Shady Fox Farm

Oh Cyrus!! I found this guy still nursing this morning. This guy - with the spiked weaning flap - still nursing! As soon as he saw me he stopped and acted like he wasn’t just caught in the act. Back to the barn he goes for his fourth try at this weaning thing. #letstrythisagain #hesdetermined #comeonmom #lowstressfail #lovingthefarmlife

Today was the last market of the year and I am absolutely overwhelmed with the support we’ve gotten from our customers today and all year long. We have the best customers and the most amazing CSA members. From the bottom of our hearts THANK YOU to everyone that has supported and promoted us. Y’all are the reason that we do what we do everyday and I’m so happy and thankful you choose and trust us to feed your families. Big shout out to my mom, Marcia Kelly, for running the New... Britain market for us this year and making us look good for our last market today! Please remember you can order online all winter long! #horshamfarmersmarket #bestcustomersever #smallfarmdreams #beyondgrateful #bittersweetmoment #couldntbehappier

I absolutely love these gift boxes that we’ve been working on! Which one is your favorite to be filled with our quality grass and pasture raised meats? #horshamfarmersmarket #holidaymarket #meatmakesthebestgift #prettyproudofmyself #gladmymomiscrafty

Free sperm?? Heck yeah! Ryan and I watchBless This Mess on Prime. The show is about two city folks that move to the country and start farming. In the episode we watched tonight there was a joke about free sperm (for AI). Let me tell ya - it is no joke! I spend hours pouring over EPDs looking at traits and pairing bulls with our cows. The cost is also very, well costly. The show is really funny, but sperm is no joke when you are working to improve your herd genetics!

Glamour shot! We’ve tried weaning this guy twice now and he always gets his weaning flap out. Fingers crossed this one will stay in!What’s a weaning flap? I’d thought you’d never ask... Traditional weaning is stressful for all parties - the calf, the cow, the people, the rest of the herd, and the neighbors. The stress for the calf is part change in diet (no more milk) and part lack of contact with the mother. One low stress weaning technique uses flaps that physically prevent... the calf from suckling - this way they stop drinking milk but they can stay with their mothers. Stress at weaning time can affect the performance of the calf and mother for months after the weaning event so it is important to us to use low stress weaning techniques. Also, there is no bawling when using the weaning flaps which means we (and the neighbors) can sleep. The flaps are temporary and sit on the inner nostrils of the calf; the nose is not pierced. We use two different styles of weaning flaps - solid flaps and spiked flaps. If the calf gets the solid flaps out a time or two, or figures out how to nurse with the flap in (it is possible) then we move to the spiked flaps. Don’t worry though, the flaps don’t hurt the calf or the mother. #farmlife #happycows #weaningtime #cyrusisgrowingup #toolsofthetrade

Working on our gift box line-up for the holidays and I’m looking for feedback. Let me know what you think!