Farm Animal Day at Belfast Farmer's Market

by Joe Fisher
 
In June the produce starts flowing in to the Belfast Farmer's Market,
with peas, lettuce, spinach, beet greens, leeks and other early crops
beginning to arrive. But the market is more than just vegetables and
plants. Animals will be the focus at the Farmer's Market's Farm Animal
Day on Tuesday, June 23 at Reny's Plaza. There will be a variety of farm
animals at this special event, including pigs, goats, lambs, donkeys,
and barnyard fowl.
Traditional farm animals are still very much a part of the way of life
on small Maine farms. The Market invites the public to stop by and
members will be happy to answer any questions you have about how the
animals are raised and cared for- and to offer you some of their fine
locally grown products.
Many of the animals, such as the goats, will be available for petting
and feeding, so make sure to bring the kids!
Ed Hamel of Aqua Terra Farm is bringing a seven week old
Yorkshire-Duruk cross pig. Yorkshire-Duruks are pink (or "white"; Ed
says that so-called white pigs are really pink) with some black and red
spotting, upright ears and long noses. Ed's pigs are fed them only
grain, garden waste and milk.
The average pig weighs 200 to 220 pounds when it's marketed. The young
piglets are isolated at first, to prevent the spread of any infection.
Most of the pigs are then rotated through a series of fenced enclosures.
Some of them are placed in a "pig tractor," a 10 x 15 foot movable pen
which allows them to graze and break new ground at the same time.
Ed also does much of his farm work by traditional methods, using
horsepowered machinery to work his acreage in Jackson. He has a
traveling composter which he uses to give demonstrations.
Andrea Smith of Brae Maple Farm is bringing Iodine and Ivan, a matched
pair of standard sized donkeys. "We don't work them," says Andrea.
"They're just pets."
Unlike other farm animals, there are no distinct breeds among donkeys,
only size classes. The Smiths have a pair of donkeys of each class,
miniature, standard and mammoth. The donkeys eat hay and graze on
pasture in the summer, but unlike horses they prefer to eat weeds.
According to Andrea, donkeys are easily trained, good with children,
and smarter than horses. Donkeys are friendly animals; they enjoy
company and like attention. Their reputation for mulish stubbornness is
undeserved, but "they might not do something if it doesn't make sense,"
she says.
The Smiths also keep Sotch Highland cattle and Angora goats, and
encourage visits to their farm and farm stand in Union.
Jo Cooley of Cooley Farm in Jackson is bringing Harry and Hortense,
brown and white Suffolk- Dorset cross lambs. Harry and Hortense have
been bottle-fed; usually the Cooleys' lambs suckle from the ewes.
Jo has been raising sheep for ten years, and bringing lamb to the
Belfast Farmer's Market for eight or nine years. The sheep eat
hand-mixed corn which contains no hormones or antibiotics, and graze on
pasture in the summer.
"We give them a good life," says Jo.
Cait Hunter of Appleton Creamery is bringing some new members of her
herd of registered Alpine dairy goats. A new batch of kids was born in
mid-June, and some of these will be capering around the market on Farm
Animal Day.
Alpines are an heirloom breed that originated in the French and Swiss
Alps. Each goat has its own pattern of markings in gray, brown, white,
and black. They have short hair and upright ears, and are known as
intelligent creatures that will thrive in conditions that other kinds of
animals, such as cows, can't tolerate.
Cait says that goats usually have twins, although triplets, quadruplets
and even quintuplets do occur. They are bottle-fed milk until they are
about three months old. Hand-raising the kids encourages friendly goats.
The kids are playful, curious and tolerant of children and people in
general.
The Hunters milk their goats twice a day, in morning and evening. They
are fed grain, hay, and protein and mineral supplements. Once a year as
a special treat, the goats graze the brush from newly cleared woods.
Cait markets a very tasty marinated cheese and a variety of other goat
products, and her daughter Fiona has her own line of goat milk fudge.
The Hunters also keep free range chickens and ducks, and Claymore, a
Great Pyrenees dog that lives in the barn and guards the goats.
The Market will be open Tuesday from 2:30-5:30, rain or shine. In
addition to our animals, we will be offering our usual great selection
of annual and perennial plants, meats, vegetables, fruits, greens,
herbs, dairy products, baked goods, and preserves.
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