tractor, and away we went!
We had all the workers and the egg baskets. Toby… ... Continue reading | 1 Comment
