Smith Family Pastoral

09/07/2022

LAMBING SEASON!!!

We have been quite quiet of late due to the fact that we are in full swing of our biggest lambing season yet.

So far with a 200% success rate, we are stoked with what is coming out of these lovely ewes.

Here is our 2nd set if triplets!

Oh and we have had a baby of our own too, so she is keeping us busy to top it off.

17/04/2022

Because they think they are hungry...

11/04/2022

Our number is 5! 5 healthy, happy and milk drunk piglets!

09/04/2022

Not long now and Roxy will be a mum! How many piglets do you think she will have?

26/02/2022

1st calf of the year!

What weather to have it in too. We hope everyone is safe and well. We are all saturated on the farm but safe.

We are looking forward to more cute little Calves very soon.

14/12/2021

Welcome Barry!

This beautiful lovely natured large white boar has joined us on the farm.

We are hoping that he and Roxy, our sow, will have a long and wonderful relationship. They are both very quiet and friendly, so if you visit they would love a treat and even a pat!

We are excited to have a breeding pair and we hope to extend our breeding numbers in the new year.

But for now, rest up and enjoy life over this Christmas period, just like Barry.

12/11/2021

We have never seen our dam so full! It is a fantastic sight!

08/11/2021

Most important thing in life is to learn how to blow bubbles on wet days!

27/10/2021

Piggy update!!! Mum Roxy and all 9 piglets did really well over night. Roxy is enjoying her breakfast in bed and I think the piglets have grown already. Such a good mum she is turning out to be!

27/10/2021

Today was the day our Roxy became a mum. We were graced with 9 strong and healthy piglets this afternoon. She allowed me to be a part of it all. More cute piglet spam to come.

24/10/2021

Roxy is expecting any day now. She is certinally feeling it today. She loved her hose down.
Did you know that sows, female pigs, have a gestation of 3 months 3 weeks and 3 days.
This is Roxys 1st litter. Usually you would expect there to be a handful in a first litter but I think her and her boyfriend Barry have made a few more than that.
Watch this space for piglet spam!

11/10/2021

Sometimes mums and babies need a bit of a helping hand.
This is Trippy, the triplet. His mum was struggling to feed him as his brothers where stronger than him and were taking all the milk.
So the lucky little man gets to be raised by us, and he gets to play inside whilst everyone else is out in the rain!
It sounds like there are elephants in my house!

06/10/2021

Sometimes when the sheep have triplets there is always one that never quite gets enough milk, supporting them with a bottle twice or three times a day while they spend their day with mum and their siblings is the best for the lamb. They then learn to be a sheep, still get the love from their mum and some of her milk, and they get to play with their siblings. So much nicer that being bought up in a household where everything is strange.

06/10/2021

Are you trying to stay cool today? She does have a dam to wallow in if she wants... #12 has always been a special girl.

21/09/2021

What a wonderful day!
Today we welcomed 2 lambs into the world and we started to revamp the vegie garden to prepare it for spring. The pigs loved it!

14/09/2021

Fresh is best!
I started to milk our house cow the other day and boy hasn't our work paid off. Fresh Milk, home made butter and cottage cheese and freshly made Custard tarts! They taste so fresh, very different to the food you buy at the shops.

10/09/2021

Fresh is best! Pickled beets and frozen broccoli for later.

28/08/2021

Graduation day! Congratulations Rabbit!

10/08/2021

No words needed!

10/08/2021

Ahhhhh... funny looking cat 🤷‍♀️

05/08/2021

Welcome to the family Rabbit!
A sweet natured border collie pup who we hope will be our first 4 legged 'help' around the farm.
This training process will take approximately 2 years to complete, but we hope to get there and have a well rounded mate by the end.
We have always loved the border collie breed for its resilience, willingness to learn and please, and companionship.
She has already surprised us with her calm and easy nature.
We are looking forward to many happy memories.

26/07/2021

The cactoblastis caterpillar. A welcome suprise whilst we were cactis blasting.

Today we started tackling our prickly pear problem head on.

We used an age old method that involves a modified tomahawk to open the flesh of the plant and applied 100% glysophate to the wound.

We conducted a trial on a small patch of plants a few weeks ago with outstanding results.

Bring on a prickly pear free 2022!

10/07/2021

What an adventure we had today collecting these beautiful Aussie white ewes from pikedale (between Stanthorpe and Inglewood). What started off as a quick 2 hour jaunt down the hill turned into a 7 hour round trip with many ups, downs, swollen creeks and eye spy games!.

We have chosen to update our current herd of mixed crosses with pure bred Aussie whites to increase our profitability and lambing rates. With our first cross dorpers and Aussie whites we are seeing easier lambing and improved carcass weights while maintaining the ease of handling, quick weight gain and shelf shedding attributes of the Aussie whites. So with the introduction of these ewes and our new stud ram we should see a marked increase in quality and quantity over the coming years.

14/06/2021

Bees are very important to our ecosystem. I wonder how I send invitations out for my new bee motel?

12/06/2021

What a place to be!

09/06/2021

Had the vet out today for the littlest member of the herd. Turns out she is younger than we thought!

01/06/2021

We have been a bit busy here at the farm with the cold weather setting in, the vegie patch up and running, Micks pony, lambs and calves, another one, the pigs, and general farm work, however we havnt forgotten how fortunate we are to experience such amazing sun sets!

16/05/2021

03/05/2021

Clever man!

29/04/2021

Our pony Angel got her first ride on the farm today. Micks first ride too. We are so fortunate!