Oh the things we don't know about the meat we eat.
One of the first few days we were on the farm, they were castrating bulls. I kind of freaked out. I was expecting this ugly, nasty mess, and the mooing sounds of a cow in pain echoing across the fields. It wasn't that way at all. In fact, it was kind of a party and the bulls didn't make a peep about it. It's done very humanely, and doesn't hurt the bulls, which is why they don't mind.
First they gathered all the one-year old bulls. The juiciest steaks come from a 1.5 to 2 year old bull, so these poor guys don't have much longer to live. It is industry standard to castrate them at one year old, because it sends them into a giant growth spurt. They put on weight, so they can make even more juicy steaks. A bull any older, especially one heading into the three-year old plus range, can only become ground beef. They have one wild bull in the herd they've been trying to catch. The saying would go something like this.... "That cow? He needs to become hamburger."
The part the cows didn't like was being herded, one at a time, into this little corral. They are free-range cows, and they love it. Being chased into this pen was not their kind of fun, even though any beef you eat that's not from a free-range farm, they're kept in little pens or super tight quarters their entire life.
This is Daniel Pike. He's the middlest of three sons who, in some form or other, live and/or work on Pike Valley Farm. He spearheaded taking over the farm from his father, just a year or so ago. These one-year old cows were all born since he's been running things. They know how old the cows are from tags they put in their ears (which the cows apparently DO make a bit of a fuss about).
This is Michelle. She and Bob (red hair further down in post), run the raw milk part of the business, and the vegetable CSA (community supported agriculture). They live in a tiny, tiny concrete building that is connected to the "milking parlor" where the milk cows are brought in twice daily to be milked.
The whole time I was there, I never saw Michelle without a smile and a cheerful spirit. How beautiful that is.
The guy with the hat is Terry. He and his wife Natasha live on the farm, in a single-wide trailer, with their three kids. They operate the egg-laying chickens part of the business. Natasha homeschools their children, who are all extremely sweet. Unfortunately, I never captured a photo of Natasha, which is a shame because she is very warm and friendly, and has to-die-for long curly blond hair.
Herding the cows up from the field and taking care of business was an all-hands-on-deck affair. So even though these folks do many other things on the farm, they all showed up for bull castrating day.
This is Bob. He is kind of an even-keel, quiet type, but if you ask him about his milk cows or his vegetable gardens, his passion shines through. He spent some time talking with me, educating me about various things, answering my endless questions with calm grace.
The kids came and went from the party. The oldest one took video of the bulls. It was a homeschool field trip day! This car was ADORED by the kids, especially Hudson and Archer. In this photo, Hudson (three years old) is driving. He was an expert at maneuvering this thing ever where. When he would go in reverse, he would throw his arm over the back of the seat and crane his head around behind him, just like an adult would. It was the cutest thing. Ezekiel (Zeke) is Daniel and Kristin's son. He's riding next to Hudson. Behind them is Mayah, Terry and Natasha's daughter. She's the spitting image of her mom. Next to the car in the Gap shirt is one of Terry and Natasha's sons. I don't remember his name, because we didn't see them too often while I was there.
Here you can see the back of the cow inside the pen. Terry and Natasha's oldest son is in the foreground in the blue shirt. He is nine, and was taking video of the event.
Here you can see the head of the bull sticking out one side of the corral. Several of them mooed quite loudly once they were in here, and the gates closed around them and their head was held in a small space. They could still move their head and body, but less than a foot in any direction.
Michelle is standing inside the corral, up above the cow, holding its tail up in the air so Daniel can have access. He had a small hand-held device a bit larger than a hand gun. This is how he explained to me that it worked. Imagine wrapping a rubber band very tightly around your finger. It wouldn't hurt at first, and you might not notice it too much. But it could be tight enough to cut off circulation from the tip of your finger, and slowly make it turn purple. It's the same concept. His device wraps a tiny bit of rubber, like a rubber band, tightly around the top of the bull's testicles. It is just tight enough to cut off circulation. Within three to four days, the testicles shrivel up from lack of circulation, and literally fall off into the fields somewhere. The bull never really has a clue. There are other ways of castrating the bulls that do involve some cutting, but that's not what they do here.
This bull got lucky and will become a steer. I photographed him before I knew it, so it was ironic that of all the cows, I captured his face. He avoided castration by having very even, well-formed testicles. Apparently a lot of bulls have uneven, misshapen ones. The bulls whose parts hang evenly and are appropriately sized will breed daughters whose udders are also even and well-formed, thus becoming good milk cows. Crazy that farmers have figured this stuff out. Out of about twenty or so bulls, they saved two to become steers. In the below photo, everyone is checking out the bull's balls to be sure he's a keeper.
This wide shot shows Michelle and Terry in the corral with all the bulls awaiting their fate. The beautiful dog has white hair and amber orange eyes. It is long-haired and about twice the size of a golden retriever. They have four of these dogs, and they are trained to guard the chickens from predators.
This is Madden. He's a stray who has anxiety issues but is super lovable and took a liking to Jax.
Day's work done. Madden and Trevor following Daniel everywhere. The kids heading home.
