Farm Fresh Whole Milk

I picked up some farm fresh milk today! It comes from a local farm and it is oh-so-tasty.  It is very similar to store milk of course, but it is much creamier and it has a grassier/cow taste to it that must get destroyed during pasteurization.  Many countries in Europe allow raw milk to be sold legally.  In the U.S. each state gets to decide and there are varying degrees of legality to it.  Some states allow the sale of raw milk, other states allow the sale of herd shares and in other states everything about raw milk is banned.   Depending on who you talk to raw milk is either a death sentence or one of the best foods you could ever eat.  Just type raw milk into a search engine and you will get a whole variety of opinions on it!  I tend to agree more with the good foods people and think that it is probably a pretty good food choice for most people, although not all because some people with compromised immune systems are at a higher risk.  Either way I think it should be left up to the individual and I’m proud of those states that allow the sale of raw milk.

Here in Michigan you can’t legally buy raw milk but you can buy a share in a herd of dairy cows and then as your share you get milk sometimes.  The owners’ of our local farm were super kind and gave Joe and I some milk to try first before we decided if we wanted to buy a whole share or not.  I think the milk is really good but that’s probably because I’m from Wisconsin Joe thinks the milk tastes like grass and doesn’t want to drink it.  He is letting me get a milk share though, and he says he will help make cheese (or butter, sour cream, yogurt etc!) if I don’t drink all of our milk first!

Escape Artists Fly the Coop

Some of our chicks are super smart and they know that they can flap their wings and get themselves to the edge of the baby pool to perch.  They do it on purpose and sit there giving me a look that says I can’t make them get down, or stop them from flying up, even if I try.  Other chicks of ours aren’t too bright and they accidentally fly themselves over the top of the pool and out into oblivion.  A couple of nights ago I went in to check on them instead of just looking through the window and it was a good thing that I did because I found a little heap of 7 babies curled up outside the pool.  I scooped them back in.  Yesterday, Joe came home and found one out and had to chase it down to get it back into the pool.  Last night I scooped more in when they were asleep and this morning I woke up and found this…

Sad little, forlorn chick.  No friends.  Can’t figure out how to get back… not even courageous enough to explore on her own! She is just standing there…not moving, looking around confused.  She must have found her wings and then sent herself over the edge. Cold, no newspapers or sisters to snuggle.  I scooped her back in though (after I caught her because they don’t like to be chased) and she is perfectly content again! In fact, I had two more escapes while I was changing their paper this morning.  We’re working on a solution!

A Full House

Just some pictures today… The chicks are growing and the rest of the house is full of other animals racing, napping, eating, yowling and shedding lots and lots of hair now that it’s getting hot out finally.