Babydoll Southdown sheep, Kunekune, Livestock, sales

Sheep and Piglet Availability

June 1, 2020July 22, 2020 | balanc43_wp

Deposits are coming in and reservations are being made. Don’t miss your chance to enjoy some laughs, raise some good land managers, or raise your own meat.

Sheep: UPDATED 7/21/20

Babydoll Southdown – ALL 2020 Lambs have been SOLD. Please reach out if you’d like to be on our 2021 list for lambs.

Icelandic starter flock available: Black Ram (center with white blaze), 3 white unrelated ewes. SOLD

Satchel the black ram and the three unrelated ewes (in the middle); Black faced ewe in the background NOT included.

STILL AVAILABLE: Three LOVELY fiber ewes the Gray ewe is the mother of these two black and white. These ladies are all related to the ram above.

(SOLD) – Romney – 3 adult ewes – all delivered and raised lambs well this year. These were maiden ewes that all did amazingly well. Their lambs are listed below.

Center of photo – one of the Romney ewes

(SOLD) 2 Romney/Columbia wethers – would be great land managers or fall meat animals. (SOLD)

(SOLD) 2 Romney/Columbia ewe lambs – Could go with the adult ewes for a lovely little starter flock.

KuneKune Piglets: SOLD OUT. Please contact us to be placed on our 2021 list. Feel free to reach out if you’d like breeder recommendations.

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Piglets are Here!

May 2, 2020 | balanc43_wp

The wait is finally over! The piglets have arrived. Both Nora and Ophelia delivered within about 24 hours of each other. I was thinking I was going to have a couple days to recover from staying up with Ophelia, but Nora had other plans. She also decided she wanted to make a nest in a Holly bush!

Nora thought this Holly/Willow tree combo was a good place to nest. So we brought in hay and tripped all the branches away…

Ophelia delivered 9 vigorous piglets: 5 gilts, 4 boars. All of her piglets are varying shades of cream to ginger:

As usual, she’s a wonderful sow and protective of her piglets. She doesn’t mind the humans being around but lets the dogs know when she’s had enough of their presence! Poco is a really good birthing partner however:

Poco stands guard over Ophelia in labor. He also is super gentle and helps get the babies out of their sacks.

So back to Nora. Not to be outdone, Nora delivered 7 piglets late Friday (5/1) and into Saturday (5/2). She delivered 5 gilts and 2 boars! She had a harder time this year and we’d already made the decision that this was going to be her last litter. Nora is a wonderfully friendly KuneKune. A great representation of what the breed’s temperament should be. She has earned her breeding retirement. I am hoping one of the gilts can be retained here on the farm to continue her legacy.

We were finally able to coax her back to a more appropriate shelter with Ophelia:

These sows have co-nursed litters before and do a great job. With a couple small gilts out of Nora, I’m hoping more milk bar access will help them thrive!

Wondering about the blue dots? Well at 2am, when you need to make sure piglets make it through the night and everyone is the same color you come up with some crazy plans. So we put blue dots on Nora’s cream piglets! We will be marking them individually to be able to effetely watch them grow!

Didn’t think I needed spray paint in my kit – it came in handy VERY early this morning!

We do have quite the list this year of interested KuneKune buyers, however we always welcome inquiries. Our friends in the area also delivered a litter of 5 this week and are expecting at least one more litter!

I hope this finds you all well. Remember each day, take at least one breath that is just for you!

Babydoll Southdown sheep, Happenings, home, Kunekune, Livestock

Spring 2020

March 21, 2020March 21, 2020 | balanc43_wp

I thought it would be an interesting moment to sit and write a little about the farm and life. I am sure everyone is concerned about the pandemic that is Covid-19. This is certainly an unprecedented time in our lifetimes. It is also a time to take stock.

Once again, I remain grateful that I have been able to have the ability to live where I do, raise livestock, and have a garden. These opportunities have enriched our lives and keep us grounded (literally!) in challenging times. Animals need to be fed and cared for regardless of the world around us. Babies are being born – Life continues.

Lupine and her Girl (black)/Boy (White) twins. Born 3/17/20

A few things have changed here on the farm for 2020. We’ve had 5 sheep lamb so far and we are hoping for up to 5 more in the coming weeks. We are thankful to be able to retain some ewe lambs from our old ram Thunder. All the remaining ewes were bred by our new Ram Monroe.

We are expecting two litters of KuneKune Piglets to be born at the end of April! Our sows Nora and Ophelia are both pros and we can’t wait to have some little piglets running around. We were so fortunate to be able to bring some new blood onto the farm by using a boar from our friends at Lonedove KuneKunes.

Indigo – (LDF Ru 3) – sire of this years litters.

We (temporarily) have sold off our fold of Scottish Highland Cattle. We really enjoy having the cattle on the property and they are great for the overall regenerative agriculture push of our farm. They are also a lot more work! We may be bringing some on later this year or we may wait a year. As things go right now, so much is up in the air.

Thinking of adding some livestock to your life? Check out our sales page! Some lovely Romney Ewes, lamb shares/wholes, breeding animals (Babydoll Southdown and KuneKune), and meat pigs. Our lists are forming. Reach out if you would like to be put on the list! dana@balancedearthfarm.com.

In this time of forced slowing, please try to take a breath, choose to be kind, and reach out to those in need. Stay safe!

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Spring is here! (Maybe…)

April 14, 2019 | balanc43_wp

The snow is gone and things are trying to grow…plants, babies, and our ponds! We’ve traded snows for rains. We are fortunate to have enough rain to fill our ponds and make things a little soggy, we are not flooding like so many others.

Our pond has turned into an infinity pool.

We have 3 more Ewes to deliver lambs this year. While our crop of lambs is a bit smaller than we’d hoped the lambs on the ground are happy and bouncing.

Achilles (aka Lambikins) one of the c-section twins getting his bottle by a good friend.

Newest twins: girl on the left, boy on the right.

Our 2019 piglets have all found new homes and will be headed to them in the next 3 weeks. We do still have 2 breeding quality gilts from 2018 available. These girls will be ready to breed in the fall for spring 2020 litters (new photos coming soon).

We start the pigs in the vineyard early!

We hope the change of the seasons is treating everyone well! One of my favorite part of living on a farm is really seeing the small changes of each season. The changes in the colors of green, the cycle of a season in a plants life, and the change in light. All remind us of the passing of time and the constant state of change. Farm life is a busy and often hard life; but also a good one.

Happenings, home, Kunekune, Livestock, sales

New Pigs Posted For Sale!

August 10, 2018 | balanc43_wp

Check out our Sales page of information on the current crop of piglets available.

We only sell 100% purebred, registered KuneKune piglets. While the breed in gaining in popularity, the ONLY way to make sure you have a true KuneKune is to buy registered animals. Registered animals are DNA tested to ensure parentage and permanently identified with a microchip. If temperament, grazing ability, easy keeping, and size are important to you make sure to do your research. These pigs make great land managers, companion animals, or meat animals.

Slower growing means easier on the land and the human managers! These pigs are ALWAYS worth the wait – no matter what their end purpose is.

Nora’s litter is 8 weeks old and ready to rumble! These piglets are sturdy, curious and feisty pigs!

Ophelia’s litter is about 10 days old and growing well! They are pig wrestling, trying to stay cool, and starting to explore more and more!

A limited number of breeding pairs will be available by purchasing piglets from Nora’s litter to combine with a piglet from Ophelia’s litter.

These piglets are 100% pasture raised. They are farrowed in a secure pen in the field and raised with the sow for the first few weeks and then integrated into the herd. Our pigs are used in our management intensive rotational grazing program along with cattle and sheep. They are around dogs and other animals from very early.

Happenings, home, Kunekune, Livestock

New piglets (again)!

July 29, 2018August 10, 2018 | balanc43_wp

We are so happy to see one of our home bred pigs deliver her first litter of healthy babies! Ophelia delivered seven piglets this morning completely on her own. With our hot temperatures we’ve been worried about her, but with all our checking she decided to deliver in the cool part of the day. The quick initial count is 4 boys and 3 girls, 5 with double wattles, 1 without, 1 with one wattle. Mix of colors: 2 agouti (brown/white, white/brown), 1 solid ginger, 4 ginger and blacks/tri.

UPDATE: 4 females: 2 brown/white both double wattled, 1 ginger with light black spots no wattles, 1 ginger and black tri double wattled (asymmetrical); 3 males: 1 ginger with light black spots double wattled, 1 ginger and black double wattled , 1 ginger and black tri double wattled.

We tried to be quick with her new brood as she is being protective and aware. She’s doing great for a first timer and I don’t want to interrupt her desire to take care of the piglets!

We will be offering some of sale for breeding, meet, and companions.

With our previous litter of Nora’s we will now be able to offer a limited number of breeding pairs. Contact us for details!

Babydoll Southdown sheep, Happenings, home, Kunekune, Livestock, sales, Scottish Highland Cattle

Spring time = running!

June 14, 2018June 14, 2018 | balanc43_wp

It’s been a busy two months since the last update! The lambs are all doing amazingly well and are growing well on the lush grass! Our milder winter, early warm weather, and then moderating temperatures over the last few weeks have led to thick, nutritious pastures. Hard to tell the lambs from the adults! This years crop of meat lambs are going to be big, lean, and ready in the fall! Reserve your share today!

Unfortunately, farming isn’t all happy news. Bossy our herd lead, lost her calf. There were no apparent deformities, but he was premature and unable to survive. She’s a great cow and we are hopeful she will breed back this year. (Bossy, mugging for the camera in the winter of 2017).

Bossy’s daughter – Heffa (out of our former bull – Arturo) – did successfully calf a little heifer of her own. She did what our Highlands have always done, found a secluded spot and delivered in the bushes. Fiona, had a little bit of a difficult time figuring out life at first, but Heffa was patient and the pair are doing well. As hoped Heffa has her dam’s mothering instincts!

Believe it or not – there is a baby cow in all that grass!

Last, but certainly not least on the baby front: PIGLETS! Sweet Nora delivered 6 healthy KuneKune piglets on June 7th. 4 boars, 2 gilts – all are double wattled and cute as can be. They will be DNA’d in ~3 weeks. Expected parentage: Nora (wilsons gina) x Tabor (boris).

Babydoll Southdown sheep, Happenings, home, Kunekune, Livestock, Scottish Highland Cattle

Spring Time is here!

April 8, 2018 | balanc43_wp

After our VERY long and snowy winter last year, we held off all breedings to plan for late March – May babies! We are very happy to say that the lambing this year has been great and so far we have 5 lovely little Babydoll Southdown lambs romping around the property! All the Ewe’s and their babies are doing great! We are now into a rainy period and it doesn’t seem to phase these healthy critters.

Betty and her twins (girl/boy)Aurora with her ram lamb
Emmie with her boy(black)/girl(white) twins

Next up is our lovely KuneKune sow Panama who is due in the next week or so with our first 2018 litter of piglets. She’s always a solid mom and was bred to Chester, a goofy fun smaller sized boar. Panama’s daughter, Ophelia, is hopefully recently bred for a June litter – also to Chester. And we are hoping Nora may also be pregnant.

Panama – expecting in the next 1-2 weeks

Finally, the cattle – We know that we have at least one calf on the way and potentially two – due anytime in the next 4-6 weeks. It will be a fun time in the next month! Grass is growing, rotational grazing has started and soon it will be time to put the gardens in.

Bossy the cow and last years heifer calf

Each season offers something different – spring is definitely an awakening!

Happenings, Kunekune

Happenings

July 11, 2015October 4, 2015 | balanc43_wp

We have also had some lovely sunsets – although this has been in part to a fire season that has exploded in the last week. The cloud in the second picture below is a pyrocumulonimbus cloud that was created by a fire and even caused a snow event (pyrosnow) on Mount Adams.