Sharing the same paddock with the mare and foal, our jersey house cow Ivy was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with her expanding udder. Her pregnancy had become the subject of a wide debate on exactly when she’d give birth to her calf. Of course, maternal intuition gave the prize to Nina who successfully predicted the night she gave birth where all the guys failed miserably.

Bolly (short for Bolognese), was born on 23rd October. Sired by our bull Zeus, he is cross angus/jersey. Angus is a beef breed that we raise here on Taranaki Farm. He’s a heathy little bull calf and destined for our freezer - hence the traditional naming of the calf in some food orientated way. We have another calf named Sirloins Alot. He is the next in line.

Ivy was a maiden cow, and so this is her first calf. She has made the transition from spritely young heifer to doting mother with ease. In the next couple of days we’ll begin milking her to promote her milk production, and to head off the possibility of mastitis - a condition of the udder that can occur during lactation if the demand for the milk doesn’t match production.

Newborn calves typically don’t drink a lot of milk and spend a great deal of time sleeping. As jerseys are a milking breed, our understanding is that they are typically more prone to mastitis over beef breeds like Angus (were we haven’t had the problem). Our friend Bianca recently experienced her house cow developing mastitis after only a few days of lactating. Starry, as she is named, had to be treated with antibiotics, and Bianca had to milk her more than usual to relieve the poor cow. This additional effort was also unrewarded, as she had to wait until long after the condition (and drugs) had passed.

So we’ll be playing it safe, and starting the milking right away.

Last spring, we arranged the lease of an arab mare named Omani Firelight (”Elle”), owned by equine photographer, Nicole Emanuel. Afterwards, we arranged a serve from a liver chestnut stallion called Eastwinds Standing Ovation, owned by J & K Arabians.

On the 7th October, Elle gave birth to our little chestnut foal after months of pregnancy. We’ve named this little colt “Taranaki Cladocalyx” after a species of eucalyptus (Sugar Gum) that we’ve planted on Taranaki Farm.

We’ll just call him Lex for short. He’s a feisty little fellow, and was running around within hours of his birth. A couple of weeks later, he is bucking with abandon, and even trying (unsuccessfully) to leap over his mother’s back.

In keeping with our commitment to establishing our own home dairy, we’ve just collected two additional house cows - both jerseys. We’ve named them “Apple” (chocolate coloured) and “Mao” (chestnut coloured). These two join Ivy, our original jersey, who is a few weeks or so away from calving. Both of the new ones are by our estimates, approximately eighteen months old, though they were sold as two year olds.

We’re very pleased that Ivy now has some permanent company, and that we’ve got some milk security now. Both have been running with a dexter bull, and are said to be in calf, although they can’t be more than a couple of months along. We’ve got many interests in house cow keeping, and we’re considering breeding a small number to sell further down the track. They are difficult to source reliably, and we think that there might be interest in well raised and handled house cows, complete with records, photos and sold with calf at foot. Perhaps we could also provide a milking lesson with their new owners.

So these two girls will enjoy a leisurely six to eight months out in the pasture before their duties begin. All the while, casting a jealous eye on the extra treats Ivy will be enjoying once she has her calf and is being milked.

For those interested in managed forestry, here is a little information on one of the projects we’re developing on Taranaki Farm; the mixed species strip forest. This new development comprises a water catchment drain / access road, with 2 rows of mixed forestry on the upper side of the new road, and 5 rows on the lower side.

This development is the brain child of forestry designer Darren Doherty who has devised a mixed species strip forest bordering a new water catchment drain. This drain was surveyed to have a very slight fall from left to right (in the photo below), to feed water into the dam (seen on the right). The dam has also been enlarged to accommodate the increased catchment area.

As this project involves mixed species, positioning the individual trees represents certain challenges. Regarding the design, I’ll quote Darren,

I first designed the layout on graph paper to develop the spatial design parameters. From a base list of species (available at the various nurseries) this process centred on spacing trees according to their life form, attributes (eg. nitrogen fixation) and rotation lengths. This eventuated in a pattern or sequence within the matrix which was then relatively easy to map out using excel. At a cursory glance it all might appear to be a randomised plot, when in fact it is quite the contrary.

The species selected for this system are shown below. As a component of my education, I’ll be developing detailed entries of each on of these species, and will activate links in the list below as these are published.

Darren employs a novel method of organising the species layout. Using an excel document, he has created a matrix of compatible species using the codes show here. This grid has been printed and laminated for use during the planting process. These laminated site cards are intended to avoid confusion. Such an aid is clearly essential.

The column free of codes represents the catchment drain / access road. Also evident is the attention to ‘vista’ - seen in the placement of cork & helm oaks, and stone pines. This will give an avenue feeling to the access road.

Referencing the codes show in the table above, you can also identify the perimeter species as ‘fodder’ trees. This strip forest now divides a pasture field in two (upper and lower). Hence the useful positioning of species beneficial to cattle along the perimeter of this forest. This provides the means to diversify the cattle’s diet, and cushion feed shortages during difficult times.

Currently, we’re mechanically planting the remaining trees and putting out milk carton tree guards. The next step is fencing. For this, I’ve produced the drawing below, which also gives an impression of the general scope of this forestry project.

For those interested, I recently attended an equine barefoot hoof trimming workshop with Andrew & Nicky Bowe aka “The Barefoot Blacksmith“. If you keep horses, I’d encourage you to research and set down the path of keeping your horses ‘barefoot’.

Andrew and Nicky have a comprehensive knowledge of the physiology of horses, and stage in-depth workshops for those who interested in the subject. You might want to understand how horses move though the functions of their limbs and hoofs, or you might want to learn how to trim your own horse’s hoofs.

This workshop struck a good balance between theory and practice. The morning slide show covered the evolution of equine physiology, function of the various components of the horses anatomy, natural behavior and the challenges inherent in domestication. Andrew outlined the reasons traditional farriers shod their horses, and the subsequent negative effects of shoeing, followed by the benefits of barefoot trimming.

I should emphasise that barefoot trimming is an exhaustive subject, and for some, a life long path. In this one day workshop, Andrew is teaching what he dubs ‘maintenance trimming’. This will get you started.

After morning tea, we were encouraged to develop what we’d learned through practical exercise; familiarising ourselves with the tools of the trade (nippers, loop knives, rasps and hoof stands). Attendees donned the essential ‘farriers apron’, and set about giving several cadaver hoofs a softer trot into the afterlife.

After lunch it was time to practice on the former horses still breathing brethren. In my case, Abe, a race horse sporting formerly shod hoofs that were in desperate need of attention. Under the watchful guidance of Andrew and Nicky, I managed to develop these basic skills and perform a simple trim of all four hoofs.

Over afternoon tea, Nicky outlined the many contributing factors to hoof health, such as environment, diet, and activity, including methods of developing hoof strength through wiser horse keeping.

Afterwards, Andrew capped off the workshop with a detailed revision of the function of the horses lower limbs. With the aid of a cadaver leg cut into a cross section he illustrated the specific functions in each part and the whole, demonstrating visually how the various components work in unison to provide the impressive motion and impact protection horses require.

Highly recommended, so if this topic meets your interest, visit The Barefoot Blacksmith website. Their site is very informative, and you can book yourself into an upcoming clinic.

As many of you know, planting trees can be a time consuming exercise. So what method do you use when you need to plant 3,500 trees? The answer is mechanical - and there a several options.

Join Darren Doherty on Taranaki Farm as he demonstrates the Pottiputki or “Planting Spear”, the Hamilton Tree Planter and the Fedele tractor mounted transplanter. The later is particularly interesting - it’s a tractor mounted vegetable seedling transplanter adapted for use in agroforestry for planting trees. Watch it in action here.